Drug Distribution Lawyer In Conroe, TX
Texas has no offense called trafficking or distribution. Selling, giving, making or intending to hand off a controlled substance is charged as manufacture or delivery, and it carries a higher range than possession of the same amount. This page covers the elements, the tiers, how intent is contested and what happens in Montgomery County.
What Is Drug Delivery In Texas?
Texas has no crime named drug trafficking. Under Health and Safety Code § 481.112 and its companion sections, it is an offense to knowingly manufacture, deliver, or possess with intent to deliver a controlled substance. Deliver includes transferring a substance or offering to sell it. The penalty group and weight set the level, and delivery is graded above possession of the same amount.
Source: Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 481, Texas Controlled Substances Act
Understanding Texas Law
How Does Texas Law Define Drug Manufacture And Delivery?
Texas charges distribution under one offense section per penalty group. Section 481.112 covers Group 1, § 481.1121 covers Group 1-A, § 481.1123 covers Group 1-B, § 481.113 covers Group 2, and § 481.114 covers Groups 3 and 4. Marijuana has its own section, § 481.120. Each makes it an offense to knowingly manufacture, deliver, or possess with intent to deliver.
Delivery is broader than a sale. The definition in § 481.002 reaches any actual or constructive transfer from one person to another, and it includes an offer to sell. No money has to move.
Manufacture is broad as well. It covers producing, preparing, compounding, converting or processing a substance, and it includes packaging or repackaging. Weighing powder into gram bags can fall within it.
How a delivery case reaches court:
- A controlled buy, in which an informant or undercover officer purchases drugs while recorded or watched
- A search warrant on a home or storage unit that turns up bulk quantities and packaging
- A traffic stop where the quantity, packaging or phone leads officers to charge intent
- Messages, posts or calls in which the accused offered to sell
The third route has no sale observed at all. Without added evidence of intent, the same bag supports only a possession charge.
Penalties And Consequences
What Are The Penalties For Drug Delivery In Texas?
Once the weight passes the lowest tier, each delivery band sits above possession of the same amount. The rows below cover Penalty Groups 1 and 1-B. These are statutory limits, not predictions. The remaining groups are on the penalty groups page.
A second degree felony, 2 to 20 years in prison.
A first degree felony, 5 to 99 years or life.
Third degree felony since September 1, 2023.
- Group 1, under 1 gram
- State jail felony: 180 days to 2 years in a state jail facility and up to a $10,000 fine.
- Group 1, 1 to 4 grams
- Second degree felony: 2 to 20 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.
- Group 1, 4 to 200 grams
- First degree felony: 5 to 99 years or life and up to a $10,000 fine.
- Group 1, 200 to 400 grams
- 10 to 99 years or life and up to a $100,000 fine.
- Group 1-B, under 1 gram
- Third degree felony since September 1, 2023: 2 to 10 years in prison.
- Group 1-B, 1 to 4 grams
- Second degree felony.
- Group 1-B, 4 to 200 grams
- 10 to 99 years or life and a fine of up to $20,000.
- Fentanyl delivery causing death
- Since September 1, 2023, a murder charge is possible when someone dies after taking a delivered Group 1-B substance.
Weapons, school zones and prior convictions can raise these ranges. Those rules are on the enhancements page.
Real Questions
What Do People Ask About Drug Delivery Charges In Texas?
Can I be charged if no drugs changed hands?
Does having several baggies mean intent to sell?
What if an informant set the case up?
Can a delivery charge be reduced to possession?
Possible Defenses
How Can A Drug Delivery Charge Be Defended?
A possession with intent case asks a jury to read a plan into objects. A dozen small baggies can reflect sales, or one bulk purchase broken down for personal use. Several hundred dollars can be a paycheck or rent money. A scale in a kitchen drawer proves little alone. The law requires the inference to hold beyond a reasonable doubt, not merely to be one possible reading.
A defense lawyer goes through the search, the lab report, the informant file and the phone extraction to see what the state can truly tie to the accused.
