Bergen County NJ Marijuana Distribution Charges Attorney

Travis J. Tormey and Christopher Perry of the Tormey Law Firm LLC recently represented a client charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, a crime of the third degree, as well as possession of marijuana over 50 grams, a fourth degree felony. On a third degree crime, the client was facing three (3) to five (5) years in New Jersey state prison if convicted of this offense. Alternatively, the client was also facing up to eighteen (18) months in state prison if convicted of the fourth degree crime.

The client and his girlfriend were traveling down from New York through New Jersey when they were stopped in Bergen County. Based on the weight of the marijuana in his possession, he was charged with distribution. However, he did not have any scales or cash that would indicate that he was selling drugs and he also was not observed actually selling drugs. Therefore, the possession of marijuana charge with intent to distribute was questionable at best. Our client had no prior criminal history so we had him apply for the pre-trial intervention (PTI) program. PTI is a diversionary program for first time offenders which allows the client to not only avoid any jail time but also to avoid a felony charge on their record if they successfully complete the PTI probationary period.

It is a $75 application fee to apply for PTI and you are interviewed by the probation department. The probation department then makes a recommendation to the prosecutor’s office whether or not they think the defendant is a good candidate for PTI. In this case, the probation department objected to the defendant being admitted into PTI because the defendant lives out of state and based on the nature of the charges. However, our Bergen County NJ criminal attorneys were able to convince the assistant Bergen County prosecutor that our client was a good candidate for PTI and, as a result, the prosecutor admitted our client into the PTI program over the objection of the probation department.

In addition, the charges were dismissed against our client’s girlfriend who was in the vehicle with him. Now, if our client remains arrest free and passes the mandatory drug tests in PTI, the charges will be dismissed at the end of his probationary period. This was a great result for our client and the Tormey Law Firm.