A controlled substance is a chemical or drug where the manufacturing, use, and possession is controlled by government regulation. Transportation for the sale of a controlled substance is a drug crime under the California law. The law prohibits selling drugs, transporting controlled substances to sell, administering, or furnishing drugs to other people if you do not have a valid prescription. It also prohibits the giving away of any controlled substance. The law makes it a crime to transport and sell the following heroin and peyote cocaine. Transportation and sale of certain types of medicines also fall under drug crimes. For example, you will be charged if you are found guilty of transporting Hydrocodone, Oxycodone, Dilaudid, and Duragesic. You may have a valid prescription, but if the prosecutor finds out that you had the drugs with an intention to sell them, then you will be charged. The criminal act is charged as a felony with severe charges if you are convicted. The drug law does not apply to Marijuana and other stimulants.
If you are charged for transportation of a controlled substance to sell in Los Angeles, you must get legal representation from a qualified attorney to guide you through the trial process. The Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney can help you have your charges reduced or the case against you dismissed.
The Elements That the Prosecutor Must Prove to Convict You for Transportation for Sale of a Controlled Substance
In California, there are four different types of drug crimes that you will be charged for. They are drug possession, drug transportation, and drug transportation to sell and drug manufacturing. For the prosecutor to convict you of transportation of a controlled substance to sell, there are the elements that must be proved. They must prove the following:
- The controlled substance was in your possession, or you had some form of control over it during the transportation
- You administered, gave away, sold, or furnished that controlled substance
- You knew there was the presence of a controlled substance
- You knew the nature of the controlled substance and its effects
- That the controlled substance you had was in a usable amount.
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The Transportation of a Controlled Substance
For the prosecutor to convict you for transportation for sale of a controlled substance, they must prove that you were indeed hauling them by the time the police arrested you. Transportation involves moving or carrying the controlled substance from one place to another to sell despite the distance. The transportation can be on foot, using a vehicle, using a plane, or even riding. You will therefore be guilty if found transporting any usable amount of a controlled substance. However, some small amounts, such as residue medication, can be exempted from the law.
For example, you are transporting a particular medication as instructed by your supervisor at your workplace. In that case, if the police arrest you for transporting the drugs, your attorney will challenge the charges against you, and your case will have high chances of being dropped because you did not transport to sell.
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The Administering, Selling, and Furnishing of a Controlled Substance
Administering, selling, and furnishing a controlled substance can be a cause of your arrest. For example, if you carry a particular form of a drug to your school and ask your classmate to sell the drugs. You will be charged and face hefty penalties for your crime. However, with a qualified attorney's help, you have a likelihood of your charges being reduced or your case dropped.
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The Aspect of Knowledge that The Drug You Were Transporting is A Controlled Substance
For the prosecutor to convict you for transportation for sale of a controlled substance, they must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you were aware that you were carrying a controlled substance. The elements that will help the prosecutor make a judgment are if you know the mane of the controlled substance, its composition, and the side effects of consuming it. With a well-qualified attorney, your case will be defended because there is a likelihood that you did not have the knowledge that you have a controlled substance with you. For example, you may ask your friend to give you their car to travel to a particular place. In the process, the police arrest you for transportation of the controlled substance to sell. Your attorney can defend your case by arguing that you had no knowledge that there was a controlled substance in your car and did not belong to you.
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The Aspect of Usable Amount
For the prosecutor to put charges on you for transporting a controlled substance to sell, they have to prove that the amount that you were transporting is usable. There is a certain amount that can lead to your arrest. For example, having residue drugs in your car is not enough to make the prosecutor charge you for a drug crime.
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Possession of a Controlled Substance
You will be charged if you are found guilty of transporting a controlled substance under your possession or controlling it. For example, if it is found out that a controlled substance is being transported, you are the one to get paid after the drugs reach the destination. In that case, you will be charged because you had control over the drugs despite you being not physically present during their transportation.
How The Police and the Prosecutor Build Your Drug Crime Case
Before your arrest, there are thorough investigations that have to be done for you to be charged. Information about your criminal acts can reach law enforcement officers in different ways. The reason being, the police cannot arrest you without a probable cause. Some of the ways that the police build your case are:
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Through an Informant
You may have a friend who may be aware that you deal with the transportation of a controlled substance intending to sell. The friend can decide to put an end to your criminal acts and report you to the police. The police will do a thorough investigation to prove that there is a probable cause to lead to your arrest. If the police find that it is true that you are transporting the controlled substance, then charges are pressed against you as you wait for the trial process to begin.
