Methamphetamine penalties in Colorado are severe and uncompromising. For drug manufacturing, an individual can get up to six years for a first offense involving seven grams or less. If the drug offenses involve manufacturing more than seven grams the punishment can be as high as 16 years. If the defendant is convicted of making more than four ounces of meth, the sentence can go as high as 32 years.
Aggravating factors such as having a firearm or manufacturing drugs near a school can add substantial enhancements. This all makes it important for a meth defendant to obtain an experienced, seasoned criminal defense attorney. Experienced counsel will cover all of the basic areas of inquiry that must be preliminarily investigated.
Experienced counsel generally makes an initial evaluation of whether there are constitutional deficiencies in the police procedures. This can be with respect to the search warrants or regarding other potential violations of the defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights. Defense counsel will also make a thorough investigation to glean each detail of fact from the various accounts and determine where the major inconsistencies may lie.
Additionally, defense counsel will utilize all resources to aggressively obtain a favorable plea agreement with the prosecution, where negotiations are deemed to be necessary. Conversely, counsel will vigorously defend against the drug offenses where that is a viable option. Any of the foregoing factors may become relevant relative to a recent bust of five men in Larimer County.
In this significant Colorado drug offenses arrest, the authorities allege that they served five search warrants and seized 12 pounds of methamphetamine, along with $8,800 in cash, cocaine, pills and a gun. The raid was participated in by the Northern Colorado Drug Task Force as well as local authorities. Police, however, have thus far been tight-lipped in not releasing details of the operation. Each defendant will now consult and discuss with their respective attorneys the circumstances surrounding these matters and agree on a defense strategy to follow.
Source: Coloradoan, “Five jailed in Larimer County meth investigation“, Jason Pohl, Oct. 4, 2014