What Are the Penalties for Drug Trafficking in New York?

| by Max Soni

Last Updated on: 5th October 2025, 10:38 am

New York Drug Trafficking – When 8 Ounces Triggers Potential Life

Eight ounces of cocaine in New York triggers Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance First Degree under NY Penal Law § 220.21 – an A-I felony carrying 8 to 20 years minimum. But 7.9 ounces is possession second degree under § 220.18, an A-II felony with 3 to 8 years. One-tenth of an ounce difference means 5 extra years minimum prison time. The weight thresholds are absolute: no tolerance, no rounding, no margin of error. Lab certificates showing 8.01 ounces doom defendants to nearly a decade minimum, while 7.99 ounces keeps them eligible for programs that avoid prison entirely.

The 2020 discovery reform under CPL Article 245 requires prosecutors to turn over all discoverable materials within 15 days of arraignment for defendants in custody, 35 days if released. Miss that deadline without good cause? Case dismissed under CPL § 30.30. In 2024, New York courts dismissed over 800 drug trafficking cases for discovery violations. Prosecutors handling 200+ cases can’t meet deadlines designed for simple assaults. They dump thousands of pages on day 34, claim compliance, then hope defendants don’t challenge. The law meant to ensure fairness created a technical dismissal goldmine for those who know how to exploit it.

Weight Thresholds That Control Everything

NY drug weight thresholds create sentencing cliffs:

Cocaine:

• 8 oz or more: A-I felony (8-20 years)
• 4 oz but less than 8: A-II felony (3-8 years)
• 2 oz but less than 4: B felony (1-9 years)

Heroin:

• 8 oz or more: A-I felony
• 4 oz but less than 8: A-II felony
• 0.5 oz but less than 4: B felony

Methamphetamine:

• 2 oz or more: A-II felony
• 0.5 oz but less than 2: B felony
• 0.125 oz but less than 0.5: C felony

The aggregate weight includes cutting agents. Pure heroin mixed with lactose counts as total weight. Dealers know this – they keep packages at 3.9 ounces to avoid A-II charges. But one bundling mistake, one extra bag, and mandatory minimums double.

Borough Prosecution Patterns Determine Fate

Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg: Won’t prosecute marijuana trafficking regardless of weight. Offers diversion for crack under 2 ounces. But prosecutes powder cocaine aggressively – the Wall Street drug gets Wall Street treatment. His Day One memo excluded drug possession from prosecution, but trafficking still gets charged, creating confusion where possession of 10 pounds of marijuana gets dismissed but selling an ounce gets prosecuted.

Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez: “Justice 2020” emphasizes treatment over incarceration. Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Prison (DTAP) offered for B felonies and some A-IIs. Five years residential treatment instead of 8 years prison. Complete it successfully, charges dismissed and sealed. Fail out, serve the full sentence.

Bronx DA Darcel Clark: Focuses on gun-related drug trafficking. Simple weight-based trafficking gets diversion offers, but add a firearm and face trial. The Bronx’s violence problem means drug cases with weapons get priority prosecution.

Queens DA Melinda Katz: Traditional approach – prosecutes by the book. Weight thresholds determine charges, criminal history determines offers. No blanket policies, each case individually assessed. Most likely to take trafficking cases to trial.

Staten Island DA Michael McMahon: Maximum sentences requested. No diversion for A felonies. Even marijuana trafficking prosecuted despite state legalization. Conservative borough gets conservative prosecution.

DTAP – The Alternative Nobody Mentions

Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Prison operates in Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, and Manhattan (not Staten Island). Eligibility:

• B, C, D, or E felony drug charges (some A-IIs considered)
• No violent felony convictions
• Addiction diagnosis
• Agree to 15-24 months residential treatment

Success rate: 67% complete the program and avoid prison entirely. Failure means serving the prison alternative – usually 2-8 years. But prosecutors don’t mention DTAP at arraignment. They wait, build leverage, then offer it as a “gift” during plea negotiations. By then, defendants have spent months on Rikers, lost jobs, lost housing. Desperation makes any alternative seem reasonable.

