Criminal Defense Lawyers

Washington DC Drug Trafficking Lawyers

220 months. Thats what the judge said to a member of the Kennedy Street Crew last year. 220 months in federal prison for drug trafficking. Do teh math—thats over 18 years. A 28-year-old wont be free until hes pushing 50. His kids will graduate high school, maybe even college, wihtout him there. And heres the thing that keeps me up at night: he probably had no idea, when he first got involved, that this is where it would end.

If your reading this right now, something bad has happened. Maybe its you whose been arrested. Maybe its someone you love—a son, a husband, a brother. Maybe federal agents showed up at your door with a warrant adn now your sitting in your kitchen trying to make sense of what just happened. The fear your feeling? Its real. Its valid. Adn your not alone in this, even though it probably feels like you are.

Real talk: I’m not gonna sugarcoat whats ahead. Drug trafficking charges in Washington DC are serious—like, life-alteringly serious. Were talking about potential decades in prison, not months. The federal conviction rate hovers around 90 percent. Ninety. And most people dont understand the system their about to enter—they dont know that where your case gets prosecuted matters more then almost anything else, they dont know how conspiracy charges can trap people who barely did anything, and they definitely dont know what their actual options are.

But thats the problem. Everyone tells you its “serious” without actually explaining what that means. They dont tell you the difference between federal court and DC Superior Court—and trust me, that distinction changes everything. They dont tell you how someone who drove a car twice can face the same sentence as the guy who organized the whole operation. They dont tell you that if your not a US citizen, even a “good” plea deal could end with you being deported.

I know what your thinking. Your thinking “how bad is this realy?” Your thinking about your job, your family, your future. Your wondering if you should of just talked to the police and explained everything. And your probly terrified that one mistake—maybe not even YOUR mistake—is about to destroy everything youve built. Those fears is valid. But fear should drive action, not paralysis.

So lets get into it. Everything you need to know about drug trafficking charges in Washington DC, what actualy happens after arrest, what defenses actually work, and what you should do right now. Because the next 48 hours matter. They matter alot.

What Exactly Is Drug Trafficking Under DC Law?

First things first—alot of people dont actualy understand what “trafficking” means legally. They think its about moving drugs across state lines or running some massive operation. Thats not quite right. In DC, drug trafficking charges usually come from DC Code § 48-904.01, and the statue covers manufacturing, distributing, or possessing with intent to distribute controlled substances. The penalties is severe. Way more severe then most people realize.

Heres where it gets confusing. Distribution and trafficking are often used interchangably, but there thinking about it wrong. Distribution means you actualy gave drugs to another person—there was a transaction. Possession with intent to distribute is different. For taht charge, the government only needs to prove you HAD drugs AND that you intended to give them to someone else. They dont need to prove an actual sale. Anyways, the distinction matters because the evidence requirements is different.

And how do they prove intent? Circumstantial evidence. Scales. Baggies. Large amounts of cash. Multiple cell phones. The quantity itself. Studies show that prosecutors will use any combination of these factors to argue you werent just using—you were selling. Even if you never actually sold anything to anyone.

Now, the drugs theirselves are categorized into schedules. Schedule I and II are the most serious—heroin, cocaine, crack, methamphetamine, fentanyl. Schedule III, IV, and V are less serious but still carry real consequences. The schedule affects the maximum penalty your facing, which we’ll get into later.

But actualy let me back up because theres something even more important I should mention: conspiracy charges. This is teh trap that catches so many people. Under federal law—21 U.S.C. § 846—if your part of a drug conspiracy, your liable for ALL the drugs in that conspiracy. Not jsut what you personally touched. Not jsut what you personally sold. All of it. The whole amount. Every gram.

What does this mean practically? It means the guy who drove the car twice can face the same sentence as the guy who organized the entire operation. It means someone who played a minor role can face twenty years because the total conspiracy involved large quantities. In my experiance, this is what catches people most off guard—they had no idea their minimal involvement could of resulted in such massive exposure. The consequences is devastating.

