Charged Under 21 U.S.C. § 846: What Happens Next

A federal drug conspiracy charge usually becomes visible to the defendant at the end of a long investigation rather than at the beginning. By the time an indictment is returned under 21 U.S.C. § 846, the recordings have been made, the cooperating witnesses have been interviewed more than once, and the government has already decided how it wants the enterprise to look. The case that follows moves through a fixed sequence, and each stage has a decision in it that cannot be revisited later. To discuss a pending § 846 charge, call (888) 437-7747.

On this page

Arrest, First Appearance, and Detention

Most conspiracy defendants are arrested rather than summoned, often on the same morning as their co-defendants. The first appearance follows promptly. Counsel is appointed or retained, the charge is read, and the question of release is raised.

Detention is contested more often in narcotics cases than in most federal matters, because the charged offense can shift the presumption about release. The hearing is where the defense first puts information in front of the court: employment, residence, family support, treatment history, and the actual shape of the client’s alleged involvement as distinct from the indictment’s description of the enterprise. Preparation matters here more than argument, and the record made at this hearing is read by the same judge later in the case.

Arraignment and the First Wave of Discovery

At arraignment the defendant enters a plea and the court sets a schedule. In the Eastern District of Virginia that schedule is short, which is the single most important practical feature of practicing there. Discovery in a conspiracy case is large: recorded calls and messages, line sheets summarizing them, surveillance logs, financial records, laboratory work, and agent reports covering months of source contact.

The defense priority is to work from the primary material rather than from the summaries. Line sheets compress calls into a sentence and adopt the government’s reading of coded language. Surveillance logs record conclusions the underlying footage may not support. Reading each against its source is slow, and it is where the contestable issues appear.

Motions

Three motions recur. Suppression of physical evidence turns on the stop or the warrant: the reason given for the encounter, whether it was extended past its purpose, and whether the affidavit described current information and an accurately characterized source. Suppression of intercepted communications turns on the necessity showing made to obtain the order and on whether minimization was carried out as directed. Suppression of statements turns on custody, warnings, and whether questioning continued after counsel was requested.

Severance is the fourth recurring motion in multi-defendant cases. A defendant on the margins of a large indictment otherwise sits through weeks of proof about conduct they had no part in. Severance is difficult to obtain, but litigating it creates a record about the imbalance of the proof that is useful in argument and again at sentencing.

Resolution

Cases resolve by agreement or by trial. Where an agreement is negotiated, its terms deserve as much attention as the decision to enter it. Whether drug quantity is stipulated, whether role is left open, whether a weapon adjustment is conceded, and what the parties may argue at sentencing all shape the outcome more than the plea itself does.

Where the case is tried, the defense theory is normally that the proof shows separate transactions or several smaller agreements rather than the single conspiracy charged, or that the client was a customer rather than a member. Sentencing follows either path, and the calculation is litigated on its own record. A defense that has developed evidence on quantity and role during the case is in a position to argue it; one that starts at the presentence report is not.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why was I charged when nothing was ever seized from me?

Because the offense is the agreement rather than possession. Membership can be proved through recorded calls, message content, financial records, surveillance, and the accounts of people who say they dealt with you. The absence of a seizure still helps, because it limits what can be attributed to you directly and pushes the case onto witnesses whose accounts can be tested.

Will I be released while the case is pending?

It depends on the charge and on the record made at the detention hearing. Narcotics charges can shift how the release question is approached, so the hearing is prepared rather than improvised: verified employment and residence, family who will appear, treatment history where it applies, and a clear account of the client’s alleged role as distinct from the enterprise described in the indictment.

How long does a federal drug conspiracy case take?

The Eastern District of Virginia moves faster than most federal districts, and the schedule set at arraignment governs. What that means in practice is that discovery has to be worked immediately and motions decided early. Counsel who wait for a plea posture before examining the file lose the ability to litigate on a full record.

Should I speak with agents now that I have been charged?

Not without counsel present and terms agreed in advance. After a charge, any interview should be arranged through your lawyer, with the purpose and limits understood beforehand. Statements made in an unplanned conversation become part of the file and are difficult to remove from it.

What should I preserve?

Phones and their contents, message histories, financial records, employment and treatment records, and anything that documents where you were during the charged period. Preserve rather than organize, and do not delete anything. Deletion after a charge creates a separate problem that can affect the sentencing calculation.

My co-defendants are cooperating. What does that mean for me?

It means their accounts will shape the government’s theory, and it makes their agreements, prior statements, and expected benefits central to the defense. Those materials are disclosable, and inconsistencies across successive interviews are frequently the most productive evidence in the case. It does not mean the outcome is settled.

Working With Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C.

The firm works a newly charged § 846 case in the order the case moves. That means preparing release at the first appearance, obtaining and reading the primary discovery rather than the summaries, litigating the stop, the warrant, and the interception, and holding the government to the narrower agreement the evidence supports.

Mr. Sris, Owner and Founder of Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C., is a former prosecutor and is admitted in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and New York. The firm has been practicing since 1997. Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys handle criminal defense matters across those jurisdictions, which matters in federal practice because a single investigation frequently reaches conduct, witnesses, and records in more than one state. Mr. Sris brings a background in accounting and information systems from George Mason University, applied to complex financial and technology-related cases.

The firm serves Northern Virginia from 1655 Fort Myer Dr, Suite 700, Room 719, Arlington, VA 22209 and central Virginia from 7400 Beaufont Springs Drive, Suite 300, Room 395, Richmond, VA 23225. By appointment. Call (888) 437-7747 to schedule. Request a consultation. Reach our location at (888) 437-7747.

This page provides general information about the sequence of a federal case charged under 21 U.S.C. § 846 and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Case results depend on a variety of factors unique to each case. Results may vary.

Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Attorney responsible for this advertising: Mr. Sris.

Being charged is one stage of the case. Our page on drug conspiracy charges sets out the offence from start to finish.