NYC Criminal Possession 3rd Degree Defense | NY Penal Law 220.16 Class B Felony Lawyers

NYC Criminal Possession 3rd Degree Defense | NY Penal Law 220.16 Class B Felony Lawyers

So your probably in complete shock right now because you just got hit with a Class B felony for having half an ounce. Maybe the cops found 14 grams of heroin in your apartment. Maybe they aggregated multiple bags to hit that magic number. Or maybe your facing TWENTY-FIVE YEARS in prison over what you thought was personal use! Look, we get it. Your beyond TERRIFIED because this is the same felony level as armed robbery! And you should be scared! Because NY Penal Law §220.16 means MANDATORY PRISON TIME starting at 5 years!

Why Is 3rd Degree So Devastating?

Third degree possession is where the system stops pretending your a user and treats you like Pablo Escobar. At 14 grams (half ounce), they assume your dealing. No proof needed. No sales observed. Just the weight alone means your a trafficker in there eyes.

This is a Class B felony – the same level as attempted murder, first-degree assault, armed robbery! Your facing up to TWENTY-FIVE YEARS in state prison. Not county jail. Not minimum security. Maximum security state prison with murderers and rapists. Over HALF AN OUNCE!

The mandatory minimums are insane: First offense with no record? 5 YEARS MINIMUM. Prior felony conviction? 10 YEARS MINIMUM. Multiple priors? 15-20 years easy. And that’s if the judge likes you! Piss them off? The full 25 years is absolutely possible.

What makes this especialy cruel is the weight threshold. At 13.9 grams, your facing 4th degree – up to 15 years but often 1-3 years actual time. At 14.0 grams? Mandatory 5 years minimum! One-tenth of a gram – less than a grain of rice – means 4 extra years in prison!

What Exactly Is Half an Ounce?

Half an ounce equals 14 grams. For perspective, a quarter (the coin) weighs 5.67 grams. So we’re talking about less than three quarters’ weight destroying your entire life. In the drug world, that’s maybe 2-3 weeks supply for a heavy user, not some kingpin amount!

But here’s the trap – “aggregate weight” includes EVERYTHING. Pure heroin? Counted. Baby laxative its cut with? Counted. The glassine bags? Sometimes counted. Residue from old bags? Definitely counted. They add every possible milligram to hit 14 grams.

Street drugs are heavily cut. Heroin might be 5-10% pure. Cocaine might be 20-30% pure. But they weigh the TOTAL mixture. So 14 grams of heavily cut drugs with maybe 1-2 grams of actual narcotic equals Class B felony. Your doing 5+ years for mostly baby powder!

The law covers “narcotic drugs” – opioids like heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone, morphine, and cocaine. Fourteen grams of ANY of these, alone or mixed together, triggers third degree. They can even combine different drugs to hit the threshold!

Can You Get Probation for 3rd Degree?

Technicaly, judges have discretion to give probation for first-time Class B felonies. Realisticaly? Almost NEVER happens for drug charges. Prosecutors fight probation like there lives depend on it. They argue 14 grams = dealer = prison mandatory.

We’ve seen maybe 2-3 cases in years where someone got probation for third degree possession. They were young, sympathetic, with amazing attorneys and lucky judges. The other 99% went to prison. Don’t bet your life on being that 1%.

Drug court is theoretically available but admission is “discretionary” – meaning they usualy say no. They claim third degree is “too serious” for treatment. They want you in prison, not rehab. Even if your clearly addicted, not dealing.

The only realistic hope is negotiating down to fourth or fifth degree. Your lawyer argues the weight was wrong, the scale was off, packaging shouldn’t count. Prosecutors might take fourth degree (Class C) to avoid trial. Your still doing time but less than the mandatory 5 years.

What’s the Actual Prison Time?

Let me give you the brutal truth about third degree sentencing based on NY sentencing guidelines:

First offense, no record: 5-9 years typical sentence. Plea deal might get 5 years. Trial conviction? 7-9 years. Young and sympathetic? Maybe 5. Older or unsympathetic? 8-10 years.

Prior felony conviction: 10-12 years MINIMUM by law. Prior drug felony? 12-15 years. Multiple priors? 15-20 years. Violent priors? Approaching the 25-year maximum.

But here’s what’s worse – pretrial detention. Bail for Class B felonies starts at $25,000 cash, often $50,000+. Can’t pay? Your sitting in Rikers for 1-2 YEARS waiting for trial. By then, you’ll take any plea just to have a release date.

Post-release supervision adds 2-5 years of parole hell. Drug tests where one failure = back to prison. Curfews, travel bans, employment restrictions. You might do 5 years inside and 5 years on parole – a decade total for 14 grams!

How Do Prosecutors Prove Intent Without Sales?

Here’s the beautiful part (for them) – at 14 grams, they DON’T need to prove intent to sell! The weight alone is the crime. No undercover buys needed. No witnessed sales. No customer testimony. Just possession of half an ounce = Class B felony.

But they’ll still argue your a dealer to get maximum time. “Nobody needs 14 grams for personal use.” “This amount indicates distribution.” “Only dealers have half ounces.” The jury believes it because they don’t understand addiction.

They’ll use any “evidence” to paint you as a trafficker: Multiple phones (everyone has work and personal phones). Cash on hand (ATMs charge fees). Scales in kitchen (for cooking). Plastic bags (for sandwiches). Text messages saying “meet me” (could mean anything). Everything becomes sinister.

