Police Arrest Man with Large Quantity of Cocaine in His Home

Police in Columbia County, Florida (which is just over an hour west of Jacksonville, Florida) arrested a man after they allegedly found 112 grams of cocaine in his home, according to an article on News4jax.com. When police arrest someone for being in possession of any drug, whether it is crack, cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine or some other drug, the quantity of the drugs often dictate what the actual criminal charge will be. If there is a small amount of drugs, the charge is often simple possession of the drugs. This will be a misdemeanor if the drug is marijuana and the amount is less than 20 grams. Otherwise, for small amounts of drugs like crack, cocaine, heroine, methamphetamine and pills without a prescription, the possession charge will be a third degree felony which carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison but is often considered much less seriously by the state and the judge.

However, when the quantity of illegal drugs found is larger, the possible penalties under Florida law get much larger as well. For cocaine, that threshold amount is 28 grams or more. If a person has between 28 and less than 200 grams of cocaine in his/her possession, he/she can, and likely will, be charged with trafficking in cocaine which carries a minimum mandatory sentence of three years in prison. Of course, the sentence is always negotiable by the criminal defense lawyer and prosecutor, but when the amount of drugs reaches that trafficking threshold, the state has much more leverage because of the three year minimum mandatory prison sentence.