Judicial Diversion Under CPL Article 216

Even if prosecutors refuse DTAP, judges can order judicial diversion under CPL Article 216. Eligibility is broader:

• Any drug felony except A-I (though some judges interpret creatively)
• No exclusion for prior violent felonies (judge’s discretion)
• Must have “alcohol or substance dependence

The process: Enter guilty plea, court orders treatment instead of sentence. Complete treatment successfully, plea vacated and charges dismissed. Fail treatment, get sentenced on the guilty plea. Judges in drug treatment courts aggressively use this option. Regular criminal court judges rarely know it exists.

Discovery Reform Creating Mass Dismissals

CPL § 245.50 requires prosecutors to certify compliance with discovery obligations. False certification can result in dismissal. The certificate states: “The People have met their discovery obligations.” But they haven’t. They’ve produced some documents, missed others, and hope defense doesn’t notice.

Common discovery violations in trafficking cases:

• Lab reports not provided (or provided without underlying data)
• Confidential informant information withheld
• Police disciplinary records missing
• Surveillance footage “lost”
• Phone extraction data incomplete

File a motion to dismiss for discovery violations. Prosecutors claim “good faith” attempts at compliance. Judges increasingly reject this. In 2024, Bronx Supreme Court dismissed 50+ trafficking cases for discovery violations. Brooklyn dismissed 75+. The legislature meant to ensure fairness but created a loophole that experienced attorneys exploit.

Federal Hijacking of State Cases

SDNY and EDNY federal prosecutors cherry-pick state trafficking cases that fit their priorities. Factors triggering federal adoption:

• Interstate trafficking (crossing into NY)
• Weapons involved
• Prior federal convictions
• Large quantities (over 1 kg)
• Gang affiliation

Federal mandatory minimums under 21 U.S.C. § 841:

• 5 kg cocaine: 10 years minimum
• 1 kg heroin: 10 years minimum
• 280 g crack: 10 years minimum
• 50 g meth: 10 years minimum

But federal safety valve under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f) can avoid mandatory minimums if:

• No violence or weapons
• No death or serious injury
• Not organizer/leader
• Truthfully provide all information
• Criminal history category I

State defendants celebrate avoiding 8-20 years under state law, then face 10-year federal mandatory minimums with no parole.

The Lab Certificate Game

NYPD lab certificates determine charges. But labs make mistakes:

• Improper calibration adds phantom weight
• Moisture content affects measurements
• Packaging included in weight
• Cross-contamination inflates purity

Challenge every certificate. Demand underlying data, calibration records, chain of custody documentation. Labs handling thousands of samples monthly make errors. One recalibration can drop weight below threshold felony levels. That 8.1 ounces becomes 7.8 ounces, saving 5 years minimum.

Field tests are worse – false positives constantly. Krispy Kreme glaze tests positive for methamphetamine. Bird poop tests positive for cocaine. Cotton candy tests positive for heroin. Yet arrests happen based on field tests, lives destroyed before lab analysis proves innocence.

Resentencing Under DLRA

The 2009 Drug Law Reform Act allows resentencing for old Rockefeller Drug Law convictions. Thousands remain eligible but don’t know it. If sentenced before 2009 for A-I or A-II drug felonies, you can apply for resentencing under current, less harsh laws.

Original sentence: 15 to life Resentenced: 8 to 20 years With good time: Released immediately

But applications require specific forms, deadlines exist, and prosecutors oppose most petitions. Courts resentenced 2,500 people from 2009-2015, then virtually stopped as public attention moved on. Hundreds, possibly thousands, remain imprisoned under sentences no longer legal for identical crimes today.

Call Now – Discovery Deadlines Already Passed

212-300-5196

If you were arraigned 30 days ago, prosecutors had 15-35 days to provide complete discovery. They haven’t. That missing lab report, those absent police disciplinary records, the surveillance footage they “can’t find” – each violation creates dismissal grounds. But motions must be filed before accepting plea offers. Once you plead, you waive discovery challenges.

Weight thresholds are absolute. If your case involves 7.9 ounces, keeping it below 8 ounces means avoiding A-I felony minimums. If it’s 8.1 ounces, challenging lab certificates could drop it below threshold. Every tenth of an ounce matters when minimums jump by 5 years.

DTAP applications close 90 days after indictment. Judicial diversion requires addiction diagnosis from approved evaluators with 6-month waitlists. Federal prosecutors are reviewing state cases now, deciding which to adopt before state plea deals finalize.