Drug Crimes
Leading criminal defense for drug crime cases — our team has years of expertise defending clients facing federal and state drug charges.
How We Defend Drug Crimes Cases
From simple possession to distribution and federal trafficking, drug crime exposure ranges from diversion programs to mandatory federal sentencing.
Search-and-seizure violations are the single most common path to suppression and dismissal — and we know exactly where to look.
California's evolving drug laws — Prop 47, Prop 36, PC 1000, and military-diversion eligibility — open multiple pathways to dismissal that did not exist a decade ago. We map every possible alternative resolution at intake.
Federal cases under 21 USC 841 add weight enhancements, conspiracy exposure, and mandatory minimums that state-court strategy alone cannot manage. We treat federal drug cases as a parallel discipline with parallel motion practice.
What's at Stake
- ▸HS 11350 (simple possession): misdemeanor, up to 1 year (often diversion-eligible)
- ▸HS 11351 (possession for sale): 2, 3, or 4 years state prison
- ▸HS 11352 (transport / sale): 3, 4, or 5 years; up to 9 with weight enhancements
- ▸HS 11378 (possession of meth for sale): 16 months, 2, or 3 years
- ▸Federal trafficking (21 USC 841): mandatory minimums of 5, 10, or 20 years
How We Fight Back
- Fourth Amendment suppression of unlawfully seized evidence
- Lack of knowledge or possession (constructive possession defense)
- Entrapment — common in undercover and confidential informant cases
- PC 1000 / Prop 36 diversion eligibility
- Insufficient evidence of intent to sell (versus personal use)
- Confidential-informant reliability challenge under Aguilar-Spinelli
How Your Case Will Be Handled
We meet — in person, by phone, or by video — to hear your side, review every document, and identify the prosecution's theory before it solidifies.
We send our own investigators after the witnesses, the surveillance, the bodycam, and the records the State would rather you never see.
Motions to suppress, Pitchess motions, expert retention, and negotiation — every lever pulled before a jury is ever empaneled.
Dismissal, reduction, diversion, or a trial verdict — we prepare every case as if it will be tried, because the State takes notice when a defense lawyer means it.
Drug Crimes FAQs
Every Hour Matters in a Drug Crimes Case.
Speak directly with Andrei Lapine. Free, confidential, and available 24/7 for urgent matters.
Related Defense Areas
Charges often overlap. If your case involves more than drug crimes, we defend these related matters across California.