Points that can change the level of the charge:
- Whether the lab-confirmed weight reaches the tier alleged
- Whether the substance falls in the group named in the indictment
- Whether a school zone or weapon allegation can be proven under the enhancement statutes
- Whether the evidence shows the accused, and not someone nearby, controlled the drugs
A deadly weapon finding on a delivery conviction brings the case under the 3g rules, which limit judge-ordered community supervision.
The Search
Was there a warrant, valid consent or a recognized exception when the drugs were found?
Intent
Does the evidence show a plan to sell, or an ordinary alternative explanation?
The Informant
Who was the informant, what was promised, and what other evidence ties the accused to the offense?
The Phone Data
Who controlled the phone and the account, and was the data taken under a valid warrant?
The Lab Weight
Does the confirmed net weight support the tier charged?
The Recordings
Do the video and audio show the hand-off, and do they show the accused?
Local Process
What Happens After A Drug Delivery Arrest In Montgomery County?
The statewide steps below apply anywhere in Texas. The courts, prosecutor and jail are specific to Montgomery County.
The Buy Or The Warrant
The investigation produces the recordings, surveillance notes, informant reports or warrant affidavit the case is built on.
Booking And Bond
A magistrate sees the accused within 48 hours of arrest under Code of Criminal Procedure art. 15.17 and sets bail.
Lab And Grand Jury
The substance is identified and weighed, and the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office presents the case for indictment.
Discovery And Motions
The state's file is produced under art. 39.14, and challenges to the warrant, the stop or the informant's role are litigated.
Resolution
Dismissal, a reduction to possession, a plea, deferred adjudication where the law allows it, or trial.
- Where it is heard
- Felony delivery cases are indicted by a grand jury and heard in the district courts at the Montgomery County Criminal Justice Center on 207 W Phillips St.
- Who prosecutes
- The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office, from offices in the same building as the felony courts.
- Who makes the arrest
- Conroe Police Department, Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, Texas DPS Highway Patrol, Montgomery County Constables, Precincts 1 through 5, Willis Police Department, Shenandoah Police Department, Oak Ridge North Police Department, Magnolia Police Department, Splendora Police Department, or Roman Forest Police Department.
- Where you are booked
- The Montgomery County Jail at 1 Criminal Justice Drive.
- If the case is appealed
- Appeals go to the Ninth Court of Appeals in Beaumont.
Next Steps
What Should You Do After A Drug Delivery Charge?
Delivery ranges are long, so the first choices count. These steps are general information, not advice for one person.
Do Not Discuss The Case
Jail calls are recorded and texts can become evidence. Keep the facts between you and your lawyer.
Stay Away From Co-Defendants
Contact with others in the case can create new problems.
Keep The Paperwork
Save the warrant copy, property receipt, bond papers and court notices.
Protect Your Phone
Do not delete anything. Deleting data can be charged separately and can look worse than what was there.
Write Down The Details
Record how the stop or search happened and who was present.
Meet Bond Conditions
A missed test or reporting date can bring a bond revocation.
See a lawyer before the first setting and before any talk with investigators. Mitchell Law Firm offers a confidential conversation about a delivery charge in Montgomery County.
Official Texas Sources
Read The Law Behind This Page
- Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 481: manufacture and delivery offenses and definitions
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 12: punishment ranges
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 19: murder, including delivery of a Penalty Group 1-B substance
- Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 38: informant and accomplice corroboration rules
- Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 42A: community supervision limits, including article 42A.054
- Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 39: discovery of the state's evidence
- Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 15: arrest and magistrate warning
Who Handles Your Case
The Texas Lawyer Who Speaks Science
Attorney Brennon Mitchell isn't just a seasoned Conroe trial lawyer. He's one of the few in Texas, and the entire country, to earn the prestigious title of an ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist. That means he's gone beyond the courtroom and into the laboratory, receiving in-depth, hands-on training in forensic chromatography, the same kind of testing used by crime labs to try and convict Texans every day.
What does that mean for you?
It means when the state uses blood alcohol or drug testing to try to prove its case, Mr. Mitchell knows how to challenge it. He's trained to:
- Analyze lab results and spot faulty science
- Cross-examine forensic experts with precision
- Break down complex chemical evidence in plain language for juries
This is not the kind of background you find in most criminal defense attorneys, and it could make the difference between a conviction and a clean slate.
