Drug Distribution / Sales defense in El Paso County, Colorado

Drug Distribution / Sales cases in El Paso County are handled by the El Paso County Combined Court, which sits in the 4th Judicial District. As a combined court, it hears both county-court and district-court matters.

Drug Distribution / Sales charges in El Paso County are prosecuted by the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office, the elected District Attorney for the 4th Judicial District.

El Paso County falls within the 4th Judicial District, and Drug Distribution / Sales cases there are heard in the El Paso County Combined Court.

Drug distribution under C.R.S. 18-18-405 is a drug felony whose level depends mainly on the type and amount of the controlled substance. The four drug-felony levels in C.R.S. 18-1.3-401.5 carry very different ranges: a level 1 drug felony is eight to thirty-two years with a fine up to $1,000,000; level 2 is four to eight years; level 3 is two to four years; and level 4 is six months to one year. Only a level 1 drug felony reaches the million-dollar fine ceiling. Describing distribution as carrying up to a million-dollar fine across the board overstates the exposure for the lower levels.

A level 1 drug felony is the most serious tier under C.R.S. 18-1.3-401.5 and applies to the largest quantities or most aggravated distribution conduct defined in C.R.S. 18-18-405. It carries a presumptive eight to thirty-two years in the Department of Corrections, three years of mandatory parole, and a fine of $5,000 to $1,000,000. Lower quantities fall to a level 2, 3, or 4 drug felony with substantially shorter ranges. Because the level turns on drug type and weight, the quantity alleged and how it is measured are often central issues, including whether the total includes mixtures or only the pure substance.

Right Law Group's guide explains: "A Level 1 felony could be punishable by up to 32 years in prison and $1 million in fines."