Opinion ID: 76225
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Georgia's Drug Trafficking Offense

Text: 14 Georgia Code § 16-13-31(e) provides several means by which a defendant can be deemed guilty of drug trafficking in methamphetamine. Section 16-13-31(e) states: [a]ny person who knowingly sells, manufactures, delivers, or brings into this state or has possession of 28 grams or more of methamphetamine ... commits the felony offense of trafficking in methamphetamine. O.C.G.A. § 16-13-31(e) (emphasis added). Therefore, under § 16-13-31(e), Madera could be found guilty of drug trafficking by possessing 28 grams or more of methamphetamine. Indeed, Madera actually pled guilty to possession of 87 grams of methamphetamine, clearly a drug trafficking offense under Georgia law. 15 Although Georgia law expressly designates Madera's offense as drug trafficking, Madera argues that his prior drug offense should not be considered a trafficking offense under the Guidelines because he only possessed the drugs. 2 We disagree for several reasons. 16 First, this argument ignores the amount of drugs Madera possessed and why Georgia considers that conduct drug trafficking. In discussing Georgia's drug statutes, the Georgia Supreme Court has explained that the Georgia legislature has enacted a three-tiered scheme for punishing those persons involved with drugs. See Bassett v. Lemacks, 258 Ga. 367, 370 S.E.2d 146 (1988). According to the Georgia Supreme Court, the three tiers are: (1) possession of any amount of a controlled substance under O.C.G.A. § 16-13-30(a); (2) manufacture, delivery, distribution, dispensing, administering, selling, or possession with intent to distribute any amount of a controlled substance under O.C.G.A. § 16-13-30(b); and (3) trafficking by possessing more than a designated amount of a controlled substance under O.C.G.A. § 16-13-31, which aims at a yet more serious offense. Bassett, 258 Ga. at 370, 370 S.E.2d 146 (emphasis added). In § 16-13-31, Georgia considers possession of the following amounts of narcotics trafficking: 28 grams or more of cocaine or of any mixture with a purity of 10 percent or more of cocaine, see O.C.G.A. § 16-13-31(a); four grams or more of morphine or opium or any salt, isomer, or salt of an isomer thereof, including heroin, see O.C.G.A. § 16-13-31(b); 50 pounds or more of marijuana, see O.C.G.A. § 16-13-31(c); 200 grams or more of methaqualone or any mixture containing methaqualone, see O.C.G.A. § 16-13-31(d); or 28 grams or more of methamphetamine, amphetamine, or any mixture containing either methamphetamine or amphetamine, see O.C.G.A. § 16-13-31(e). 17 Accordingly, it must be possession of a significant quantity of drugs before Georgia deems the offense drug trafficking. Therefore, under Georgia's three-tiered scheme, drug trafficking, the offense to which Madera pled guilty, is a more serious offense than either simple possession or possession with intent to distribute. Bassett, 258 Ga. at 370, 370 S.E.2d 146; see also Nunery v. State, 229 Ga.App. 246, 247, 493 S.E.2d 610 (1997) (stating criminal charges for selling methamphetamine under § 16-13-30(b) are lesser included offenses of charges of trafficking in methamphetamine under § 16-13-31). 18 Second, by selecting 28 grams as the dividing line between possession/possession with intent to distribute versus trafficking, the three-tiered Georgia drug classification system recognizes that someone who is in possession of 87 grams of methamphetamine, as was Madera, plans on distributing and thereby trafficking those drugs. In making possession of 28 grams of methamphetamine a trafficking offense, Georgia's trafficking statute necessarily infers an intent to distribute once a defendant possesses a certain amount of drugs. 19 As further explained by the Georgia Supreme Court, there are a number of ways the Georgia legislature could have defined drug trafficking. Bassett, 258 Ga. at 370, 370 S.E.2d 146. The Georgia legislature could have defined trafficking by the number of drug transactions an individual engaged in or the amount of money involved in a particular drug transaction. Id. The Georgia legislature elected, however, to use the amount of the controlled substance as the basis for distinguishing the crime of trafficking from the somewhat less serious crimes of mere possession and possession with intent to distribute. Id. The elevated drug quantities in Georgia's drug laws represent an intent to distribute and thereby traffic. 20 Third, the sentencing structure in Georgia's three-tier system also reflects that Georgia treats the conduct of possessing 28 grams or more of methamphetamine as evidence of an intent to distribute and thereby traffic, and as a more serious offense under Georgia law than either simple possession or possession with intent to distribute. For simple possession, an individual faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 2 years, and up to 15 years' imprisonment. O.C.G.A. § 16-13-30(c). For possession with intent to distribute, an individual faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 5 years, and up to 30 years' imprisonment. O.C.G.A. § 16-13-30(d). An individual like Madera, however, who violates § 16-13-31(e) by possessing between 28 and 200 grams of methamphetamine, and is thus guilty of drug trafficking, shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of ten years and shall pay a fine of $200,000.00. O.C.G.A. § 16-13-31(e)(1). 3