Chester County Drug Penalties
Chester County treats drug offenses in a very harsh and severe manner in an attempt to avoid the type of runoff crimes that come from drug use and drug sales. Therefore, they put their resources into detecting, preventing, and making arrests for anyone involved in an illegal drug trade. Chester County drug penalties could vary based on the type of offense, such as selling, using, buying, or possessing substances. A skilled drug attorney can help you fight the consequences you may be facing for a substance-related offense.
How Does Chester County Deal With Drug Charges?
Chester County is very strict on drugs as it impacts the property values and the well-being of its citizens. Most of the county is a rural, small town, and therefore, they are able to control and see the selling and/or distribution of illegal drugs. It is very difficult in Chester County to try to run an operation involving a large scale drug offense.
Therefore, Chester County has specialized units and/or police and/or law enforcement which seek out the amount of narcotics coming into the county to prevent it from growing. Chester County sentences regarding narcotics are twice as high as the rest of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. They do not abide by any recommendations that other counties might; they exceed incarceration sentences across the board and in most cases even a simple possession charge faces deep incarceration and fines.
How Drug Penalties Differ Based on the Narcotics Charge
Street level drugs and prescription drugs that are abused are illegal and the severity of Chester County drug penalties often reflect that. Being charged with transferring them, possessing them, selling them, using them in an abusive manner is enough to make out a conviction that has real consequences on a person’s background, their ability to operate a motor vehicle under a license in Pennsylvania, as well as the stigma that is attached from the community.
Chester County is a group of small communities within small communities so everyone knows everyone, and therefore a conviction for such a crime can often cause the person to lose their employment, and it can certainly force a person to lose their license for up to one year and often requires them to do community service and attend drug treatment in local facilities.
The matter is very public and it is very difficult to keep the charge from friends and/or neighbors. Therefore, having the right attorney guides a person through the system to move these drug cases from beginning to end in a manner that expedites them through the system in lightning speed which reduces a person’s chances of having their job taken away, their livelihood destroyed, or even their license suspended.
If drug offenses can be treated at the outset with the right advice and the right manner is put forward, then most in most cases even severe drug cases can be pled down to a minor charge and it is very unlikely that the public will know exactly what has occurred.
Understanding the Impact of Conviction
Once there is a conviction, that is a conviction that cannot be expunged in Pennsylvania and it is stuck with a person for the rest of their life. Chester County drug penalties can prevent an individual from working in government, from being in places with children, etc. Therefore, having a drug offense on a person’s record and having a conviction can greatly impact that person’s future.
Every possibility must be taken from the very beginning, every diversionary program must be considered because that is the only way to ensure that a person’s future is not permanently effective by his or her choice. This way – hopefully – down the road, a person will be able to look back and the charge will be completely resolved and/or withdrawn from that person’s record.