[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.newjerseycriminallawfirm.com\/blog\/2nd-degree-drug-distribution-amended-to-ordinance\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.newjerseycriminallawfirm.com\/blog\/2nd-degree-drug-distribution-amended-to-ordinance\/","headline":"2nd Degree Drug Distribution Amended to Ordinance","name":"2nd Degree Drug Distribution Amended to Ordinance","description":"Our criminal defense attorneys\u00a0recently defended a client who had been charged and arrested for distributing the popular party drug known as \u201cMolly\u201d. Officers arrested our client and a co-defendant after allegedly witnessing drug sales being conducted. Our client was a college student with no prior record but\u00a0he was\u00a0charged with a second degree crime and was […]","datePublished":"2015-03-16","dateModified":"2022-09-27","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.newjerseycriminallawfirm.com\/blog\/author\/newjerseycriminallawfirm\/#Person","name":"William Proetta Criminal Law","url":"https:\/\/www.newjerseycriminallawfirm.com\/blog\/author\/newjerseycriminallawfirm\/","identifier":12,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bf046e483cfd218aa23b814afd7f502ea8e6bd244632161b6e42395a76e91a8e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bf046e483cfd218aa23b814afd7f502ea8e6bd244632161b6e42395a76e91a8e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"William Proetta Criminal Law","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.newjerseycriminallawfirm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/william-proetta-criminal-law-logo.png","url":"https:\/\/www.newjerseycriminallawfirm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/william-proetta-criminal-law-logo.png","width":250,"height":76}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.newjerseycriminallawfirm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/597_3374938-1.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.newjerseycriminallawfirm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/597_3374938-1.jpg","height":575,"width":864},"url":"https:\/\/www.newjerseycriminallawfirm.com\/blog\/2nd-degree-drug-distribution-amended-to-ordinance\/","about":["Drug Crimes","Success Stories"],"wordCount":418,"articleBody":"Our criminal defense attorneys\u00a0recently defended a client who had been charged and arrested for distributing the popular party drug known as \u201cMolly\u201d. Officers arrested our client and a co-defendant after allegedly witnessing drug sales being conducted. Our client was a college student with no prior record but\u00a0he was\u00a0charged with a second degree crime and was facing 5 \u2013 10 years in state prison that carries a presumption of imprisonment even as a first time offender. To make matters worse, he was an out-of-state resident of Philadelphia, and was immediately taken into\u00a0custody and\u00a0incarcerated in the County Jail on a $50,000 bail with\u00a0no 10% option (cash or bond only). Once retained, we immediately\u00a0contacted the County Superior Court\u00a0and had a Bail Reduction Hearing scheduled. During that hearing, we were able to offer compelling factors to the Superior Court Judge presiding over the case and were successful in getting the bail reduced so our client\u2019s family could bail him out.In the following months, we received discovery from the court and began challenging the proof issues that the State was relying on to prosecute our client. It became evident that the police improperly tested the alleged \u201cmolly\u201d being sold by our clients, and that they\u00a0could not prove that the\u00a0substance was, in fact, a narcotic. At that point, the County Prosecutor\u2019s Office agreed to downgrade the 2nd degree distribution charges to a disorderly persons offense and sent the case\u00a0back down to\u00a0municipal court. This was already a tremendous victory for our\u00a0client because he no longer faced the very real possibility of mandatory prison\u00a0incarceration and a felony record.\u00a0However, once in municipal court we continued to press the State on their weaknesses in the case and we were ultimately able to the resolve the\u00a0matter when we got the municipal prosecutor to a downgrade the drug charge to a\u00a0municipal ordinance violation. Municipal ordinances to do not carry any record and are typically only punishable by a fine. Our client was able to walk out of court after only paying a small fine and\u00a0with no criminal record after he once faced mandatory state prison incarceration of up to 10 years. Needless to say, it was a life changing event for him. If you or your loved one has been charged or arrested for drug distribution in New Jersey, contact our office today at (908) 838-0150 for a free consultation to see how our criminal attorneys may be able to help you.State v. I.I."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.newjerseycriminallawfirm.com\/blog\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"2nd Degree Drug Distribution Amended to Ordinance","item":"https:\/\/www.newjerseycriminallawfirm.com\/blog\/2nd-degree-drug-distribution-amended-to-ordinance\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]