It Could Bring 5 Years to Life in Prison
Video Transcribed: What is possession with intent to distribute in Oklahoma? Hello, I’m Ty Smith, an OKC attorney with Wirth Law. This is an important one to know about because there’s a misconception out there that there’s a certain amount of drugs that you have to be in possession of to be charged with the intent to distribute. As I spoke of before, possession is a misdemeanor. We don’t want you to be charged with misdemeanors, certainly not. But it’s not like possession with intent, which is a felony.
You can’t be in possession of a drug on Oklahoma’s drug schedule with the intent to distribute it. Notice we said distribute, not sell. Selling is distributing, just for consideration, law school term, you just got to be able to give it out. You have to want to give it out. Meaning that if you show up to a party with the intent to hand out party favors, what have you done? You’ve handed them out. You’ve distributed those. You can be charged with possession with intent to distribute. Simple possession isn’t enough. The weight isn’t enough.
What’s important is your intent to distribute, and law enforcement will look at the evidence surrounding your possession in deciding whether they can charge you with the intent to distribute part. Maybe the drugs were packaged in individual bags. That doesn’t make sense if it’s just you using it. Maybe you keep records of your transactions. Maybe you’ve kept a ledger or something. Maybe you have scales on you to measure out certain amounts. All of these things can be used against you in aiding and augmenting that charge from simple possession to possession with the intent to distribute.
As I said, this is indeed a felony. Possession with intent to distribute a schedule one or two drug carries the hardest offense. This holds the most brutal punishment. It can be anywhere between five to life in prison and a fine of up to $100,000. Now, marijuana gets a special carve out. That one only has a two-to-life range and a maximum fine of $20,000. But that does not mean that it’s, of course, something that you necessarily want to just take on the chin.
If this sounds like your situation, this sounds like something that you are about to be charged with, or you have a friend who is maybe going to be charged with this and wants to speak with an attorney about their chances in court, would love to speak to them about this. As I said, my name’s Ty Smith, a drug crime lawyer in Oklahoma. I’m with Wirth Law. You can find me at theoklahomacityattorney.com or you can call me at (405)888-5400, and I would gladly speak to you about this.
