Professional athletes aren’t the only ones to use anabolic steroids. Amateur athletes, body builders and others in Pittsburgh who want to build their muscles, enhance their looks and improve the way they play sports, use illegal steroids such as Halotestin, Deca-Durabolin, Equipoise, Anadrol, Oxandrin and Winstrol.
Police use undercover investigations on the internet and in gyms to arrest those who deal or possess illegal steroids. Many adults who simply want to improve the way they look find they are in trouble, even if they aren’t sellers, after a package containing their steroids is intercepted in the mail by customs inspectors. If you are swept up in one of these operations and charged, it is critical that you hire an experienced attorney who is very knowledgeable about drug crimes, particularly around sale and delivery of drugs.
Possession of more than 30 doses of an anabolic steroid is a misdemeanor offense with a gravity score of 4. However, you can be arrested even if you only have just enough steroids to last you a week.
Possession of Steroids and Police Searches
The police may obtain a warrant to search your home and/or gym.
How a Steroids Charge Can Harm You
For a first conviction of possessing anabolic steroids, you can be sentenced to up to one year in prison.
For a second conviction you could serve up to two years in prison, and up to three years for a third conviction.
Your driver’s license will be suspended for six months for a first offense, one year for a second offense, and two years for a third offense.
If you’re convicted, your criminal record could pose significant problems to your future. You might have trouble getting into college or graduate school or you may find yourself turned away for an apartment rental or mortgage application. You could also have trouble getting a job or maintaining your existing job. These are just a few examples; there are many more consequences of having a criminal record.
Proving Possession
In Pennsylvania, you have possession of a controlled substance when you own or possess it. If the controlled substance is available by prescription, and you are caught with the drug but without a valid prescription for it, you can be charged.
For you to be convicted of possessing a controlled substance, prosecutors must prove:
- You knowingly and intentionally had control of an illegal drug.
- You knew the drugs were illegal, you knew the drugs were present, and you intended to use or control them.
- You either had actual or constructive possession of a controlled substance. In other words, you had the drug on your person, such as in your pocket, or in a spot that you had control over, like the trunk of your car or hidden under your bed.
Steps to Take if You Have Been Charged
If you have been charged with a drug offense, your first step should be to immediately hire a lawyer.
An experienced attorney will have worked with the prosecutors handling your case many times before. They can draw on their relationships and understanding of the local court system to negotiate your charges.
Don’t talk to the police or prosecutors unless your attorney is with you.
Your Pittsburgh drug charge lawyer will go over what happened both before and after your arrest. Importantly, he or she will assess whether there was probable cause to charge you with a crime. This includes determining if the anabolic steroids really belonged to you.
If you were arrested for steroid possession while you were in your car, a critical aspect of your case will be whether or not the police had probable cause to pull you over and do a search. If there was not probable cause, the evidence obtained by law enforcement can be suppressed.
Questions? Contact me.
Your rights are at stake and you need the best defense to keep them. I will fight using the strongest defense available to get your Possession of Steroids charge reduced or dismissed so you can move on with your life.
