Can I Get Bail If I Have Been Charged With A Federal Drug Offense?
If you have been charged with a federal drug offense, it is possible to get out on bail, but the type of crime will dictate the likelihood of you getting out.
For example, if you are looking at a ten-year minimum in prison at 85 percent because you are being charged with a serious drug offense involving a significant amount of weight, then it would be a good argument for the government that you shouldn't be able to get out. It would be a flight risk because you know you are facing a minimum of 10 years.
Federal courts are not the same as state courts, where you get bail that a bail bondsman posts or where you post the bail yourself. You appear before a magistrate judge who typically sets bonds on cases, and people are given their indictments.
There are cases being assigned to a particular judge who will have their case for the whole time.
Your lawyer will argue whether you can get out on some condition, whether a property bond or a signature bond where somebody signs for you. Sometimes, they will let you sign for yourself. Sometimes, you will have family members with collateral and money signed for you.
How Fast Can I Get Released From Federal Custody?
Typically, you can get released from federal court custody before trial very fast assuming that your attorney can get some sort of a bond set for you and you can meet that bond. For example, if a $100,000 property bond is set for you, it takes some time to put it.
Often, the judges will let you go while the paperwork is being done so the bond can be posted; that's one of the first things your attorney can argue for you when you go to court.
They typically get you into court quickly, sometimes on the same or the next day. Once they get you in front of a magistrate, one of the first things they deal with is whether you will get out or will be detained while your case is pending.
Not every single federal drug case involves asset forfeiture. In order for the authorities to try and forfeit your assets, whether it is money inside your bank or other assets, they should be able to trace the drug proceeds to those assets.
For example, if you purchased a house with your drug proceeds or if you paid any payments on your mortgage with drug proceeds and they can prove it, then they can try and seize that house and forfeit it.
If they can trace money going into a bank account, they can seize the account and try to forfeit the portion of that money that was placed in it. Sometimes, there is case law that if any of the property is paid for by drug proceeds, they can take the entire property. You start to get into issues related to innocent spouses and other people who might be involved in the property.
The bottom line is that forfeiture proceedings are typically separate from criminal proceedings. The prosecutors have a separate forfeiture division that deals with forfeiting property, whether it is homes or other property, freezing bank accounts, and trying to take the funds.
Your federal criminal defense attorney should deal with your forfeiture issue because they will have all the facts and the details necessary to protect your interests.
Could My Federal Drug Crime Be Reduced To the State Level?
Once the Fed decides to take a case, it's very unlikely that your drug crime will go backward, be reduced, and be sent to the state court.
Usually, if they decide to indict a person, they will indict them and deal with the case. I have seen quite a few people who have been prosecuted at the state level, and while the prosecution at the state level is pending, somehow, for some reason, the Feds become involved.
They will then go to the state and request that it dismiss the state proceedings so the federal government can prosecute that person.
There is a scheme related to Federal drug sentences under 21 USC. § 841 that talks about different drug crimes or different drugs.
With LSD, marijuana, crack cocaine, powder cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and PCP, there are five years, 10 years, and 20 years mandatory minimums that can be involved. People can be looking at life depending on if they have a prior conviction for drug sales or possession or sale of drugs.
A whole scheme looks at the type and quantity of drugs and the person's prior criminal record to determine the person's federal sentence. There are ways to get around some of those mandatory minimums involving a safety valve.
Cooperating with the government is another way to get around mandatory minimum sentences in federal cases. Obviously, this is something you would want to discuss with your attorney.
Not everyone wants to cooperate with the government. Some people who don't want to cooperate with the government would want to talk to their attorney or figure out another strategy to best deal with the federal sentencing scheme.
