Westchester County Drug Crime Lawyer

Westchester County Drug Crime Attorney

Challenging Fourth Amendment Search & Seizure Violations – NY Controlled Substance Offense Lawyers

You may have been smoking a marijuana joint in your home with friends in Westchester County or carrying a small amount of heroin in a baggie in your jacket in Brooklyn. You might have been arrested after selling methamphetamine or ecstasy to an undercover officer at a club in Manhattan.

Detectives may have entered your medical clinic to investigate whether you have been writing unlawful prescriptions or selling prescription drugs. You may even have been pulled over while transporting a significant quantity of cocaine in your vehicle on a New York roadway, which was discovered when the officers conducted a search. If your situation sounds like any of these or you were involved in another drug offense scenario, you need an experienced New York drug offense attorney now.

As evidenced by this wide array of situations, crimes involving controlled substances and narcotics can occur under a vast array of circumstances. The extensive variety of drug offense scenarios and types of controlled substances also involve a wide array of criminal punishments that can include many years of imprisonment, substantial fines and other penalties.

The almost obsessive fervor that has driven the so-called “war on drugs” has resulted in state and federal law enforcement agencies and prosecutors ensnaring many good people in their overly broad net. In many cases, the police disregard the Fourth Amendment rights of upstanding citizens, or individuals who suffer from addiction, and they are punished for their condition rather than provided with treatment.

Our Westchester County drug defense attorneys at Greco Neyland, PC carefully evaluate law enforcement tactics to identify violations of our clients’ constitutional rights, which may justify exclusion of the drugs, cash, paraphernalia and other evidence essential for the prosecutor to prove a drug charge.

We represent those charged with criminal offenses involving the full range of drugs from street drugs to prescription drugs without a lawful prescription. Whether you are charged with possession, transportation, manufacturing, cultivation, or trafficking, our criminal defense attorneys employ their experience as former drug prosecutors to seek the best outcome for our clients.

As former assistant district attorneys, we prosecuted every type of drug case involving controlled substances, ranging from cases involving drug dealers and methamphetamine labs to simple possession. We use this experience to fight the drug charges leveled against our clients.

Exposing Law Enforcement Errors And Misconduct

Our White Plains narcotics crimes lawyers carefully review and analyze law enforcement tactics to identify misconduct, mistakes and unlawful activity. We have a proven track record of exploiting these issues to the advantage of our clients in Westchester County, NY. Our drug defense law firm routinely files motions to suppress evidence, which can result in the entire case being dismissed. Some of the inappropriate conduct and law enforcement errors that we might exploit include:

• Officers misleading judges to obtain search warrants
• Defects in the search warrant
• Arrests despite a lack of evidence that the narcotics belonged to the person arrested
• Disregarding New York search and seizure law
• Entrapment by setting up suspects
• Misrepresentation and lies in law enforcement reports
• Use of bogus confidential informants
• Common Controlled Substance Crimes in New York Under State Law

Our extensive experience allows us to provide aggressive defense of the full range of narcotics crimes in White Plains and the surrounding areas of New York, including but not limited to the following:

• Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 5th Degree (NY PL 220.06)
• Criminal Possession of Marijuana (NY PL 221.10)
• Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 7th Degree (NY PL 220.03)
• Unlawful Possession of Marijuana
• Criminal Diversion of Prescription Medications
• Criminal Sale of Controlled Substances
• Criminal Sale of a Prescription for a Controlled Substance
• Federal Drug Crimes

There are certain factors that will increase the seriousness of a drug possession or sale offense under New York law, such as:

• Involvement in a Larger Conspiracy
• Proximity to a School
• Driving While Ability Impaired by Drugs and Alcohol
• Weapons Charges
• Paraphernalia

When these additional factors are present, a simple possession charge can become a more severe offense that results in a lengthy state prison term. While your exposure to specific penalties will depend on the nature of the controlled substance and the quantity, you can face incarceration, substantial fines and a criminal record that hangs like an albatross around your neck. Your drug conviction can interfere with career advancement, employment opportunities, educational objectives, housing options, immigration status/benefits and personal relationships.

Our White Plains narcotics crimes defense lawyers aggressively challenge the prosecutor’s evidence in cases involving all varieties of drugs, such as:

• Cocaine
• Ecstasy
• Marijuana
• Heroin
• OxyContin
• PCP
• Crystal Meth (Methamphetamine)
• Prescription Drugs

If you are arrested with a sufficient quantity of a controlled substance, you will be charged with intent to distribute. The repercussions of a drug arrest can be particularly harsh if you are facing a distribution charge. Importation, cultivation, smuggling, transportation and trafficking carry lengthy prison terms and other harsh penalties.

What to Do If You Are Arrested for a Drug Offense in Westchester County

Whether you are arrested for simple possession, intent to distribute or trafficking, you should avoid talking to the police and immediately indicate that you want a criminal defense attorney. If you are asked for permission to search your person, home, vehicle or business, you should indicate that you will not consent to such a search.

Sometimes police officers request permission to search because they do not have sufficient evidence to justify a search without consent. If you authorize a search, this may “cure” any legal deficiencies with regards to probable cause, facial deficiencies of the warrant, the assertion of exceptions to the warrant requirement or improper execution of the search.

Our White Plains narcotics defense lawyers at Greco Neyland PC frequently challenge illegal searches by filing a motion to suppress the evidence obtained in the search or other evidence that would not have been discovered without the evidence illegally seized during the search. When we prevail on such a motion, it can result in dismissal of the charges against you.

Depending on the specific facts of the case, we might also argue that the drugs were for personal use rather than distribution, which could result in less serious penalties that keep you out of jail or prison.

At Greco Neyland PC, our White Plains drug crime defense lawyers represent clients charged with the full spectrum of drug offenses. We offer a free consultation so that we can review the facts and discuss your rights. We invite you to call us today at (914) 898-8800 or click here to schedule your free consultation.