California has very stringent laws against the use, manufacture, sale, or distribution of controlled substances. For instance, manufacturing a controlled substance is a felony, punishable by up to seven years in prison and a hefty fine. A conviction for the same is also likely to affect various aspects of your life. For instance, it could have serious immigration consequences for non-citizens. It could also affect your gun rights, your employability, and your relationship with others.

That is why you need to find proper legal help if you face charges for manufacturing drugs in Fresno, CA. At the California Criminal Lawyer Group, we know how serious those charges are. That is why we will walk with you through the process, help you gather strong evidence, and prepare a solid defense against your charges. Our goal will be to compel the court to either reduce or dismiss your charges.

An Overview of California Health and Safety Code 11379.6 — Manufacturing Drugs

California law against manufacturing controlled drugs is under Health & Safety Code 11379.6. That law makes it illegal for anyone to manufacture, produce, convert, process, or prepare, directly or indirectly, through extraction or use of chemical composition, any controlled drug.

A controlled drug refers to any regulated drug that the state of California has categorized in different schedules. Most controlled drugs are illegal, including meth, heroin, and cocaine, while others are prescription drugs, like oxycodone and morphine. These drugs are controlled by law because they have chemical compositions capable of altering a user’s mental or physical state. Some controlled substances are used for their medicinal value. But they can be very addictive. That is why state and federal laws control their use, sale, and distribution.

Manufacturing a controlled substance is a serious felony in California, carrying severe consequences if a court finds you guilty. California HS 11379.6 mainly prohibits the manufacture of narcotics, drugs, and other controlled substances. It also makes it illegal for any person to participate or offer to participate in any activity that involves the manufacture of an illegal substance. It could be that you provided help in a meth lab or were helping mix chemicals to produce narcotics.

The only requirement is for you to have knowingly participated in any stage of the manufacturing or processing of a controlled substance. If that’s the case, then you could be found guilty. Additionally, the controlled substance must be among those listed under the Controlled Substances Act, in Schedule I, II, III, IV, or V. Thus, it could be an opiate, stimulant, or narcotic.

If the court finds you guilty of manufacturing an illegal substance, you will be convicted of a felony offense that could result in a prison sentence of up to seven years, plus a hefty penalty. Note that penalties under this law increase with the quantity and type of the controlled drug in question. For instance, you are likely to spend more time in jail and pay a higher fine if the manufactured drug was of a greater quantity, or the drug contained methamphetamines or PCP, or any other chemical composition that could cause the user to incur a significant bodily injury or even death.

To help you understand this law even better, let us look into the elements of the offense, which the prosecutor must demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt for the judge to declare you guilty as charged. For legal help, support and advice, contact an experienced criminal attorney.

The Legal Definition

During the trial, the court will expect the prosecutor to demonstrate the following elements for you to be convicted under this statute:

  • That you manufactured, produced, compounded, or prepared a controlled drug.
  • That you did so, knowing too well that the substance you were producing, manufacturing, compounding, or preparing was a controlled drug.

As previously mentioned, the drug could belong to any of the schedules provided under the U.S Controlled Substances Act. The most common examples of controlled substances are:

  • Heroin.
  • Cocaine.
  • Ecstasy.
  • PCP.
  • Marijuana.
  • LSD.
  • Methamphetamines.

The prosecutor must provide sufficient proof that you were taking part in producing or preparing a controlled drug. You must also have done so, knowing that you were making or manufacturing a drug, and the drug was an illegal substance. Note that the law doesn’t require you to have known the specific drug in question but that the drug was an illegal substance.

Proving knowledge is a great challenge for many prosecutors. It is impossible to tell what a person knows or doesn’t know. Many people will not admit to understanding the nature of the drug, especially after seeing the gravity of their charges. That is why the law allows certain assumptions as proof of knowledge by a defendant. For instance, if you took part in preparing a substance that required you to work while in hiding or in the middle of the night, it could indicate that you knew that what you were preparing was illegal. Otherwise, you will not need to hide.

Additionally, the prosecutor doesn’t need to provide an already prepared or manufactured controlled substance as proof for the court to find you guilty of drug manufacture. The production or manufacturing process mustn’t be complete for you to be guilty as charged. You could still be found guilty even if the police arrested you while you were just starting the process. It could be that you were merely gathering the tools and chemicals required to produce the drug. Or you were acquiring the necessary equipment and making the first combination. If these acts are a critical stage in the production process, they will count as a crime.

The prosecutor only needs to prove that:

  • You knowingly took part in the process of manufacturing a controlled drug — You may not have been the supplier of chemicals or equipment required in the manufacture but a handyman. Your participation, however minor, will be under scrutiny. If it were significant, it would be enough to warrant a guilty verdict.
  • Your participation in the manufacture of the said drug was at the beginning or intermediate stages of the entire operation — You don’t have to have been the primary participant or be in control of the operation to be found guilty under this statute. It could be that you only participated briefly, then left the rest of the procedure for others to complete.

