Utah Has More Federal Lands than State or Private Lands
The sad reality of Utah is that there is very little private property as compared to federally owned lands. The amount of federal lands means that you have to worry about breaking federal law in addition to state law. This is especially true for those who smoke marijuana. Utah is between a couple of state that allow medical marijuana: Colorado and California. A lot of people from those states come to Utah to enjoy its national parks and outdoor adventures. The national parks, however, are federally owned, and smoking marijuana is against federal law (and Utah law), which means that even if you have a medical marijuana license, the feds don’t care.
If you get slapped with a citation for smoking weed on federal land, you have to go to federal court, which can be pretty scary. Federal courts are notorious for their heavy handed penalties.
Congress Shows Some Compassion
Congress was nice enough to give weed smokers a second chance allowing for prejudgment probation. In Utah state courts, prejudgment probation is the equivalent of a plea in abeyance. Essentially it means you plead guilty, but your guilty plea is not entered so long as you do what the court orders you to and you go 12 months without having any other violations. In federal court you have to do be on federal probation, pay a fine, have a drug assessment, take a substance abuse educational course, and anything else your probation officer asks you to do. If you successfully complete your probation your case is dismissed and you will not have any convictions on your criminal record.
Talk to Us Before Doing Anything
If you can get a prejudgment probation arrangement on your federal marijuana charges in Utah, you will be in great shape, and we can help you get there. To find out if you qualify, give our federal criminal defense attorneys a call. We can generally tell you right over the phone whether you qualify and how we help you through the ordeal.
