NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED FEDERAL LAWYERS
Can you get life for gun during drug crime
|Thanks for visiting Spodek Law Group. We’re a second-generation law firm managed by Todd Spodek – with over 40 years of combined experience handling federal criminal cases that other attorneys won’t touch. We’ve represented clients in cases that became Netflix series, like Anna Delvey, handled juror misconduct in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial, and defended clients in federal firearms cases across the country. If you’re facing federal gun charges connected to drug trafficking – you need attorneys who understand how prosecutors stack these charges to destroy your life.
Can you get life in prison for having a gun during a drug crime? Yes. But most people don’t. The federal sentencing statute 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) – that’s the law prosecutors use when you’re caught with a gun during drug trafficking – has life sentence provisions that apply in very specific situations. We’re going to explain exactly when life sentences happen, what the normal sentences look like, and why this charge is more dangerous than the drug charge itself.
Here’s what matters about your situation right now. Federal prosecutors love 924(c) charges because they’re mandatory, they’re consecutive, and they can’t be reduced. Your defense attorney can negotiate your drug trafficking sentence down – maybe get you safety valve, maybe argue for a variance – but that 924(c) time? It stacks on top no matter what. No probation. No concurrent time. No judicial discretion to go below the mandatory minimum.
When You Actually Get Life Under 924(c)
Life sentences under 924(c) require two things happening at once. First – you need a machinegun, a destructive device, or a firearm with a silencer. Second – you need a prior 924(c) conviction that’s already final. Both conditions. Not one or the other.
In fiscal year 2024, out of 2,522 people convicted under 924(c), only 0.1% received life sentences according to United States Sentencing Commission data. That’s roughly 2-3 people. Life sentences are extremely rare because most drug defendants don’t have machineguns, and most don’t have prior 924(c) convictions.
The statute draws a bright line. If it’s your second 924(c) conviction and the firearm is a machinegun or destructive device – the judge has no choice. The statute says “the person shall be sentenced to imprisonment for life.” Not “up to life.” Not “may be sentenced.” Shall be sentenced. Mandatory life.
The Escalating Penalty Structure
Most people facing 924(c) charges aren’t looking at life – they’re looking at 5, 7, 10, or 30 years that gets added to their drug sentence. The penalties escalate based on what you did with the gun and what type of gun it was.
Possession or carrying a firearm during drug trafficking – that’s 5 years mandatory minimum. You had a gun in the car during a drug deal, you had a gun in the stash house, you had a gun on you when you got arrested with drugs. Five years consecutive to whatever you get for the drugs.
Brandishing the firearm – 7 years mandatory minimum. Brandishing means you showed it, displayed it, made it visible to threaten or intimidate someone during the drug crime. Prosecutors argue that having a gun visible on your hip during a drug transaction counts as brandishing.
Discharging the firearm – 10 years mandatory minimum. You fired the gun during or in relation to the drug trafficking crime. Ten years stacked on top of your drug sentence.
Machinegun or destructive device on a first offense – 30 years mandatory minimum. This is where it gets brutal even without a prior conviction. If the firearm involved is a machinegun, a destructive device, or has a silencer, you’re looking at 30 years minimum on top of your drug sentence. And if you have a prior 924(c) conviction – that 30 years becomes mandatory life.
Second Convictions Mean 25 Years Minimum
The second conviction provision is what terrifies federal defense attorneys. If you have any prior 924(c) conviction that’s become final – your next 924(c) conviction carries a mandatory minimum of 25 years. That’s for any firearm, not just machineguns.
You got convicted of 924(c) five years ago, did your time, got released. Now you’re arrested again with a gun during drug trafficking. That’s 25 years minimum consecutive to your new drug sentence. You’re probably looking at 30-40 years total.
Only 0.4% of 924(c) defendants in fiscal year 2024 received the 25-year mandatory minimum for second convictions. But if you’re in that 0.4%, your life is over. Twenty-five years minimum means you’re doing at least 85% of that under federal good time rules – that’s 21 years before you see daylight. And if that second conviction involves a machinegun – you’re never coming home. Mandatory life.
What Most People Actually Get
The average sentence for 924(c) convictions in fiscal year 2024 was 150 months – that’s 12.5 years. Over half of 924(c) cases – 53.5% according to the Sentencing Commission – involve drug trafficking as the underlying offense. Federal prosecutors charge 924(c) whenever they can prove you possessed or used a gun “during and in relation to” or “in furtherance of” a drug trafficking crime. They don’t need to prove you used the gun. Possession in furtherance is enough.
You’re selling drugs out of your apartment and you have a gun in the bedroom for protection – that’s 924(c). You’re transporting drugs in your car and there’s a gun in the glove compartment – that’s 924(c). Prosecutors will argue the gun was there to protect your drug operation.
Why the Consecutive Requirement Matters
The most dangerous part of 924(c) isn’t the mandatory minimum – it’s that the sentence must run consecutive to everything else. The statute explicitly says “no term of imprisonment imposed under this subsection shall run concurrently with any other term of imprisonment.”
You get sentenced to 10 years for drug trafficking and 5 years for the 924(c) gun charge. That’s not 10 years total – that’s 15 years. The 924(c) time starts after you finish the drug time. Consecutive means stacked, back-to-back, one after the other.
This is why prosecutors use 924(c) as leverage. They know it’s mandatory, they know it’s consecutive, they know your attorney can’t negotiate it away. The 924(c) charge is the hammer they use to get cooperation and guilty pleas.
Federal judges have no choice with 924(c). The statute removes judicial discretion. The judge can’t give you probation, can’t run the sentence concurrent, can’t depart below the mandatory minimum except in extremely limited circumstances involving substantial assistance to the government.
At Spodek Law Group, we’ve handled federal firearms cases connected to drug trafficking across the country. We understand how prosecutors use 924(c) to pressure defendants into cooperation and guilty pleas. We know how to challenge the nexus between firearms and drug activity, how to fight possession theories, and when fighting makes sense versus when negotiating makes sense. Todd Spodek has been handling federal criminal cases for many, many years – as a second-generation criminal defense attorney with experience in cases that make national headlines.
If you’re facing 924(c) charges, you need attorneys who understand the stakes. One decision – whether to fight the gun charge or focus on minimizing the drug sentence – can mean the difference between 10 years and 25 years in federal prison. Call us 24/7 – we’re available around the clock because we know federal arrests don’t happen on a schedule that’s convenient for you.