I’ve seen alot of people in this situation. There always shocked. “But I only did this one small thing,” they say. Doesnt matter. Under conspiracy law, once your in, your in for everything. And getting out—proving you “withdrew” from the conspiracy—requires affirmative steps that most people never take because they didnt know they needed to.

Federal Court or DC Superior Court—Why Does It Matter So Much?

Listen. This is probly the most important section in this entire article, and I need you to pay close attention. Where your case is prosecuted—whether in federal court or DC Superior Court—changes absolutley everything about your situation. And I mean everything. This isnt a mute point—its the whole ballgame.

The federal system is brutal. I should say—I dont want to scare you unnecessarily—but you need to understand reality. Federal conviction rates hover around 90 percent. Ninety percent. That means if your charged federally, the odds are heavily stacked against you from day one. And theres no parole in the federal system. Whatever sentence you get, you serve at least 85% of it. Thats the law.

DC Superior Court is different. The District doesnt have mandatory minimums for drug offenses teh way the federal system does. Judges have discretion. They can look at your circumstances, your history, your role in the offense, and fashion a sentence that actualy makes sense. That flexibility simply doesnt exist federally. Its night and day, for all intensive purposes.

So when do cases go federal? Usually its one or more of these factors: the drugs crossed state lines, large quantities is involved, firearms were present, theres an organized crime connection, or federal agents (DEA, FBI) were the ones investigating. If a confidential informant was involved and taht informant was working with federal agencies, your case is probly going federal. Supposably theres some discretion here, but in reality the feds take what they want.

Let me give you real numbers from real cases—not hypotheticals, actual sentences handed down in 2024. A member of the Kennedy Street Crew got 220 months for trafficking fentanyl. Thats over 18 years. Khali Brown, known as “Migo Lee,” recieved 168 months—14 years—plus five years of supervised release for trafficking and firearm offenses. These werent drug kingpins. These were participants in operations who got caught up in the federal system.

220 months. Do the math. A 28-year-old wont be free until hes 44. His entire 30s, half his 40s—gone. His kids will grow up without him. Thats the reality of federal drug trafficking sentences. No easy answer here. Well, probly no easy answer. But you need to understand what the stakes actually are.

Now, can cases sometimes be kept in DC Superior Court when they might otherwise go federal? Sometimes. Depends on alot of factors—who investigated, what the quantities are, whether the US Attorney’s office wants to take it. A good defense lawyer understands this dynamic adn can sometimes influence where the case lands. More on this later. Anyways, the point is that jurisdiction matters—it matters enormously.

What Are the Actual Penalties for Drug Trafficking in Washington DC?

Everyone says “serious penalties.” Every website, every lawyer, every article. Serious penalties. But what does that actually mean? Let me break it down with real numbers.

Under DC Code § 48-904.01, for Schedule I or II narcotics—thats heroin, cocaine, crack, meth, fentanyl—the maximum penalty for distribution is 30 years in prison and a fine up to $500,000. First offense. Thirty years. Half a million dollars. Not a typo.

For Schedule III substances, your looking at up to 5 years and $50,000. Schedule IV maxes out at 3 years and twenty five thousand dollars. Schedule V—the least serious—is up to 1 year and $10,000. But honestly, most trafficking cases involves Schedule I or II, so were usually talking about that 30-year maximum. Based off what I’ve seen, Schedule I and II are the ones to worry about.

But wait—it gets worse. Drug-free zones. In DC, if your offense occurred within 1,000 feet of a school, college, daycare, library, playground, public pool, youth center, or public housing, the maximum penalty doubles. Thirty years becomes 60 years possible. And heres the kinda insane part: in dense urban DC, your almost always within 1,000 feet of one of these locations. A 1000 foot radius from every school and library and playground covers most of the city.

Distribution to minors is even worse. If your 21 or older and distribute Schedule I or II narcotics to someone under 18, your facing up to 60 years and $75,000. Sixty years. For all intensive purposes, thats a life sentence for most people.

