Police have reportedly just made the second largest drug bust in upstate New York, finding a young co-ed with a LOT of heroin. Keri Blakinger, a 26 year old senior at Cornell University, was arrested holding over 6 ounces of heroin, in a Collegetown hotel-motel. It is suggested that she was holding 500 uncut doses or $150,000.00 worth of the drug. Her former boyfriend has a history of drug charges in the area. Columbia, Brown and the other Ivy League universities all have drugs on or around their campuses, but this large amount is thankfully not common. It is unfortunate that the opportunities afforded to someone who earns an Ivy League degree will be lost on this student, and a tragic waste. Instead, she will be tested by the legal and, likely, penal system instead of the educational system.
Though the college student is described as holding $150,000.00 worth of heroin, the New Jersey laws regarding drugs or narcotics use weight in ounces rather than "street value" to measure the severity of the crime committed. If Keri had been in a New Jersey jurisdiction, she would be subject to various drug offenses. If the amount a defendant is charged with holding is greater than 5 ounces, the crime constitutes a first-degree crime, and carries with a possible 10-20 years in prison. The crime "intent to distribute" does not actually mean that the state would be required by the Court to prove that the person was a real "drug dealer" by trade or day-to-day profession. The way the law is written, it assumes that if someone has so much of a drug, he or she must be planning on selling it. It isn't something that people typically stockpile for use alone.
If you are, or anyone close to you is accused of possessing any amount of illegal drug, an experienced attorney should be retained in order to determine the best possible strategy to protect your rights. A skilled defense attorney can examine the facts and identify where the state's case might be fall short in terms of sufficient evidence and of burdens of proof, as required by law.