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Through Surveillance Posts and Investigation
You can also be found guilty of transporting a controlled substance to sell at surveillance posts set up by the police. The places are set up to catch the suspects of drug crimes. If you have a controlled substance in your car and you have to pass through the surveillance posts, there are high chances that the police and charges against you will be pressed.
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Undercover Investigation
There are chances that undercover police can have you arrested for your drug crimes without your knowledge. A police officer or any other person can be hired to investigate your suspected drug crime acts. The person will have to do their best to become your close friend to disclose your actions. If they are successful in their mission, you will be easily found guilty because there will be enough evidence to convict you.
Penalties for Transportation for Sale of a Controlled Substance
If you are convicted of transportation for sale of a controlled substance in California, you will face severe penalties that include jail term and fine payment. Transport for sale of a controlled substance is a crime charged as a felony. Therefore, you will serve a jail term of three, four, or five years in jail, three, six, or nine years if you transported and sold the drugs in more than two counties.
Apart from the jail term, you will also pay a fine of $20,000.
There are also some rights that you will be denied. You will not be eligible for a suspended license or felony probation if:
- You are convicted for offering or selling more than 14.25 grams of a controlled substance containing heroin.
- You have prior convictions for a related crime, such as possessing or selling heroin.
- You have prior convictions for possessing or selling any controlled substance.
Legal Defenses If Convicted for Transportation for Sale of a Controlled Substance
There are many legal defenses that your attorney can present to win your case or have our charges reduced. They are:
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The Controlled Substance was Obtained During an Illegal Search
You will not be convicted if the police arrest you for transportation for a controlled substance if they were doing an illegal search. Illegal search means that:
- the police searched for you without a warrant and arrested you
- The law exceeded the scope of the search warrant
- The police detained you and searched for you without probable
If you find yourself a victim of an unlawful seizure by the police and get arrested for transportation for sale of a controlled substance, you should involve your attorney to guide you on the best legal action. The attorney will help you file for a motion to suppress the evidence presented against you, and the judge will dismiss your case.
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You Were Arrested Because of a Police Misconduct
Police officers can do some misconduct and fix you for a crime that you have not committed. For example
- The police are planting a piece of evidence for you to be convicted for the transportation of controlled substances to sell.
- The police lying that they found the controlled substance under your possession
- The police using excess force to have you confess that you were transporting a controlled substance
- The police falsifying that there was probable cause for your arrest
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It was an Entrapment
Your attorney could use the defense if the police forced you to engage in a drug crime. If a thorough investigation is done, and it is found that the police lured you to engage in the criminal act.
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Lack of intent
When you are accused of transporting to sell the drugs, your attorney can defend your case by arguing that you did not intend to sell the controlled substance.
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Lack of Knowledge
You will not be convicted if you were not aware that there was a drug and if you were not aware that the goods being transported were a controlled substance.
Enhancement of Your Sentence
There are some instances where your penalties can be increased depending on how severe your criminal acts are. They are:
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Drug Trafficking in Homeless Shelters or Near Treatment Facility
You will face an addition of one year in jail if you are found trafficking drug near health facilities if the following are true:
- The controlled substance you were trafficking was cocaine, heroin, or cocaine base
- The place where you were doing the trafficking is 1000 feet from a treatment center or a homeless shelter.
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Transportation and Sale of Large Amounts of Cocaine or Heroin
Your drug crime penalties will be enhanced depending on the amount of controlled substance obtained from you.
- if the weight of the controlled substance is more than one kilogram, you face an additional of three years in jail
- For drugs weighing more than four kilograms, you face an additional five years in jail.
- You face an additional ten years in jail if the controlled substance's weight is more than ten kilograms.
- An addition of fifteen years if the weight of the controlled substance is more than twenty kilograms
- If the weight is more than forty kilograms, you face an additional twenty years in jail and
- If the weight is above eighty kilograms, you face an additional twenty-five years in jail.
Apart from the above penalties, you will also pay a fine that will range from$1,000,000 to $8,000,000.
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Furnishing or Selling of Drugs to Certain People
A particular group of people will make your sentence enhanced if you are found guilty of selling controlled substances to them. They include pregnant people who had prior convictions for a violent felony and people under mental illness treatment.