And remember those federal cases I mentioned? 168 months for Migo Lee. Thats 14 years, which means with the 85% rule, hes serving at least 11.9 years—call it 12 years minimum. The Kennedy Street defendant got $220 months—no wait, 220 months—which is 18.3 years, meaning at least 15.5 years served. These are real sentences being handed down right now, in 2024, in Washington DC federal court.

I should mention—there ARE sometimes alternatives. Drug court programs exist for some defendants. First-time offenders may have options. But for trafficking specifically, especially involving larger quantities, these alternatives has became much harder to access. Judges has discretion in DC Superior Court, but that discretion has limits. Bottom line: the penalties is real and they is severe.

What Happens After You Get Arrested for Drug Trafficking?

So what actually happens? Lets walk through it step by step, because knowing the process helps you prepare.

First, teh arrest itself. Alot of drug trafficking arrests start with a car stop or a search warrant. Once officers decide to arrest you, your handcuffed and taken to a district police station. There, your fingerprinted, photographed, and they ask for identifying information—name, address, social security. They’ll probly try to interview you too. This is important—wait, this is crucial—you have the absolute right to remain silent adn you should exercise it. I mean it. Say nothing.

After processing at the district station, you get transferred to the Central Cell Block near the courthouse. This is where you wait for your court appearance. If its a weekend, you might be waiting until Monday. Friday night arrest? You could be sitting in a cell for three days before seeing a judge. Not pleasant. Not pleasant at all.

For felony charges—which trafficking usually is—you’ll have an arraignment within 24-48 hours. This is when you appear before a judge, hear the formal charges against you, and enter a plea. If its a misdemeanor, you might just get a citation with a court date three weeks out. But trafficking? Your seeing a judge fast.

At the arraignment, the government will argue about detention. In federal trafficking cases, theres actually a presumption that you should be detained—held without bail—because of the serious nature of the charges. The burden shifts to you to overcome that presumption. One thing I want to be clear about: having a lawyer present at this first hearing changes everything. A good lawyer can argue for release conditions, can present information the judge needs to hear, can start building your case from minute one.

Third… I’ll come back to that. After arraignment, you enter what can be a long period of pretrial proceedings. Discovery—where the government turns over evidence. Motions—where your lawyer challenges that evidence. Plea negotiations—where both sides explore resolution without trial. This phase can take 6 to 18 months depending on case complexity.

The timeline varies. Some cases resolve in months. Federal cases with multiple defendants and complex investigations can take years. Thats years of your life in limbo, years of uncertainty, years of stress on you adn your family. Its exhausting. I’ve seen it happen more times then I can count. One client of mine have went through 14 months of pretrial proceedings before resolution. Fourteen months. Brutal.

How Do Lawyers Actually Defend Drug Trafficking Cases?

Alright, so what can actualy be done? What defenses actually work? Let me be real with you—and this is teh honest truth—theres no magic bullet. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying. But there are legitimate strategies that can make a real difference. Heres what you need to know.

Fourth Amendment Challenges. The Constitution protects you against unreasonable searches and seizures. If police violated your rights—searched without a warrant, stopped you without reasonable suspicion, obtained consent through coercion—evidence can potentially be suppressed. Thrown out. And if the drugs get thrown out, the case may collapse.

Heres the reality check though. Suppression motions succeed maybe 10-15% of the time. Police know the rules. There trained on them. They usually follow them enough to survive a court challenge. So dont bank on this as your primary defense. But when it works? It can be case-ending. Totally worth pursuing if theres any basis for it.

Challenging Intent to Distribute. Remember, for possession with intent charges, the government has to prove intent. Sometimes quantities dont tell the whole story. Maybe you have a serious addiction and that “large” amount was actually personal supply. Maybe theres a medical explanation. Maybe the circumstantial evidence—the scales, the baggies—has another explanation. Seriously, I’ve seen cases where what looked obvious wasnt.

And this is crucial—sometimes the best defense is conceding possession but fighting the trafficking element. “Yes, I had drugs, but for personal use, not sale.” That shifts you from a 30-year maximum to a much more manageable misdemeanor in some cases.

