Legal Question in Criminal Law in New Jersey

consequences of conspiracy to sell cds

What are the consequences of ''conspiracy to sell cds'', specifically marijuana, if there is no marijuana found? The only thing that the police have are tape recorded confessions that there was a drug deal in process, but the drug deal got fouled up. As result of the drug deal being fouled up, the police never got any marijuana for evidence, they just scared people into saying that there was a drug deal. I, admitted on tape, that I knowingly went to the deal to help the seller so he wouldn't stand a chance of being beaten up, but I never saw the marijuana.

thank you.


Asked on 6/03/03, 11:54 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Evan Levow Lutz, Levow & Costello, P.A.

Re: consequences of conspiracy to sell cds

Conspiracy to sell marijuana is, generally, a third degree offense, which, in a worst case scenario, if you have no prior record, should result in a probationary sentence. You have potential Miranda (confession) issues, as well as many other potential issues to fight the charge(s) with.

If there is no marijuana found and no one else corroborates the situation, you should seek to have the matter "downgraded" to the municipal court level. This would change the status of the charges from "felony" to "misdemeanor" level charges.

If you have further questions, please call me on my cell phone (856) 889-5181 or at my office (856) 428-5055.

Thank you.

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Answered on 6/04/03, 5:01 am
Jeffrey Weinstein Jeffrey L. Weinstein, Attorney at Law

Re: consequences of conspiracy to sell cds

You have asked two questions, first, whether there is enough evidence to convict you of conpiracy, and second, the potential consequences.

Conspiracy is basically planning to commit a criminal act with at least one other person. The State does not need to prove that the act took place, so in your case, the fact that marijuana was not found is not harmful to the State's case. If a number of people admitted that you were part of a plan to sell marijuana, that could be enough to convict. You may have a number of defenses, such as admissibility of confessions, or others that I could only tell by seeing the investigation reports.

Regarding consequences, I'm assuming you are charged with third degree conspiracy. If you are a first time offender, the result would almost certainly be probation, probably with some drug counseling and monitoring. You could also seek to have the charges downgraded to municpal court, in which case you would be most likely looking at just a fine.

I am very experienced in these types of cases. Feel free to contact me at 609-397-8400 to discuss your case further.

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Answered on 6/04/03, 8:49 am


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