Contact Van Severen Law Office, S.C. about keeping or maintaining a drug trafficking place charges: (414) 270-0202
Keeping or maintaining a drug trafficking place charges often accompany other drug charges in Wisconsin. The reason for this is simple: sometimes individuals who are accused of selling a substance operate out of a vehicle, dwelling, or other location. Simply using that location exposes the defendant to charges under this specific section.
This charge is a Class I felony. While this is indeed the lowest level felony in Wisconsin, it does expose the defendant to a maximum penalty of 3.5 years (1.5 initial confinement and 2 years extended supervision) in prison. This is a serious penalty, especially drug trafficking place charges frequently accompany additional charges.
Finally, it’s important to hire a criminal defense law firm and criminal defense attorneys who know what they’re doing. At Van Severen Law Office, S.C., we dedicate 100% of our resources to defending criminal cases just like this. A significant portion of those cases are drug cases, which regularly include keeping or maintaining a drug trafficking place charges. Contact us immediately at (414) 270-0202 to schedule a free initial consultation or to begin fighting your case.
What is keeping or maintaining a drug trafficking place?
Section 961.42 of the Wisconsin Statutes prohibits keeping or maintaining a drug trafficking place. This sections says:
“It is unlawful for any person knowingly to keep or maintain any store, shop, warehouse, dwelling, building, vehicle, boat, aircraft or other structure or place, which is resorted to by persons using controlled substances in violation of this chapter for the purpose of using these substances, or which is used for manufacturing, keeping or delivering them in violation of this chapter.”
Wisconsin Criminal Jury Instruction 6037B
Certain elements need to be proven before you can be convicted of keeping/maintaining a drug trafficking place. All of the following elements must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt:
- The defendant kept or maintained a structure or place;
- The place was used for manufacturing/keeping/delivering the substance. The substance is a controlled substance whose manufacture/keeping/delivering is prohibited by law; and
- The defendant kept or maintained the place knowingly.
How do we defend my case?
Criminal cases are defended in a variety of ways. Sometimes the defendant doesn’t actually know that place was kept or maintained for drug trafficking. We’ve worked on cases like this. Other defenses may be that the place wasn’t actually used for keeping, manufacturing, or delivering the substance. Finally, perhaps the defendant didn’t actually keep or maintain the place. There are many defense to crimes. In order for us to figure out how to defend your case, we must talk about the facts. Once we’ve gone through everything, our defense lawyers can talk about how to get the results you seek.
Contact Van Severen Law Office for drug crime defense
Our criminal defense attorneys only work on criminal cases. A significant amount of those cases involve drugs. Hire a criminal defense attorney like you’ll find at our firm, someone 100% committed to criminal defense and winning your case. We can be reached 24/7 at (414) 270-0202 today.
