Distribution of Drugs in a School Zone

If you or a loved one was arrested for selling drugs in school zone (a.k.a. within 1,000 feet of a school), a conviction will result in significant penalties, including the real possibility of a state prison term. Our Toms River NJ drug distribution defense lawyers include former county and municipal prosecutors that have been representing individuals accused of possession with intent to distribute CDS in Ocean County for over 100 years collectively. For a thorough review of your case, assistance arranging bail, or for top flight representation in fighting an indictment or complaint accusing you of distribution of drugs in a school zone, contact our Toms River Office. Our defense attorneys have over a century of combined experience handling school zone distribution offenses throughout Ocean County including those arising in Jackson, Pt. Pleasant Beach, Toms River, Manchester, Lacey and Barnegat. A lawyer is available 24/7 for free consultations at (732) 286-6500.

If you are facing charge of possession with intent to distribute in a school zone, the law that applies is N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7. This offense is an entirely separate charge that arises whenever the activity of selling heroin, cocaine, marijuana, MDMA, methamphetamine or another drug, takes place in a school zone. When this law applies, there are enhanced penalties, including a mandatory minimum state prison sentence for distributing CDS. An unfortunate result of a school zone charge is therefore the extremely high probability of jail, even if it is your first felony case or involves marijuana. With stakes like these, your decision as to who will defend you is an extremely important one. We can offer you one of the largest criminal defense teams in the entire state, an office in Toms River directly across from the Ocean County Superior Court, and a staff that includes former prosecutors who have been handling cases in the county for decades. This are extremely important credentials when you consider the penalties involved with a school zone violation.

In order for the prosecutor to prove a school zone charge, he/she must establish that you sold, manufactured or dispensed drugs within 1,000 feet of school property. A location only qualifies as “school property” where it is owned by or leased to a school/school board and is regularly used for school purposes. Selling, distributing or dispensing drugs with this zone results in a fine of up to $150,000, which is significantly higher than the normal fine for a third degree crime. In addition, the right to a flat sentence is lost when someone is convicted for selling CDS in a school zone. Except where one ounce or less of marijuana is involved, a minimum period of parole ineligibility equal to between one-half and one-third of the sentence imposed or 3 years, whichever is greater, must be imposed. The same percentages apply to marijuana except that the term is reduced to the greater of 1 year as opposed to 2 years. The only way that these mandatory minimum period of state prison can be avoided is through the grant of a waiver by the court based on the defendant’s prior record, the location and likelihood that children would be exposed to the drug activity, whether school was open and whether children were in the area when the offense allegedly took place. A waiver cannot even be considered if the distribution activity took place directly on school property, on a school bus, involved violence, the use of a firearm, or where the defendant has a prior distribution record.

The primary drugs involved in school zone violations these days are marijuana and heroin. Cocaine and prescription drugs like Xanax, Suboxone and Oxycontin are also arise frequently in 2C:35-7 cases in Toms River. Our former prosecutors are well equipped whatever variety of CDS you have been accused of distributing in a school zone with hundreds of cases having been successfully handled over the last 20 plus years. One of the lawyers at Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall even served as the director of the street drugs task force at the prosecutor's office. An attorney is prepared to conduct a comprehensive review of the circumstances surrounding the search and seizure, as well as your arrest, to formulate the best strategy for fighting the charge that was filed in Brick, Stafford, Lacey, Berkeley, Little Egg Harbor or elsewhere in Ocean County. Call us 24/7 for a free consultation with an attorney from our firm.

Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall, 10 Allen St #2Dreet, Toms River, NJ 08753, defends clients charged with distribution of cds/drugs in a school zone in Jackson, Pt. Pleasant Beach, Toms River, Manchester, Lacey, Barnegat, Brick, Stafford, Lacey, Berkeley, Little Egg Harbor and elsewhere in Ocean County.