If you had the drugs packaged in multiple bags? “Packaged for sale!” If in one bag? “Wholesale dealer amount!” If you had debt? “Selling to pay it off!” If you had money? “Drug proceeds!” There’s no winning with there narrative.

What Happens to Immigration Status?

Third degree possession is an “aggravated felony” under federal immigration law. That means MANDATORY deportation for any non-citizen, including permanent residents who’ve been here since childhood.

No waivers. No hardship exceptions. No consideration of US citizen children or spouses. You serve your 5+ years in prison, then ICE picks you up at the gate and deports you. Countries that won’t accept deportees? You sit in ICE detention indefinitely.

Even if charges get reduced later, the initial arrest for third degree triggers removal proceedings. ICE doesn’t wait for conviction – they start deportation while your case is pending. Beat the charge? Might still get deported for the arrest.

DACA gone. Student visas revoked. Work permits canceled. Asylum claims denied. Green card holders who’ve paid taxes for 30 years? Deported. One mistake with 14 grams destroys entire families, seperating parents from US citizen children permanently.

Can Weight Calculations Be Challenged?

This is often the ONLY defense that works. The difference between 13.9 and 14.0 grams is everything. Every milligram counts. Challenge how they weighed it and you might avoid mandatory prison.

Field scales are notoriously inaccurate. Not calibrated properly. Include packaging weight. Affected by wind, temperature, vibration. We’ve seen “15 grams” at arrest become “13.5 grams” at the lab. Class B felony becomes Class C. Five years mandatory becomes possible probation.

Lab testing takes weeks or months. By then, your sitting in Rikers because bail is too high. Prosecutors know this. They use inflated field weights to pressure pleas before lab results come back. “Take 5 years now or risk 10 if the lab confirms 14 grams.”

Multiple packages get aggregated improperly. Three bags of heroin totaling 10 grams plus one bag of cocaine weighing 4 grams? They combine them for 14 grams total. But are they really the same “possession” or seperate crimes? Every legal technicality matters.

What Are the Collateral Consequences?

Class B drug felony destroys everything beyond just prison:

Employment? Impossible. This isn’t minor possession – its trafficking-level felony. No employer hires Class B narcotics felons. Professional licenses? Revoked permanently. Government jobs? Lifetime ban. Even minimum wage jobs run background checks now.

Housing? Homeless shelter or nothing. NYCHA permanent ban for Class B drug felonies. Section 8? Gone forever. Private landlords? See “Class B narcotics” and reject immediately. Your living on the streets or in SROs.

• No voting rights until parole completed (decade later)
• No firearm possession ever – federal lifetime ban
• No jury service – banned from civic participation
• Child custody – lost permanently in family court
• Student aid – no federal money for education ever
• Interstate travel – restricted during parole years

Why Do They Prosecute 14 Grams So Harshly?

The half-ounce threshold comes from 1970s Rockefeller Drug Laws that assumed anyone with 14 grams was dealing. That might’ve made sense for pure heroin in 1973. Today’s heavily cut drugs? A heavy user might need 14 grams just for a week!

But prosecutors love third degree charges. Mandatory 5-year minimums terrify defendants into pleading guilty. Class B felony looks great on there conviction stats. “Major drug trafficker taken down!” Even though your just an addict who bought in bulk to save money.

The racial disparity is disgusting. White kid from Westchester with 14 grams of cocaine? Rehab and sealed records. Black man from the Bronx with same amount? Five years state prison. The law’s the same but enforcement is completly different.

They know most people can’t afford real lawyers for Class B felonies. Public defenders have 100+ cases. Private attorneys want $50,000+ for trial. So you take whatever plea they offer just to survive.

Why Spodek Law Group for 3rd Degree Possession?

Most lawyers see Class B felony and immediately push plea deals. “Take 5 years before they offer 10!” But we know that 5 years in prison destroys your life just as much as 25. We fight to keep you OUT entirely.

We attack weights down to the milligram. Was it really 14.0 grams or 13.8? We hire independent labs. We challenge aggregation. We question every aspect of how they weighed, tested, and calculated. One-tenth of a gram saves you from mandatory prison.

We’re not afraid of trial on Class B felonies. Most lawyers won’t risk it – too much exposure. We will. Prosecutors know this. Sometimes they’d rather dismiss or reduce significantly than risk losing a “major trafficking case” at trial.

We understand that 14 grams doesn’t make you El Chapo. Your probably an addict who bought quantity for convenience or price. We humanize you to judges and juries who’ve been brainwashed by drug war propaganda.

Call us RIGHT NOW at 212-300-5196
Don’t let 14 grams equal 25 years of your life!

Every second counts with third degree charges! That scale calibration record? Being destroyed. That video showing cops adding packages together improperly? Being deleted. Witnesses who saw you buy for personal use? Disappearing or forgetting.

Don’t let half an ounce destroy your entire future! Don’t plead guilty to 5 years just because your terrified of 25! Don’t trust your life to lawyers who’ve already given up! Fight back with attorneys who know that 14 grams of cut drugs shouldn’t equal a life sentence!

Disclaimer: Prior results don’t guarantee future outcomes. Each case depends on specific facts. But we promise to fight every single gram like your freedom depends on it – because it absolutely does.