Marijuana laws are changing quickly all around The United States. The majority of states, including Florida, have legalized cannabis for medical use, and a few have taken the step to legalization for recreational use. While many people in our state use cannabis for medical purposes, it is highly regulated. Marijuana may only be cultivated and sold by licensed outlets.
Acting outside of the law and cultivating marijuana comes with extremely heavy punishments, including time in prison, heavy fines and a badly damaged reputation. That is what a Brooksville man is now facing in the wake of being caught with nearly 350 pounds of marijuana in his home.
SWAT raid in Hernando County
Victor Gonzalez was arrested by a SWAT team recently for cultivating and storing a massive amount of marijuana. Police found nearly 350 pounds of the drug and 52 plants in Mr. Gonzalez’ Brooksville home. He is now facing many serious drug charges, including cultivation of marijuana, trafficking marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia .
The cultivation charge on this scale on its own can mean up to 20 years in prison, and that doesn’t take into account the trafficking and other charges Mr. Gonzalez is facing.
A strong defense is the best offence
If you are facing serious drug charges, you need an aggressive criminal defense attorney on your side. You can expect prosecutors to try to add additional charges to what you are already facing. For example, if you were facing a drug cultivation charge, a prosecutor would almost certainly try to add possession of drug paraphernalia, tax evasion and even conspiracy if you worked with others.
An experienced defense attorney will know how to build a case that can reduce your proposed sentence, or even have charges dropped entirely. Even when evidence looks bad, there is often still a defense strategy that can help defend you and your rights.
Don’t resign yourself to the worst possible outcome. Your attorney will look at details like how the evidence was stored, the circumstances of your arrest, the validity of a search warrant and many other factors when building your case. These are variables that can completely turn cases around.
Facing heavy drug charges is a terrifying situation to find yourself in. Don’t wait to contact an attorney. They will help take the pressure off of you, give you direction and fight to keep you out of prison.