Note that the chemical extraction process for some of these controlled substances can happen directly or indirectly. The prosecutor doesn’t need to prove much, only that your actions were a direct link to the manufacture or preparation of a particular controlled substance. For instance, you can be charged for creating a precursor element, useful in the later stages of the manufacturing process.

Moreover, you could be guilty under this law if you offered to help manufacture a controlled substance or accepted an offer to help. Again, you do not have to have done anything; merely offering to help or agreeing to help is enough to warrant a conviction.

Possible Legal Defense Strategies for Charges Under California HS 11379.6

Manufacturing a controlled substance is a serious offense in California. Thus, you must be careful to avoid a conviction if you wish to escape the severe consequences that come with it. Your Fresno criminal defense attorney will play a significant role in helping you fight your charges. Fortunately for you, the law allows several defense strategies that you can use to fight your charges according to the details of your case. If successful, the court might reduce or dismiss your charges. The most common of these defense strategies are:

You Were There Only During the Preparation Process

Preparing to manufacture a dangerous substance is not the same as manufacturing it. Therefore, it will not count as a crime under this law. California HS 11379.6 requires you to have participated in the production process to be found guilty under the law. Thus, you could use this as a defense to convince the judge to reduce your charges. However, the court will consider certain factors before making its final decision. For instance, what did you do to prepare for the manufacturing of the said drug? Were your actions, in any way, a part of the manufacturing process?

If you merely took part in the preparation and were not involved in the manufacturing process, you may not be guilty under this statute. For instance, you could have participated in purchasing the chemicals used in the preparation of a narcotic. Or in planning how the entire process would go. Your attorney can use that opportunity to have the court dismiss your charges or reduce them to a less severe offense.

You Were There But Did Not Participate in the Production Process

It is not unusual for a person to be arrested at a crime scene without knowing that the place was a crime scene. For instance, you might have visited a friend without knowing that your friend and many others were using the house to produce narcotics. If the police raided the home in your presence, you would still be arrested and charged with drug manufacture, just like the others present during the raid.

However, you must work harder to convince the court of your lack of participation and knowledge of the crime. For instance, if the police found you in the living room and the narcotics production was happening in the kitchen or bedroom, you might not have been aware of it.

Or, you might have visited your friend and found them doing something that you were unaware of, only later to learn that they were manufacturing narcotics. The law requires you to have known the nature of the offense to be found guilty of taking part in it. Without this knowledge, the court might dismiss your charges.

Illegal Search and Seizure

People do not commit drug-related offenses in the open. Thus, law enforcement officers must act smart to nab criminals. Sometimes the police depend on intelligence from members of the public. They act fast to avoid missing a chance to make an arrest, which mostly happens without a search or arrest warrant.

The police are guided by the law on how to conduct searches, seizures, and arrests. They must first obtain a search warrant, clearly detailing the kind of search they must conduct in a suspect’s person or property. Without a search warrant, you can use this defense to have the evidence obtained this way thrown out of court.

Search warranties do not just authorize the police to search a person’s property. A warranty will provide limitations beyond which the police must not search. Thus, you can still cite this defense strategy even if the police had a search warrant against your person or property. It could be that the police exceeded the warrant’s provision, and in so doing, they violated their legal guidelines.

An experienced criminal attorney will know how to use this defense successfully to have your charges dropped or dismissed.

The Police Entrapped You

Sometimes law enforcement officers use extreme measures to obtain evidence or a confession from a suspect. That would cause an otherwise law-abiding citizen to commit an offense they would not have committed under different circumstances. For instance, police working undercover could lure you into taking part in manufacturing a controlled substance, only to arrest and charge you for the offense.

Entrapment occurs when police officers overbear their official conduct. For instance, the police might use harassment, fraud, pressure, threats, or flattery to persuade someone to commit a crime. You can use this defense strategy to demonstrate that:

  • You committed the illegal act.
  • But you only committed the offense because the police entrapped you.

An experienced Fresno criminal attorney will know how to use this defense to compel the court to dismiss your charges successfully. For instance, if the police harassed or threatened you, you might have taken part in the offense out of fear.

Mistaken Identity

Many times in California, people are arrested and charged with offenses they have not committed. It could happen to anyone. You might have been arrested by the police, who were acting on a tip from public members. In that case, the police can quickly arrest the wrong person through a mistake of facts. For instance, if your relative, friend, roommate, or anyone who resembles you is implicated in the narcotics manufacturer, the police might mistakenly arrest you for the offense.

