Chicago Criminal Defense Lawyers
With A Reputation For Results In Tough Cases
As we discussed in a post a couple of weeks ago, a person can end up with a major prison sentence if they are convicted on a federal drug charge. The serious nature of federal drug crime charges is a very important thing to be aware of. It is also important though for a person to not let such awareness lead…
Facing any drug charge can expose a person to some pretty significant potential consequences. However, there are some such charges where the penalties a person can face if convicted can be particularly hefty. Here in Illinois, one of these particularly penalty-hefty charges is cannabis trafficking. When can a person face an Illinois cannabis trafficking charge? Under state law, they can…
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…
For certain criminal charges here in Illinois, there is both a regular form of the charge and an “aggravated” form of the charge. Delivery of methamphetamine is such a charge. Under what circumstances could a person accused of delivering methamphetamine face the aggravated form of the charge rather than the regular form? According to Illinois law, a person commits aggravated…
Sometimes, in drug crime cases, authorities use responses a suspect gave to questions police asked as evidence against the suspect in criminal proceedings. There are certain things that can impact whether such evidence is in fact allowed to be used in criminal proceedings. If the suspect’s responses were given during a custodial interrogation, one such thing is whether police gave…
All too often, we hear of cases where a defendant pleads guilty to a drug charge, without first learning about the legal avenues that may have been available. At the Law Offices of Damon M. Cheronis, we understand just how much a drug charge can impact a person’s life, even after he or she has served their time and paid…
Under Illinois law, there are many different types of illegal drug conduct. One such type is delivery of an illegal drug. Today, we will discuss what exactly constitutes illegal drug delivery here in Illinois. According to Illinois law, a person “delivers” an illegal drug if they do one of the following three things: Actually transfer possession of an illegal drug.…
Prosecutors often have a fair amount of discretion when it comes to drug prosecutions. Thus, changes in drug prosecution policy can have some pretty major impacts. A change in drug prosecution policy was recently announced here in Cook County. The new policy represents a softening when it comes to the stance towards low-level drug offenses in the Chicago area. Among…
Generally, here in Illinois, being accused of having delivered cannabis to another exposes a person to heftier potential penalties than they would face for possessing cannabis. One exception to this though is if the alleged delivery was a casual delivery. State law dictates that, for penalty purposes, a casual delivery of cannabis is to be treated the same as cannabis possession rather than…
Sometimes, a drug crime allegation will lead to a person facing charges on the federal level. There are many different reasons why it can be a very serious thing to be facing federal drug charges. One is that many federal drug charges carry mandatory minimums. A mandatory minimum is when a given criminal charge has a required minimum sentence for…