First Degree Drug Crime Charges

First Degree Drug Crimes in Minnesota

Minnesota has five different severity degrees of drug crimes based on the type and amount of drug involved.  A charge of controlled substance crime in the first degree is the most serious level, and a conviction carries severe criminal penalties including incarceration and fines, as well as other court-ordered sanctions such as mandatory attendance in a drug program. You may also be subjected to seizure and forfeiture of any cash or property used during or obtained as a result of your offense.

Minnesota drug laws are quite complex, and the potential criminal penalties for a Minnesota drug offense are steep. Retaining an experienced and knowledgeable Minnesota drug crime defense attorney can help you through the entire criminal defense process to obtain the best possible outcome.

First Degree Drug Sales in Minnesota

Pursuant to Minnesota law, to “sell” a controlled substance includes selling, giving away, bartering, exchanging, delivering, distributing, disposing, manufacturing, or possessing with the intent to sell any illicit drug or substance, as well as offering or agreeing to perform one of the aforementioned acts.

You are guilty of selling a controlled substance in the first degree in Minnesota if, on one or more occasions, you unlawfully sell:

• Within a 90-day period, one or more mixtures totaling 17 or more grams of cocaine or methamphetamine
• Within a 90-day period, one or more mixtures totaling ten (10) or more grams of cocaine or methamphetamine with a firearm in your possession or the presence of two other aggravating factors including selling in a school, park, or public housing zone, or in a drug treatment facility
• Within a 90-day period, one or more mixtures totaling ten (10) or more grams of heroin
• Within a 90-day period, one or more mixtures totaling 50 or more grams containing a narcotic other than heroin, cocaine, or methamphetamine
• One or more mixtures of 50 or more grams, or 200 or more packaged dosage units, of amphetamine, hallucinogen, or PCP
• One or more mixtures of 50 or more kilograms containing marijuana or Tetrahydrocannabinols (THC), or 25 or more kilograms of marijuana or THC in a school, public housing, or park zone, or in a drug treatment facility.

If convicted of first-degree drug sales in Minnesota, you face up to 30 years in prison and/or up to a $1 million fine.

First Degree Drug Possession in Minnesota

Regardless of whether you had actual possession without physical control of the drugs or you had physical possession of the drugs even though they were not yours, you can be convicted as long as the prosecutor can prove that you possessed the drugs consciously and had actual knowledge that the substance was illegal or otherwise prohibited. It is not necessary that you knew exactly what the substance is.

In order to be charged with first-degree drug possession in Minnesota, you must possess unlawfully on one or more occasions within a 90-day period:

• One or more mixtures weighing 50 or more grams of cocaine or methamphetamine
• One or more mixtures totaling 25 or more grams of cocaine or methamphetamine, and you have a firearm in your possession
• One or more mixtures containing a total weight of 25 or more grams of heroin
• One or more mixtures totaling 500 or more grams of a narcotic other than heroin, cocaine, or methamphetamine
• One or more mixtures totaling 50 or more grams containing amphetamine, hallucinogen, or PCP or if the drug is packaged in dosage units of 500 or more dosage units
• One or more mixtures totaling 100 or more kilograms of marijuana or THC, or 500 or more marijuana plants

Additionally, you could be found guilty of a Minnesota first-degree drug crime if you manufacture any amount of methamphetamine.

If convicted of first-degree possession of a controlled substance in Minnesota, you can be sentenced to as many as 30 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $1 million. 

Also refer to:
Second Degree Controlled Substance Charges
Third Degree Controlled Substance Charges
Fourth Degree Controlled Substance Charges
Fifth Degree Controlled Substance Charges