Understanding the Heroin, Conviction, Texas Law, Felony

Texas has strict laws on hard drugs such as heroin, and if you get arrested and proven guilty, you might end up serving a lengthy jail term. Possessing small amounts of heroin even less than a gram lead to severe punishment. The worse situation can be when you get caught in possession of heroin with an intention to sell which can lead lifetime imprisonment. If you aren’t represented by a top Houston criminal lawyer, you’re in trouble. However, some courts in Texas have diversion programs which aim at helping the first-time offenders to reform. For the serial criminals who have been in jail before for similar heroin possession crimes, the punishment could be more severe.

What does the federal law say about heroin?

In the United States using, selling or being in possession of heroin is illegal and can hand you a severe punishment. In case, you get arrested for having heroin you will be charged with felony charges, and now your freedom will be in the hands of the judge. The same actions will be taken against you in the state of Texas. In case you are lucky and the judge orders that you should be taken to the state rehabilitation center, then you will be lucky to avoid serving the jail term. The option is only available for the first-time offenders since there is believe that given a chance they can change. For the drug traffickers or the repeat offenders, the law in Texas only gives the option of serving a jail term that will depend on the amount of evidence presented before the court.

Possible penalties if convicted?

Each state in the US has its guidelines that it uses in sentencing the heroin criminals. Texas for instance, if you get arrested for possession of heroin less than 4 grams, you will face the third-degree felony charges. Four grams of heroin is considered to be for personal use, but it’s more than that you will be treated as a drug trafficker hence face drug trafficking charges.

In case the police arrest you while selling heroin then you will be charged with a second-degree crime which means if found guilty your punishment will be more severe. It can guess worse if you get caught selling the heroin around a children’s institution such as near children playing ground or school. The punishment for the drug vendors perceived to target children can be very tough and even can hand you a lifetime jail term.

The amount of heroin you are caught possessing plays a vital role in determining the punishment you will get once you are proven guilty. For example, when you have 14-30 grams of heroin, you can either serve a 15 years jail term or pay a fine of up to $100,000. In case, the police arrest you in possession of heroin above 30grams you can end up serving 25 years jail term, pay $500,000 fine or both. In case, it happens you get arrested with several kilograms of heroin then the chances of being in jail for the rest of your life are very high.

What are the defense strategies for heroin felony?

There are three primary defense strategies that the attorneys can use to win the heroin felony against you which are as follows;

• The first option is to challenge the identity of the person arrested, and convince the court that there was a mistaken identity during the arrest.
• Another strategy is to question the credibility and reliability of the confidential police informants who served them with the information.
• Alternatively, the defense team can demonstrate to the court that your rights were abused during the arrest and search if any took place. Once the strategy works then, you will be free, or your punishment might be less severe.

Texas does not tolerate consumption or selling of any hard drug such as heroin, and the punitive punishments show how the State is serious in dealing with drug traffickers.