Those accused of federal drug crimes, such as federal drug trafficking, can face major consequences if they are convicted. For example, significant prison sentences are often given for federal drug crime convictions. This is underscored by a recent report on trends in the federal prison population.
The report was issued by the Urban Institute and the Charles Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections. According to the report, there has been considerable growth (around 750 percent growth) in the overall size of the federal prison population since 1980. The report says that the main contributing factor to this growth is growth in the number of convicted drug offenders in the federal prison system.
The number of convicted drug offenders in federal prison was nearly 50,000 individuals higher in the 2013 fiscal year than it was in the 1994 fiscal year, the report says. According to the report, the high number of drug offenders in federal prison has to do with both long sentence lengths for those convicted of federal drug crimes and the high number of individuals who end up being put into federal prison for drug crimes (federal prison admissions for drug crimes were higher than the federal prison admissions for any other type of crime in the 2013 fiscal year).
As this illustrates, long prison sentences are not at all uncommon in criminal cases in which a person is convicted of a federal drug crime. Thus, a person’s freedom and future can be in serious danger when they are facing accusations of federal drug crimes. Consequently, those who have had such allegations leveled against them may want to promptly seek out the guidance of a skilled federal drug crime defense lawyer.
Source: The Hill, “Drug traffickers are driving federal prison growth, study says,” Lydia Wheeler, March 11, 2015
