Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Obviously these are very serious charges. Hopefully you or her other relatives can hire an attorney for her. Please feel free to call me anytime to discuss.

There are weight enhancements that, depending of the specific weight and how it tests out, can add substantial time on top of a base term for possession for sales/distribution.

You said "trying to cross"... If you mean into the US, then we're rptalking federal crimes with harsh mandatory minimums, etc. if we're talking state charges, it's a little better, but she needs a very, very good attorney on her side to discuss the case and her options in a confidential setting.

Thank you for your phone call.

I looked up your sister's case, and I did some research on the general subject of "blind mule" drug smuggling cases. A "mule" is someone who takes drugs across a border for someone else, for example the drug cartels. A "blind mule" is someone who takes drugs across a border without knowing the drugs are there.

The following is general information that could apply to any "blind mule" case, so I am going to post it here for the benefit of others. Your sister has a very difficult choice. She could take the guilty plea she was offered with a substantial federal prison sentence, or she could go to trial and risk a harsher sentence. In order to win a jury trial, she and her lawyer will have to convince a jury that she did not know the drugs were in her car. The government will have an expert witness, probably a federal narcotics agent, who will testify that there is no such thing as a "blind mule" and everyone who is caught with drugs at a border crossing knows the drugs are there. This is not true, and your sister would have to have her own expert witness, such as a retired federal drug agent, to testify that there -are- such things as "blind mules." Your sister would also need character witnesses, and other evidence that she was not involved in criminal activity.

Please read the following story about an innocent school teacher who became a "blind mule" when the drug cartels read the VIN number of her car from her windshield and had a crooked locksmith make a key:

http://www.npr.org/2011/07/21/138548294/at-border-teacher-becomes-unwitting-drug-smuggler/

Hiring a lawyer is your sister's other problem. The public defenders will pressure your sister to plead guilty. While the federal public defenders are usually better lawyers than the state court public defenders, if you want a trial your sister will want to hire a lawyer who is not the public defender. It will cost a substantial amount of money to hire a lawyer to go to trial on this case, and you will also have to hire the expert witness.

Any time you post a criminal law question on LawGuru you will receive many answers from hungry lawyers, many of whom will tell you why they think they are better than other lawyers. Hiring a lawyer can be a confusing process. Simply stated, your sister's situation involves high-stakes gambling, both as to whether she should plead guilty, and as to which of 100,000 California lawyers she should hire.

Thank you again for calling. I will give you and your sister as much help as I can.