The court will require your attorney only to prove your lack of participation in the said crime. If successful, the court will dismiss your charges.

Penalties for a Conviction for Manufacturing Drugs in California

As previously mentioned, manufacturing illegal drugs is a serious felony in California, attracting the following penalties upon conviction:

  • Three, five, or seven years in prison.
  • A fine of up to $50,000.

You are likely to receive a more severe penalty if you are found guilty of manufacturing a larger volume of a controlled substance.

In addition to criminal penalties, a conviction for manufacturing narcotics will result in other life-altering consequences.

For instance, it will affect your immigration status if you are a non-citizen. Drug-related crimes are usually under the category of crimes of moral turpitude. They refer to crimes involving dishonesty or vile/depraved conduct that would shock a reasonable person. If convicted for these crimes, you could face deportation if you are already living in the U.S or declared inadmissible if you are making efforts towards migrating to the United States.

Additionally, manufacturing controlled drugs is considered an aggravated felony offense. Under California laws, aggravated felony offenses automatically qualify for mandatory deportation. Also, some types of relief will be unavailable for you once you face conviction for an aggravated felony offense, including asylum relief, cancelation of removal and 1-212 hardship waiver, or application for readmission into the United States after deportation.

That is why it is crucial to find proper legal defense if you face criminal charges for manufacturing drugs in California.

A conviction for manufacturing drugs in California will also affect your gun rights. California allows residents to purchase and possess firearms, but with strict limitations. Among the people who are denied this right are convicted felons. Since manufacturing drugs is a felony offense, a conviction for the same will affect your gun rights. You will never be able to buy or possess a gun in the state. If you already have one, you must surrender it to the authorities immediately after conviction.

As if those consequences are not enough, a court cannot expunge a criminal conviction under this statute from your criminal record under California expungement laws. Expungement of criminal records gives ex-defendants a second chance in life. It removes the conviction from your criminal history and all the consequences the record might have on your life. That will not be available for you if the court finds you guilty of manufacturing controlled drugs. That is why you must work hard at defending yourself during the trial.

California Manufacturing Drugs and Related Offenses

California law has specific crimes that are closely related to Manufacturing drugs. Some offenses are prosecuted together with, while others are charged in the place of manufacturing drugs. The most common of these are:

Possession of Controlled Substances for Sale

The law against possession of controlled substances for sale is under California HS 11351. It makes it an offense for anyone to knowingly possess or buy a controlled drug intending to sell it. You might have possessed the dangerous substance planning to sell or give it away or purchased a large amount of the dangerous substance intending to resell it.

As used under this law, possession can be actual (direct), constructive (indirect), or joint (together with another person).

Also, you must have acted knowingly to be convicted under this statute. Knowledge here concerns the fact that you had the drugs and the nature of the drugs in your possession.

The offense is a felony, punishable by a maximum of four years in jail and a fine of up to $20,000. However, you could qualify for drug diversion, whereby you will be allowed to serve your sentence in a drug treatment program instead of prison. Once you complete the treatment program, the court will dismiss your charges.

Possession of Manufacturing Materials for Controlled Substances

California HS 11383 makes it a criminal offense for any person to possess specific materials intending to use the materials to manufacturer dangerous drugs like PCP

The prosecutor must prove the following elements for the court to find you guilty under this law:

  • That you were in possession of specific materials in specific combinations, intending to use them for the manufacture of PCP or an analog of the said drug.
  • That when you had those chemicals, you had a clear intent to use them in the production of the controlled drug.

The chemical combinations that could be used to produce PCP are:

  • piperidine and cyclohexanone.
  • morpholine and cyclohexanone.
  • pyrrolidine and cyclohexanone.

Under this statute, possession means simple or constructive possession. It means that you might have carried the chemicals in your person (on your hands or pockets), or indirectly, for instance, in a car or motorbike.

Additionally, the prosecutor doesn’t require proof that you have manufactured the said drug or have manufactured the drug in the past. The court will only require proof of knowingly possessing chemicals used in the manufacture of the drug.

The offense is also a felony, punishable by a maximum of six years in prison and a fine of not exceeding $10,000. The penalties increase with the number of previous drug-related convictions.

Find a Reliable Fresno Criminal Attorney Near Me

If you face arrest for manufacturing an illegal drug in Fresno, CA, it could help if you hire the best criminal defense service. It is because this is a serious charge, a conviction of which could leave you serving a lengthy prison time and paying a hefty fine. An experienced criminal attorney will put up a fight against your charges to compel the judge to either reduce or dismiss your charges. At California Criminal Lawyer Group, we will work to protect your rights and fight for a fair outcome of your case. Call us at 559-712-8377, and let us be there when you need us the most.