Identity Defense. Were you actually the person involved? Eyewitness identification is notoriously unreliable. If the case depends on someone identifying you, that identification can be challenged. Alibi evidence can be presented. Sometimes the wrong person gets charged because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, or because a codefendant lied to save theirselves.

Entrapment. If government agents induced you to commit a crime you wouldnt of otherwise committed, thats entrapment. This defense is harder then people think—you have to show both government inducement AND that you werent predisposed to commit the offense. But in some undercover operations, agents crosses lines. They create opportunities and then prosecute people they essentially set up. Its a escape goat defense that rarely works, but when it does, its powerful.

Conspiracy Defenses. If your charged with conspiracy, teh government has to prove you agreed to participate. Lack of agreement is a defense. So is withdrawal—but withdrawal requires affirmative steps to leave the conspiracy AND communication of taht withdrawal to co-conspirators. Jsut stopping isnt enough. You have to actively disengage. Most people dont know this adn dont take those steps. They think walking away is enough. Its not.

What should you do? Call a lawyer. Thats the answer to almost every question here. A lawyer can evaluate the specific facts of your case, identify which defenses apply, and develop a strategy. Probly will work out better then trying to handle this yourself, I should say—I dont want to guarentee anything—but representation matters enormously.

What If You’re Not a US Citizen? Or There Were Firearms?

Now I need to talk about some special situations taht make everything way worse. Way more complicated. Way more dangerous. If any of these apply to you, pay close attention. Seriously.

Immigration Consequences. If your not a US citizen—even if your a lawful permanent resident, even if youve been here for decades—a drug trafficking conviction is devastating. Under immigration law, drug trafficking is considered an “aggravated felony.” And aggravated felony equals mandatory deportation. No exceptions. No waivers. No discretion.

Even plea deals can trigger this. Everyone agrees that avoiding trial is usually good, but a non-citizen who takes what looks like a “good” plea—say, 2 years instead of 10—may still face deportation afterwards. The criminal case ends, and then ICE shows up. I’ve seen this happen. Its brutal. Most experts say you absolutely need an attorney who understands both criminal defense AND immigration consequences if your not a citizen.

Firearm Enhancements. If a gun was present during the drug offense—even if it wasnt used, even if it was just nearby—penalties increase dramatically. Federal law has specific enhancements for drug trafficking with firearms. Were talking mandatory additional years on top of the drug sentence. The Migo Lee case I mentioned earlier? Part of why he got 168 months was the firearm component.

Prior Criminal History. Your past matters. Alot. If you have prior drug convictions, maximums can double. If you have prior felonies generally, sentencing guidelines pushes judges toward longer sentences. This is where alot of people get caught—they think “its jsut one more charge” but their history multiplies the consequences. The system remembers everything.

Drug-Free Zone Enhancements. I mentioned this earlier but its worth repeating. 1,000 feet from schools, daycares, playgrounds, libraries, public housing—your penalties double. In DC, this encompasses huge portions of the city. Irregardless of whether you knew you were in a protected zone, the enhancement applies.

Look—if any of these factors are present in your case, you need help immediately. These arent situations where you can wait and see. The agencies is already building a case against you, adn every day that passes without representation is a day lost. Time works against you. Always.

Should You Cooperate with the Government?

This is maybe teh hardest question in any drug trafficking case. Should you cooperate? Should you become a witness against others? Theres no easy answer. Well, many people would of said theres no easy answer. Let me lay out what cooperation actualy means.

In the federal system, theres something called a “5K1.1 motion.” If you provide “substantial assistance” to the government—information that helps them prosecute others—the prosecutor can file a motion allowing the judge to sentence you below the mandatory minimum. This can be significant. Ive seen sentences cut in half or more through cooperation.

But heres the catch. The GOVERNMENT decides if your assistance was “substantial.” Not you. Not the judge. The prosecutor. So you might cooperate, provide everything you know, testify against former associates, and the government might still say “not substantial enough.” And then your stuck—youve burned bridges with everyone, and you didnt get the benefit you expected.

