Supply a Prohibited Drug

Drug Supply Lawyers

We are the leading criminal lawyers who specialise in drug supply charges, including:

• Small, traffickable, and indictable quantities.
• Commercial and large commercial quantities.
• Deemed supply.
• Supply on an ongoing basis.

We can help you be found not guilty if you defend your drug charges or avoid a conviction and prison if you plead guilty, as well as obtaining bail.

Pleading guilty to drug supply – No prison or criminal record

If you plead guilty, our criminal lawyers can help you obtain a lenient sentence for your supply charge.

For example, you can avoid a sentence of imprisonment or have no criminal record by obtaining a section 10 dismissal.

Ways that our criminal lawyers can assist you in preparing your sentence for a drug supply offence include:

• Negotiating with prosecutors for you to plead guilty to less serious facts or a less serious charge.
• Assisting you with references and an apology letter.
• Obtaining psychological and psychiatric reports.
• Directing you to other services, such as drug and alcohol programs, counsellors, psychologists, and psychiatrists.
• Referring you to programs and courses that the courts hold in high regard, like MERIT, SMART Recovery, and the Salvation Army’s Positive Lifestyles Program.
• Helping you collate corroborating documents that show the effect a conviction will have on you, such as employment contracts and travel documents.
• Submitting applications for residential rehabilitation services.

Pleading not guilty to drug supply

If you plead not guilty, then there are many ways that our criminal lawyers are able to defend your drug supply charge. These include:

• Identification, which is where you do not challenge that a drug supply occurred, but your defence is that it was committed by someone else.
• No supply occurred, which is where you deny that any drug supply occurred.
• Drugs for personal use, which is where you do not deny possession of the drug but assert the possession was for personal use and not for the purpose of supplying to others.
• Incorrect weight, which is where you admit that some or all the drugs are yours but challenge the weight to downgrade the charge, e.g. from a commercial quantity to an indictable quantity.
• Admit possession, but the drugs are not yours, which is known as the ‘Carey’ offence and is where you give the drugs to their true owner and intend to return them to their true owner.
• Illegal search, arrest, or surveillance, which is where you exclude evidence that is illegally or improperly obtained. For example, there was no reasonable suspicion to justify searching you, or that a search/listening device warrant was defective, or that admissions were made without you being properly cautioned by the police.
• Drugs belong to someone else, which is known as the ‘Filippetti‘ defence and is where drugs are found in a common area of a house or car, and other people cannot be excluded as their owners.
• For charges of ‘taking part in supply’, you can prove that you weren’t involved in the supply by way of taking any steps in the process, financing or arranging to finance for the supply or allowing the offence to happen on-premises.D
• Substance not a prohibited one, which is where you deny the drug was prohibited and therefore no offence was committed.
• Duress, which is where your actions were performed because of threats (express or implied) of death or really serious injury. 
• Necessity, which is where circumstances (natural or human threats) bear upon you to such an extent that they induce you to break the law, as the consequences of not doing so would be even more dire.

Why is the weight of the drug so important?

The weight of the drug determines whether your case is a deemed supply. Weight also determines whether the offence is dealt with in the Local Court or the District Court, where there are juries and higher maximum penalties. 

The drug weight categories for some common drugs are below:

The maximum imprisonment terms are outlined as follows:

What is deemed supply of prohibited drugs? 

If drugs found in your possession weigh more than a certain weight, then you will be charged with supply, even if there is no other evidence you intended to sell the drugs.

If you are charged with deemed supply, you will have to prove to the court that you had the drugs for a purpose other than supplying them. 

Bail

If you are refused bail, our criminal lawyers can assist you in obtaining bail for your drug charge.

Bail is where a person charged with a criminal offence is released from prison while their case is being determined in court.

You can apply for bail in the Local Court, District Court, Supreme Court, and Court of Criminal Appeal.

Common bail conditions include but are not limited to the following examples:

• You or someone else deposit, or agree to forfeit, property or money to ensure a person attends court. You get the money back at the end of the case unless the accused person fails to attend court.
• You reside at one specific address.
• You report to a police station on specified days.
• You have a curfew imposed preventing you from leaving your home between specified times, including being under ‘house arrest’.
• You abstain from alcohol and drugs, including sobriety tests.
• You are restricted from associating with specified persons, including co-accused and witnesses.
• You are restricted from visiting specified places, locations and entire suburbs.
• You use a single mobile phone or agree not to have a ‘smart’ phone or not use certain applications.
• You are forbidden from entering international departure points.
• You surrender your passport to the court or police.

Why choose Australian Criminal Law Group?

The difference between Australian Criminal Law Group and other drug lawyers in Sydney is:

• We have 500+ 5-star Google reviews, which you can read here.
• Our criminal lawyers include Joseph Correy, who is recognised as one of the best drug lawyers in Sydney.
• Our drug lawyers have at least 5 years of post-admission experience, guaranteeing you a senior lawyer from start to finish of your case.
• We were founded to provide the best representation at an affordable price and offer free first conferences and fixed fees with no hidden costs.
• Through our community partnership, we mentor and sponsor youth in cultural, educational, and sporting endeavours.

Contact Australian Criminal Law Group

For your free first conference, call us on (02) 8815 8167 or submit a website enquiry.