Brennon graduated from Texas A&M University School of Law and practices from offices in Orange and Conroe.
Client Reviews
What Clients Say About Brennon Mitchell
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different and is decided on its own facts.
Related Drug Charges
Other Drug Cases Handled In Conroe, TX
A delivery case can bring conspiracy, organized crime or enhancement allegations with it, and each one changes the range differently. See the full Drug Crimes defense overview for Conroe.
Drug Possession
Knowing possession of a controlled substance, graded by penalty group and lab weight from a misdemeanor up to a first degree felony.
Drug Conspiracy
Criminal conspiracy under Penal Code § 15.02 and engaging in organized criminal activity under § 71.02, built on agreements, messages and co-defendants.
Drug Diversion
Forged and altered prescriptions, deception of prescribers, and medication taken from workplace stock, charged mainly under § 481.129.
Juvenile Drug Crimes
Drug cases against children aged 10 through 16, heard in juvenile court under Title 3 of the Texas Family Code.
Internet Drug Crimes
Buying, selling or shipping controlled substances through websites, apps, social media or the mail.
Drug Crime Enhancements
Drug-free zones, deadly weapon findings, prior convictions and group allegations that move a drug charge up a level.
Drug Penalty Groups
The Texas penalty groups and their weight tiers for possession and delivery, gathered in one reference.
Drug Charge Information
A step-by-step guide to a drug case in the county, from booking and bond through the crime lab to the courthouse.
Drug Crime FAQ
Straight answers to the questions that follow a drug arrest in Montgomery County, tied to the Texas statutes.
Common Questions
Drug Distribution Questions People In Conroe Ask
How is intent to deliver proven in a Conroe, TX drug case?
Intent is a state of mind, so the state proves it through circumstances. The evidence offered for it includes the quantity compared with personal use, packaging into separate units, digital scales, cash, ledgers, and messages about prices or amounts. Each fact can have an ordinary explanation, and the jury weighs them together against the reasonable doubt standard before it can find intent.
Does giving drugs to a friend count as delivery in Montgomery County?
Health and Safety Code § 481.002 defines delivery as the actual or constructive transfer of a controlled substance from one person to another, and the definition also includes an offer to sell. Payment is not an element of the offense. Passing a single pill to a friend at a party meets the definition, and the level then depends on the penalty group and the weight.
What is the penalty for selling fentanyl in Conroe, TX?
Fentanyl delivery is charged under § 481.1123, the Penalty Group 1-B delivery statute. Since September 1, 2023, less than one gram is a third degree felony, one to four grams is a second degree felony, and four to 200 grams carries 10 to 99 years or life with a fine of up to $20,000. A delivery that results in a death can also be prosecuted as murder.
Can a delivery charge in Montgomery County be reduced to possession?
Possession is a lesser included offense of possession with intent to deliver, because every element of possession is also part of the greater charge. A reduction can come through negotiation with the prosecutor, or a jury can convict of the lesser offense when the proof of intent falls short. The range then follows the possession tier for the same group and weight.
Can someone convicted of drug delivery in Conroe, TX get probation?
Community supervision is available for many delivery convictions. A judge can order it when the sentence is ten years or less and no statute bars it, and a jury can recommend it for a defendant who has never been convicted of a felony. An affirmative deadly weapon finding removes the judge's power to order it under Code of Criminal Procedure art. 42A.054.
What if a paid informant set up the drug buy in Montgomery County?
Code of Criminal Procedure art. 38.141 bars a conviction under the Controlled Substances Act on the testimony of a covert informant who is not a licensed peace officer unless other evidence tends to connect the defendant to the offense. The informant's arrangement with law enforcement, including any payment or promised leniency, can be requested in discovery and explored on cross-examination.
Mitchell Law Firm, PLLC
Your Freedom Is Our Fight
Delivery ranges are long and the evidence is often recorded. Call to go over what the state has before the first setting.
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