Safety is another issue. Snitches get stitches isnt just a saying. Cooperators and their families face real retaliation risks. The government has witness protection programs, but they require uprooting your entire life. New city, new identity, cut off from everyone you knew. Is that worth it? Depends on your sentence exposure.

And you have to tell everything. Partial cooperation is worse than no cooperation. If you cooperate but hold back information, thats perjury. Thats obstruction. Thats additional charges on top of what you already face. I had a client once—actually, I shouldnt share that. But trust me, partial cooperation goes badly.

Usually… I should say typically… cooperation makes sense when your facing enormous exposure and you have genuinely valuable information. Low-level participants who only know a little rarely get enough benefit to justify the risks. High-level participants might have more to offer. The decision requires careful analysis with an attorney who understands both the legal and practical implications.

How Much Does a Drug Trafficking Defense Actually Cost?

Look, nobody wants to talk about this. Every lawyer website avoids it. But its what people actualy want to know, so lets be honest. Real talk—you deserve straight answers on this.

For a DC Superior Court trafficking case, your looking at somewhere in the range of $15,000 to $50,000 or more depending on complexity. Simpler cases with clear plea paths cost less. Cases that go to trial cost more. Cases with extensive pretrial motions and discovery cost more.

Federal cases is more expensive. Were talking twenty five thousand to 100k or even higher. Why? Federal cases takes longer. The discovery is more extensive—thousands of pages of documents, recordings, financial records. The stakes is higher, so preparation has to be more thorough. Expert witnesses may be needed. Teh whole process is jsut bigger.

And heres the thing—public defenders exist, but their overloaded. The average public defender caseload is 3 times what professional organizations recommend as maximum. That means less time on your case, less attention to details, less availability to answer your calls. Public defenders are often excellent lawyers doing their best under impossible conditions. But the system sets them up to struggle.

Is private representation worth the cost? I think so. But I’m biased. What I can tell you is that the difference between a decade in prison and a few years—or between conviction and dismissal—is worth far more then any legal fee. Payment plans exist. Financing exists. Families pool resources. Because the alternative—decades of your life—is incalculable.

What Should You Do Right Now?

So what now? What do you actually DO with all this information? Let me give you concrete steps.

First: Stop talking to police. If you havent already given a statement, dont. If they want to question you further, decline. You have an absolute right to remain silent and you should use it. Nothing you say will help you. Everything you say can be used against you. This isnt TV where explaining yourself makes things better. In real life, talking to police almost always makes things worse.

Second: Get a lawyer immediately. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Now. Every day without representation is a day the government is building its case while you sit there unprotected. A lawyer can intervene at arraignment, can start investigating, can begin building your defense while the case is still fresh.

Third: Dont discuss your case with anyone except your lawyer. Not friends. Not family. Not cellmates. Jailhouse informants are real—people facing their own charges who will testify about things you allegedly said in exchange for their own deals. Your conversations with your lawyer are privileged. Everything else is fair game.

And heres the thing. I know your scared. I know this feels overwhelming. I know your thinking about everything you could loose—your freedom, your family, your future. That fear is valid. But fear should motivate action, not paralysis.

The attorneys at Spodek Law Group have handled cases exactly like yours. Todd Spodek, the managing partner, understands what your going through because hes guided hundreds of people through this exact situation. The firm is based in Brooklyn and handles cases throughout the region, including Washington DC.

Call 212-300-5196. Right now. Dont wait until Monday. Dont wait until “things calm down.” Things dont calm down in drug trafficking cases—they escalate. The sooner you have representation, the better your chances of achieving the best possible outcome.

This matters. It realy matters. Your future depends on what you do in teh next 24 to 48 hours. Make the call. Get help. Because nobody should face the federal government—or even DC Superior Court—alone. Trust me on this. Your life could of went in a very different direction if you dont act now. Dont let fear paralyze you. Let it motivate you. Call today.