Legal Question in Criminal Law in Virginia

Re: Marijuana Arrest

The time your brother is looking at will depend in great part on what role the Commonwealth alleges he has in this enterprise. The fact that he has no prior convictions certainly works in his favor, as will any family support that is displayed to the court. Regardless, however, he is facing a very serious charge(s) and will likely be facing a significant jail sentence if found guilty. Without more information, I can not speculate as to what that might be.

Re: Marijuana Arrest

500 lbs. is a lotta hemp and obviously will subject your brother to various serious felony charges having to do not merely with transporting the contraband but with possessing it with the intent to distribute and/or some related charges.

As to whether your brother's family should comingle their meager funds in order to hire private counsel to defend him against these charges, you should first contact your brother and solicit his opinion on the matter and his degree of current satisfaction with the public defender who's been assigned to his case.

Many public defenders are accomplished attorneys with lots of experience in handling drug cases. Others, however, may be less skilled and experienced and be laboring under heavy caseloads which may impair their defense capabilities in any given case to which they may be assigned.

The question, of course, is which kind of public defender is likely to be on your brother's case?

The answer could mean the difference in the time

he's likely to spend in a Virginia penitentiary.

Re: Marijuana Arrest

It is difficult for me to say whether your brother should hire an attorney when I do not know any of the facts of his case. I wouldn't hire an attorney just to get the same sentence. Does your brother have confidence that his attorney is representing his best interests? Has his attorney adequately explained his options? Does he have any defenses? If your brother has doubts about his attorney's efforts thus far, it certainly wouldn't hurt to at least consult another attorney.