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Drug Trafficking Defense
In Georgia, trafficking is about weight, not whether you sold anything. Cross a statutory threshold and mandatory minimum sentences take over, so the defense is technical, and it starts with the evidence.
The Approach
Mandatory minimums take the judge out of sentencing. Attack the evidence, and you attack the sentence.
Georgia’s trafficking statute, O.C.G.A. 16-13-31, sets weight thresholds that trigger mandatory minimum prison terms and fines. That structure changes everything about how these cases must be defended: the weight, the lab work, and the chain of custody are not formalities, they are the sentence.
The other battleground is the Fourth Amendment. Trafficking cases are built on traffic stops stretched past their purpose, searches of cars and homes, wiretaps, GPS trackers, and confidential informants. Suppression litigation is where these cases are won, and it demands a lawyer who reads the stop video frame by frame.
Many trafficking indictments are conspiracy cases, sweeping in drivers, girlfriends, and roommates under constructive possession theories. Being near drugs is not the same as trafficking them, and we make the State prove the difference.
What we handle
Trafficking and distribution cases.
- Cocaine, meth & opioid traffickingWeight-threshold cases carrying mandatory minimum sentences.
- Marijuana traffickingPound-threshold cases, from interdiction stops to grow allegations.
- Possession with intentThe charge below trafficking, where packaging and testimony do the State’s work.
- Conspiracy countsMulti-defendant indictments built on association and phones.
- Suppression litigationStops, searches, wiretaps, and trackers, challenged motion by motion.
- Informant casesCases built on cooperators whose credibility is the State’s weak point.
Questions
Before you call.
What makes a charge trafficking instead of possession?
Weight. Georgia’s statute sets thresholds by substance, and crossing one triggers trafficking exposure regardless of any intent to sell. That is why independent testing and chain-of-custody challenges matter so much.
Can a mandatory minimum be avoided?
There are recognized paths, including charge reductions and suppression of the evidence that supports the weight. Which paths exist in your case depends on the stop, the search, and the lab file, and we will tell you candidly.
The drugs were not mine. Does that matter?
Yes. Constructive possession, being near contraband in a car or house, is one of the most litigated issues in Georgia drug law, and the State’s burden is real.
Contact
Talk to a trial lawyer today
Tell us what you are facing. We will tell you where you stand and what to do next.
Canton Office
101 Woodland Way, Suite 1C
Canton, GA 30114
Phone: (770) 693-8715
Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
Florida office, by appointment:
1831 NW 33rd Street
Oakland Park, FL 33309
Request a consultation
Confidential. No obligation. We respond during business hours, usually the same day.
Criminal and civil matters go directly to Mitch Skandalakis. Prefer the phone? Call (770) 693-8715.