720 ILCS 550

 

A client being incarcerated is never a good thing but in this case it was. After months of arguing motions and fighting with prosecutors my client accepted a deal that resulted in him spending 90 days in jail for a Possession of Cannabis under 720 ILCS 550/4 and Delivery of Cannabis charge under 720 ILCS 550/5. Police charged my client with a Class X offense based on the amount of marijuana recovered during the execution of a search warrant (over 8.000 grams), as well as, my client’s prior criminal history. As such, he was looking at 6-30 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. The prosecutors offered him 13 years which I advised him not to accept. We filed motions to challenge the search warrant based on false information given to the judge and a motion to suppress the statements made by a buyer who was arrested after leaving the home. The defense also challenged statements made by my client after the police forceably entered his home.

After presenting the prosecutors with our challenges, they agreed to reduce the charges to simple felony possession and offered my client 3 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. For drug offenses, a defendant must serve 50% of his time to satisfy the sentence. My client was on house arrest the entire time we fought his case. The final hurdle was to convince the judge to give my client credit for the time he was on house arrest, close to 400 days. Once the judge agreed, over strenuous objections from the prosecutor, I determined that my client would end up serving about 90 days in jail and would be home by Christmas.

It’s strange to see someone happy going to into custody but after the legal battles and fights over the last year, he was happy to know he didn’t have to serve 13 years. I’ll call that a victory.

If you have been arrested in Chicago or Illinois, attorney Purav Bhatt is an experienced criminal defense attorney who can help you navigate the stressful and confusing criminal court system.

Call Purav Bhatt anytime at 773-791-9682 to discuss your case or complete our contact form to get in touch.