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Transportation and Sale of Controlled Substance Involving Minors
- It is a crime under the California law to involve a minor in your rug crime acts. The prosecutor will convict you if you used, employed, or hired a minor to transport and sell the controlled substance on your behalf. You will also be found guilty if you involve a minor in preparing the controlled substance.
- Selling a controlled substance to a minor is also an offense with harsh penalties. The penalties for involving a minor in your drug crimes are imprisonment for three, six, or nine years in the state prison. There is a likelihood that you face an additional one or two years imprisonment if it is found out that the controlled substance was cocaine, heroin, or cocaine based. You will also face further imprisonment if you did the drug crime near a school, a place of worship, or any other place close to a facility where minors are present.
- If the age difference between you and the minor is more than four years, you will face a separate charge of imprisonment for one, two, or three years in the state prison.
Offenses that Relate to Transportation for Sale of a Controlled Substance
Other crimes that relate to the transportation to sell of a controlled substance in California are:
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Opening and Maintaining a Drug House
If you give away or sell controlled substances in an apartment, house, or any other enclosed place, you will be charged alongside your major charge of transporting to sell the controlled substance. You will be charged for opening a drug house if your drug crime acts are done repeatedly in a particular place.
The crime is a wobbler, and can therefore be charged as a felony or misdemeanor. If charged as a felony, you face imprisonment for up to three years in the state prison.
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Money Laundering for the Proceeds from the Sale of Drugs
It is a crime under the California law to transact with money that has been obtained illegally, especially from the transportation and sale of controlled substances. The law has set the limit that will make you be charged for transacting. Using more than $25,000 in thirty days in transacting with money from drug crimes is prohibited in California.
It is a wobbler crime to transact with money obtained from transportation and sale of controlled substances. If your drug crime is charged as a felony, you will be imprisoned for two to four years in the state prison. You will also pay a fine of $250,000 or pay twice the amount of money you laundered.
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Selling of Imitation Drugs
Selling of imitation drugs, otherwise known as "bunk drugs," is a criminal act under the California law. Bunk drugs are made to resemble the real drug to enable you to engage in your illegal actions. The penalties for selling bunk drugs serve a jail term for one year in the county jail and payment of a fine of up to $1,000.
It is a wobbler offense to transport, sell, and sell or give away a controlled substance in more severe cases. It is also a crime to arrange to deliver or deliver imitation drugs. The penalties can be aggravated, and if charged as a felony, you serve a jail term for 16, two, or three years in the county jail.
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The Sale of Synthetic Drugs
It is a crime under the California law to sell synthetic drugs, which in this case, the drugs are synthetic stimulants and synthetic Marijuana. It is a less severe crime that is charged as a misdemeanor. The penalties you face for selling synthetic drugs serve a jail term for up to six months in the county jail. You also pay a fine of $1,000.
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The Transportation and Sale of Methamphetamines
It is against the law of California to transport and sells methamphetamine. The act is subject to penalties of a felony convict. You will therefore serve a jail term for two, three, or four years.
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The Transportation and Sale of Marijuana
It is a crime under the California law to give away, furnish, or sell Marijuana. It is a wobbler crime, meaning it can be charged as a felony or misdemeanor depending on the amount of Marijuana that has been recovered. If the police arrest you for transporting Marijuana weighing 28.5 grams or less, you will face misdemeanor charges, whose penalty is the payment of a fine amounting to $100.
If charged as a felony, you face a jail term of two or four years in jail.
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Possession of a Controlled Substance
It is a crime under the California law to possess any type of a controlled substance. The offense is charged as a felony whose punishment serves a jail term for two, three, or four years in the county jail.
Immigration Consequences
If you are found guilty of transporting controlled substances to sell when out of California, you will immediately be deported to our country. If convicted when in California and you are a Californian citizen, your movement to other countries will be limited.
Find A Drug Crime Criminal Defense Attorney Near Me
One of the drug crimes charges that you can face is the transportation for sale of a controlled substance. Controlled substances can include medications like Hydrocodone, Oxycodone, Dilaudid, and Duragesic and illegal substances like heroin and cocaine. If you are facing these charges in the Los Angeles area, get in touch with The Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney at 310-564-2605 as soon as possible. We will evaluate the charges leveled against you and determine the best possible defense strategy.
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