Criminal Defense Lawyers

What are the chances of beating a drug conspiracy indictment?

Beating a Drug Conspiracy Charge: Is It Possible?

When federal prosecutors come after you with drug conspiracy charges, it can feel totally overwhelming. You might immediately assume that there’s no way to win. After all, the government seems to have endless resources to throw at building their case against you.
Let me tell you something though: it IS possible to beat a federal drug conspiracy indictment. Don’t lose hope! With an experienced criminal defense lawyer on your side, you’ve got a fighting chance. I’m going to walk you through exactly how it can be done.

First Things First: What is a Federal Drug Conspiracy Charge?

I want to start by making sure we’re all on the same page about what exactly constitutes a federal drug conspiracy charge.
Basically, you can face conspiracy charges if prosecutors believe you made some sort of agreement with at least one other person to violate federal drug laws (things like trafficking, distribution, manufacturing, etc).
It doesn’t even matter if you actually committed the crime or not! You can still be charged with conspiracy if they think you planned to commit it. Messed up right?
The penalties for a drug conspiracy conviction can be just as harsh as if you’d fully gone through with the crime:

• Up to life in prison
• Fines in the millions of dollars
• Forfeiture of assets

So yeah, it’s definitely in your best interest to fight them hard if you’ve been accused.

How Can Prosecutors Prove Conspiracy Charges Against Me?

For you to be found guilty, federal prosecutors need to definitively prove two key elements:

1. You made an agreement with at least one other person to commit a federal drug crime
2. You had knowledge of the agreement’s illegal purpose and intentionally joined in

Often times they’ll use circumstantial evidence to try meeting this burden of proof. Things like:

• Records of phone calls or texts between you and suspected co-conspirators
• Surveillance evidence of meetings between you and others
• Financial records suggesting involvement in illegal activity
• Statements made by informants alleging your participation

Here’s the good news: this type of evidence is often lacking in specifics. Generally speaking, federal conspiracy cases depend heavily on this vague circumstantial evidence because prosecutors don’t have a “smoking gun” proving outright guilt.
This provides opportunities for experienced defense lawyers to undermine their arguments and introduce reasonable doubt regarding your innocence.

So How Do I Go About Beating These Charges?

If you’ve been indicted on federal drug conspiracy charges, here are some of the most effective strategies used by defense attorneys to win:

File a Motion to Suppress

If prosecutors are relying heavily on evidence gathered from search warrants or wiretaps, the first line of attack is filing a suppression motion.
This challenges the legality of how evidence against you was obtained. If your attorney can successfully argue investigators violated your constitutional rights or didn’t fully meet legal standards, the judge may rule that certain evidence is inadmissible in court.
This forces federal prosecutors to make their case without some of their best evidence!

Negotiate a Plea Deal

Sometimes you have to pick your battles. Let’s say there’s strong evidence against you and your lawyer believes you’ll almost definitely be convicted at trial. Or maybe you’re facing the possibility of truly extreme mandatory minimum sentences if found guilty.
In cases like this, working out a plea bargain could be the most strategic move. Typically your attorney can negotiate deals like:

• Pleading guilty to lesser charges
• Receiving lighter sentencing recommendations
• Providing substantial assistance to prosecutors investigating other targets

Not exactly a stunning victory…but often better than the alternative!

Challenge Witness Credibility

If informants or cooperating witnesses are making statements against you, your defense lawyer’s job is to attack their credibility.
This means exposing:

• Deals they struck with prosecutors in exchange for testifying
• Inconsistencies in their statements
• Past criminal histories casting doubt on their honesty

By diminishing the believability of their narratives, your attorney can weaken the prosecution’s overall theory of the conspiracy case.

Develop Alternate Theories

Your legal team also wants to construct alternative explanations for the circumstantial evidence being used against you.
For example:

• If prosecutors claim meeting logs imply you were discussing drug deals, argue you were actually planning legitimate business activities.
• If they interpret financial records as proof you profited from trafficking, demonstrate the money came from other legal sources.

Basically you want to develop plausible counter-narratives demonstrating your innocence. This introduces that all-important reasonable doubt, making a conviction much less likely.

The Bottom Line

I’m not going to lie to you – beating federal drug conspiracy charges is TOUGH. The odds are overwhelmingly stacked against you.
However, it is possible in certain cases, especially when you have an experienced federal defense lawyer ready to aggressively challenge the prosecution’s claims.
With sharp legal skills and intricate case strategies like the ones I outlined above, some individuals manage to win outright acquittals or negotiate favorable plea bargains allowing them to avoid lengthy prison sentences.
So don’t panic if you find yourself indicted on conspiracy charges. Get in touch with a skilled defense attorney immediately to discuss your options. With dedication and hard work, it may be possible to overcome what initially looks like an impossible uphill battle against the power of the federal government.
There’s always hope!