What drug charge do you think is associated with five years in jail? Some people may think that it would be for selling massive amounts of drugs or even importing drugs from another country, but it is something much less serious than that: fifth-degree drug possession. For something as minor as fifth-degree drug possession, someone could lose five years of his or her life, forced to sit in prison.
Sadly, that is just one of the charges facing two Brainerd women arrested after police claim to have found traces of methamphetamine in one of the women’s home. It is not entirely clear why members of the Lakes Area Drugs Investigative Division were searching the home, but they had a warrant and apparently found a bong and two pipes used to smoke meth.
Beyond the fact that these two women could spend far too much time in jail for allegedly having pipes with trace amounts of methamphetamine in them, one of the women apparently has a child that lives in the home. While it is unknown if it is her child or if she has full custody of the child, a criminal investigation and possible conviction could ruin her chance for custody in the future. One of the charges that this woman is also facing is storing meth paraphernalia in the presence of a child.
Child custody and criminal charges are not something we often consider. A criminal defense attorney, however, can not only guide a client through the criminal justice system, but also give some advice on what a conviction might do to custody.
Source: Brainerd Dispatch, “Two Brainerd women charged with drug possession,” Sept. 13, 2013
