Drug Trafficking with a Firearm: Enhanced Penalties in NYC

Thanks for visiting Spodek Law Group, a second-generation criminal defense firm managed by Todd Spodek, with over 50 years of combined experience defending drug and firearms cases throughout New York. Possessing drugs is serious. Possessing a gun is serious. But possessing both together? That’s when penalties escalate dramatically. Under New York law, certain drug trafficking charges carry enhanced sentences if you possessed a firearm during the offense. Under federal law, 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) adds mandatory minimum sentences – 5 years for possessing a firearm, 7 years for brandishing, 10 years for discharging – that must run consecutive to your drug sentence. Your looking at 10-15 years minimum before you even factor in the drug trafficking conviction itself.

How New York Law Treats Drug Crimes with Firearms

New York has specific statutes targeting drug dealers who possess firearms. Enhanced charges because guns plus drugs create greater danger to communities.

Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Second Degree (PL § 220.41)

Class A-II felony – 3 to 10 years minimum, up to life. You sell a narcotic drug and possess a firearm at the time. The statute doesnt require using or displaying the gun. Simple possession triggers the charge.

The firearm doesn’t need to be on your person. Nearby in your car, in the apartment where you’re selling, in a stash house – prosecutors argue that’s possession during the sale.

Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Second Degree (PL § 220.18)

Possessing 4+ ounces of narcotics with intent to sell plus a firearm – class A-II felony, 3-to-life. Prosecutors dont need to prove an actual sale – just possession with intent and an accessible gun.

What Counts as “Possession” of the Firearm?

Actual possession is obvious – gun on you. But constructive possession is where most cases get made. Gun in the nightstand, safe with drug proceeds, closet where police found drugs? Prosecutors argue constructive possession based on proximity.

Most dealers dont carry guns during every transaction – they keep firearms nearby for protection. That proximity becomes the basis for enhanced charges.

Federal Enhancement: 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)

This statute imposes mandatory minimums for using or carrying a firearm during drug trafficking – and those sentences run consecutive to your drug sentence.

Mandatory Minimum Sentences

First offense: 5 years for possessing, 7 for brandishing, 10 for discharging. Those run after your drug sentence. Drug trafficking with 10-year sentence plus § 924(c)? Your looking at 15 years minimum total.

Second § 924(c) offense: 25 years mandatory consecutive.

“During and in Relation To”

Prosecutors must prove the firearm was “during and in relation to” drug trafficking. Gun in your car during a deal, in the apartment where you stored cocaine, in your home where you conducted sales – all sufficient.

Prosecutors dont need to prove you displayed, threatened with, or touched the gun. Simple possession in proximity to drug activity is enough.

How Prosecutors Prove the Firearm Connection

Prosecutors build connections through circumstantial evidence – proximity, ammunition, patterns.

Proximity and Location

Firearm in the same room as drugs, next to packaging materials, near scales? That creates the inference you possessed the gun for trafficking.

I’ve defended cases where police found a gun in a bedroom closet and drugs in the kitchen – prosecutors still argued the gun protected the drug operation. Distance doesnt always defeat the connection if you controlled both locations.

Type of Firearm and Ammunition

High-capacity handguns, assault weapons, multiple firearms – prosecutors argue these arent for personal protection. A hunting rifle locked in a safe creates different inferences than a loaded 9mm next to bagged cocaine.

Surveillance and Statements

Wiretaps, informant testimony, text messages discussing guns and drugs – direct evidence prosecutors use to prove the connection.

Charge Stacking

Prosecutors dont just charge the enhanced drug offense – they stack separate weapons possession charges.

Example: police find 8 ounces of cocaine and a loaded handgun. You face criminal possession of a controlled substance second degree (class A-II, 3-to-life), criminal possession of a weapon second degree (class C, 3.5-15 years), potentially federal § 924(c) (5 years mandatory consecutive) plus federal drug trafficking (10+ years).

Total exposure: 20-30+ years. If you’re a prohibited person, weapons charges carry even higher penalties.

Common Defenses

The strongest defense: no connection between firearm and drug activity. Gun belonged to someone else with lawful possession, was legally owned for home protection before drug activity, in a separate location from drugs.

I won a case where prosecutors charged my client under § 924(c) for a gun in his safe while drugs were in his garage. We proved he’d owned it legally for 10 years, kept it locked. No evidence it was “in relation to” trafficking. Jury acquitted on § 924(c), convicted only on drug charge.

Temporal Disconnect

Gun possessed at one time, drugs at another – no temporal connection. Gun lawfully owned before drug activity. Works when no evidence the firearm was accessible during transactions.

Constructive Possession Challenges

Multiple people had access. Gun in common area. You didnt have dominion and control. Works better in shared living situations.

Lack of Knowledge

You didnt know the firearm was present. Someone else put it there. Requires credible evidence – you didnt live there, were visiting, had no access to the room.

Penalties in Practice

State charges: class A-II felonies, 3-10 years minimum, up to life. No prior record? 5-8 years on a plea. Prior felony? 8-12+ years.

Federal charges: § 924(c) mandatory minimums plus drug trafficking sentences – often 15-30+ years total.

Sentencing Disparities

Federal sentences tend to be significantly longer. Prosecutors use that leverage: “Take the state plea for 7 years or we’ll indict federally – 18 years mandatory.”

What Spodek Law Group Does

We challenge the firearm connection. Prosecutors claim the gun was for trafficking? We demand proof. We investigate when you acquired it, why you owned it, whether it was registered and secured.

For constructive possession, we examine who else had access. We interview roommates, review leases, establish multiple people could have placed the gun there.

We challenge temporal connections. When did you possess the gun versus when drug activity occurred? No overlap means no “in relation to” element under § 924(c).

We negotiate jurisdiction aggressively. If both state and federal prosecutors have the case, we work to keep it in state court where sentences are lower with no mandatory consecutive minimums.

At Spodek Law Group, we’ve defended drug-firearm cases from simple possession to large-scale trafficking. You can reach us 24/7 at our offices throughout NYC and Long Island. When prosecutors stack gun charges on top of drug charges, your exposure multiplies – and your defense matters more than ever.