Charges
Conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana
United States v. Vasquez-Hernandez, CR 04-1547-RMT
Attorney: Charles Brown
Outcome
Full acquittal — mandatory minimum avoided
Our client was charged with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana — a federal offense that carried a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years. In the federal system, mandatory minimums remove the judge’s discretion entirely: a conviction meant a decade in prison, at minimum, regardless of any other circumstances.
Federal drug conspiracy cases are among the most challenging to defend. The government does not need to prove that you personally handled drugs — only that you agreed with others to do so and took some step in furtherance of that agreement. The standard is broad, and prosecutors use it aggressively.
We built a defense focused on the agreement itself — what our client knew, what they actually participated in, and what the government could and could not prove. We challenged the credibility of the government’s evidence and held the prosecution to its burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The jury returned an acquittal.
Our client avoided the ten-year mandatory minimum and went home. In a federal drug conspiracy case with this exposure, that outcome required thorough preparation, aggressive cross-examination, and a defense that the jury believed.