Greenwich Operating a Drug Factory with Intent to Distribute Charges

Operating a drug factory and intent to distribute by Greenwich law are two separate charges. The charge of operating a drug factory just prohibits the person from having a place that is used for manufacturing or distributing drugs. It deals more with the place and the paraphernalia, like scales and packaging. The charge of possession with intent to distribute is separate and deals with the drugs. If somebody has a lot of drugs on them, the police may think that they are not for personal use but for the intent to share them or sell them to someone else. One deals with the place for packaging and one deals with the actual contraband. If an individual faces Greenwich operating a drug factory with intent to distribute charges, they should consider speaking with an attorney that has handled operating a drug factory cases before. A capable drug defense lawyer could work tirelessly in pursuit of a positive outcome for them.

Could Someone be Charged with Operating a Drug Factory and Intent to Distribute?

A person could be charged with both operating a drug factory and intent to distribute. In most cases that is how the Greenwich Police Department would charge Greenwich operating a drug factory with intent to distribute charges. It would often be prepared with possessing with intent to distribute. In fact, a person would probably not get an operating a drug factory charge without the charge of possession with intent to distribute.

The police are in charge of determining the difference between operating a drug factory and manufacturing with the intent to distribute. Local police officers look at the evidence that they think they have, as well as any existing allegations. Law enforcement may consider the person, witness statements, or information from a confidential informant to see if they could get the person on both charges. The police would look at the premises where the drugs are coming from, like a room in the house or a car, and they would look at the amount of drugs as well. Often in Greenwich, they would charge both charges whenever they could.

Elements the Prosecution Must Prove

To make Greenwich operating a drug factory with intent to distribute charges stick, the prosecution needs to prove that a person is knowingly in possession of drug paraphernalia in a place that is used to manufacture or package drugs. To prove that they were intending to distribute it, they have to have evidence showing that the person not only had possession of drugs, but they were possessing with the intent to distribute them. They often look for things like the amounts of drugs the person had and whether the drugs were packaged in such a way that made it easy to distribute them.

Investigation of  Operating a Drug Factory with Intent to Distribute Charges

There are ways that cases involving Greenwich operating a drug factory with intent to distribute charges are investigated specifically to assess intent to distribute as it relates to operating a drug factory. When the police are looking at the premise of the alleged drug factory, they look to see if there are things showing that drugs are being sold or getting out the door and into the public. They look for things like packaging materials, large amounts of money in different denominations, as well as scales and to be able to measure the drugs. They look at that when they are executing a search on the alleged drug factory.

Escalation from Possession to Operating a Factory with Intent of Distribution Charges

In Greenwich, typically the first charge would be possession with intent to distribute, based on the evidence from either the confidential informant or the police officer’s observation of someone making a sale or someone being caught with a large volume of drugs on them, which looks like they are distributing them. The person would either give consent for a search or the cops would get a search warrant to search it. At that point, the charge of operating a drug factory would be added on to the charge of possession.

Value of a Greenwich Operating a Drug Factory Attorney

It is important to have an attorney when facing Greenwich operating a drug factory with intent to distribute charges because both operating a drug factory and possession of drugs with intent to sell are felony charges in Connecticut and come with the risk of substantial jail time. For example, if someone is convicted of possession with intent to sell and they are not a drug defendant, someone could get five years of mandatory minimum jail time. Not only are the felony charges serious, but with the risk jail time and sometimes even mandatory jail time it is not something a person should be handling without an experienced attorney with them. A determined drug defense lawyer could devote the time and resources necessary to build a solid case for them.