What is Operating a Drug Factory in Connecticut?

• With the relaxation of marijuana laws across the country, more people are using electronic scales to roll and package marijuana for personal use.
• The problem is that when you possess more than a ½ ounce of marijuana, along with scales and plastic baggies in your home or dorm room, you risk getting arrested in Connecticut for Operating a Drug Factory under CGS 21a-277(c).
• An arrest for Operating a Drug Factory exposes you to 7 years of jail, and almost guaranteed expulsion from UConn, Yale, Quinnipiac, or any other Connecticut college or university.
• As any top Connecticut drug crimes lawyer knows, the key to defending Connecticut Drug Factory arrests is drug treatment and proving that you are not a career drug dealer.

What Exactly is a “Drug Factory” under Connecticut Drug Laws?

When you think of a factory, you think of a dimly lit, sketchy warehouse, protected by armed guards and attack dogs. That’s hardly the case under Connecticut drug factory laws.

As the best Connecticut criminal lawyers and attorneys know, a “drug factory” can be any “place”—meaning any apartment, dorm room, house, garage, car, treehouse, or ministorage facility–where drugs are packaged, processed, or assembled. This means anywhere you or your child are found packaging marijuana, Xanax, oxy, or any other illegal drug. All it takes is a single digital scale and some baggies for an arrest.

Connecticut Police Frequently Add Operating Drug Factory Charges to Force a Plea Deal

Stamford, Danbury and UConn police and prosecutors will often—and gratuitously—pile on Operating a Drug Factory charges per CGS 21a-277(c), even when there is not a lot of marijuana or contraband present, and even if the circumstances suggest it’s just a case of simple possession of marijuana.

One reason this is done is for leverage in the court case. If you are facing seriously felony charges in Connecticut like Operating a Drug Factory (which carry a 7 year jail sentence), then you are more likely to plead out to a less serious charge. Prosecutors typically want convictions (=guilty pleas) in these kind of case. It’s a heavy-handed litigation tactic that some of the best Connecticut drug crimes criminal lawyers are skilled at handling and defending.

How Do I Fight Connecticut Operating a Drug Factory Charges?

When a Stamford, Danbury or Rockville prosecutor or judge see drug factory charges, they immediately think “drug dealer.” That’s why one of the most effective defense strategies in fighting Connecticut Drug Factory charges is to have your attorney present evidence to the judge and prosecutor that proves you are NOT a drug dealer. Be sure to provide your top Connecticut drug factory lawyer with your entire professional work history. Show them your tax returns. Show them any evidence that you are employed and not spending the day dealing drugs. Also do drug treatment with a drug addiction counselor who the court respects. This arms your defense lawyer with compelling data and arguments that can help you get your Connecticut Operating a Drug Factory charges dismissed or reduced.

Call a Connecticut Criminal Defense Attorney

So if you’ve been arrested in Connecticut for Operating a Drug Factory, contact one of the drug crimes lawyers at Mark Sherman Law today.

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