Possession with the Intent to Distribute (or PWID) Cocaine
Drug charges are serious offenses in Virginia. One drug offense heavily pursued and prosecuted in Fairfax County Virginia is possession with the intent to distribute cocaine, sometimes known as PWID cocaine. Selling or even just having while intending to sell cocaine is criminalized under Virginia statute 18.2-248. Critically, the PWID statute also illegalizes the manufacturing, possession with the intent manufacture and even the gifting of cocaine. This means that a person can be charged with PWID for giving or even intending to give cocaine to another for free.
Punishment for a PWID cocaine conviction varies in Virginia depending on the number of prior offenses and the amount of cocaine involved. A first time conviction carries a sentence of between five and forty years and a fine of up to $500,000. Upon a second conviction, the sentence runs from five years to life, carries a fine up to $500,000 and imposes a three year mandatory minimum sentence. The sentence for the third-offense is essentially the same as that for a second offense, except it carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years. In some circumstances, a PWID involving more than 500 grams of cocaine can also result in a mandatory minimum of 5 years. PWID involving a kilogram or more of cocaine carries a mandatory minimum of twenty years.
What is Required to Prove PWID?
The good news is that Virginia actually has a relatively high bar of proof when it comes to PWID cocaine. Like with a drug possession case, the Commonwealth’s Attorney must convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was aware of the presence and character of the substance and that the accused consciously possessed it.
More critically from the PWID perspective, the defendant’s intent to distribute must be proved. In other words, the Commonwealth’s Attorney is stuck with the task of actually proving beyond a reasonable doubt what was occurring in the defendant’s mind. For the most part, PWID cases not involving being caught in the act of actually distributing cocaine are proved through the statements of the defendant. Prior cases say that mere quantity alone is not automatically enough to convict a defendant. Nor does the packaging of the cocaine necessarily grant the government a clear win. This is because it is entirely possible that the defendant simply purchased the cocaine in that format.
How Can the Sentence for a PWID Cocaine Case Be Mitigated?
In general, the potential for jail time for PWID cocaine increases with the amount of cocaine involved. The mandatory minimums can be particularly devastating because no lower sentence of incarceration can be imposed and the judge cannot suspend any portion of the sentence. However, it is important to remember that the amount of cocaine that the Commonwealth alleges is not necessarily the amount of cocaine that the Commonwealth can prove. This is a critical distinction, because the Commonwealth must prove the alleged amount by the standard of beyond a reasonable doubt in order for the minimum sentence to apply. Further, the PWID cocaine statute provides a set of circumstances in which the mandatory minimum may not apply at all. The defendant must not have any prior convictions from a statutory list of crimes; must not have used violence or threats or possessed a firearm in the commission of the PWID; the PWID cocaine did not result in the death or serious injury of another; and the person must not have been the organizer of a criminal enterprise.
