I Was Busted By The Feds: A Cautionary Tale
Firstly, I don't want anyone to tell me how stupid or reckless my actions were in this case. I know that I totally set myself up for this, and believe me I have beaten myself up more than you can possibly imagine. I'm writing this as a caution to others to be more careful and not make the same mistakes I did, so save your flames for elsewhere. It all began in late April, when and a supposed friend and I had decided to go to a national conservation area (at the time I did not realize it was Fed land), and to dose on some LSD. I brought my full stash (first mistake), about 10 hits. We began our way on a trail late in the afternoon and we each dosed two hits. The trip turned intense very fast, eventually around 8/9 pm we decided to head back to the car at the trailhead. As we headed back in the night, with no flashlight (second mistake) we finally reached her (my so called friend's) car after making a lot of noise along the way.
We decided to sit in the back of the car and look at the city lights as we knew that we were tripping far to hard to attempt a drive home at the moment. Unbeknowst to us the parking area in front of the trailhead closed at 8:00 pm sharp, and yet we were forced to remain parked there because we couldn't drive elsewhere. If we would've started our jouney earlier, it might've been a different story (third mistake). My friend says, "What if the cops come?" I say oh you're just being paranoid don't worry the cops aren't going to show up we're in the middle of nowhere. Within 20 minutes, I see carlights coming ahead but I assume it's just another good samitarian who's strolling through the area. Once, the car turns into the trailhead I realize that this is no ordinary car. The officer approachs us in the car's backseat, I open the car door and we both produce identification for the officer. He shines his light in my friends eyes and sees her pupils are as big as piss holes in snow. He pulls her out of the car to seperate us and question her. I keep gesturing her to invoke her rights to to remain silent, and refuse consent. The officer tells me to "shut up" and of course, her being a deceitful ignorant bitch she immediately blabs her mouth that she was "high on Acid". I should've tripped with someone more trustworthy (fourth mistake). The cop returns to me to give me a Terry Pat, I inform him that I refuse all searches and I invoke my right to silence. After I invoked my rights he told me "that's only in the movies". He cuffs me, puts me in the back of the his Bureau of Land Management Vehicle.
The officer then proceeds in a car search, and finds the hits of LSD in a backpack indentifiable to me. The car is impounded, and my so called "friend" gets a front ride in the front seat of the car, and is released to her mother (she's 22) with a Being Under The Influence Of A Controlled Substance To A Degree That May Endanger Oneself charge. Before she got in her mother's car, she makes sure to inform the officer that I had distributed the 2 hits of LSD to her and she goes off on her way. I didn't know she'd ratted me out at this time, and I gave her my debit card to get a friend to bail me out of jail. I was issued citations of Possession, Distribution, and Being Under The Influence Of A Controlled Substance To A Degree That May Endanger Oneself. I was never blood tested, never urine tested, no pupil tests, no sobriety tests, nothing. Just taken straight to what is notoriously the worst jail in my metro area. I am informed that if I have any other controlled substance to turn it over because bringing it in the facility would be a felony. Luckily, I was otherwise clean. I am taken to the station, and not even searched. The only looked inside my shoes, and that was it. The arresting officer made small talk with me as he exited, and as I entered the holding tank.
I sat there in the holding cell in absolute terror and fear, I was shaking with anxiety like no other. I looked around and I thought, "Am I really one of them?" I wanted to cry, so I put my head down in my arms to shed a tear or two. Obviously, I did not want to be seen or perceived as weak. I was surrounded by some very shady looking people, but I was not fearful of them. I was only fearful of my captors outside of the holding tank. I met a few people in jail who I talked to, most were helpful to me, and almost all were frequent customers of the criminal justice system. They informed me that my name badge was the "wrong color" meaning that I had a felony charge, they told me I wanted the other color which would mean a misdemeanor. I was horrified, interviewing them asking them what they think would happen to me. My bail was posted immediately upon my arrival by my friend, and I was released after being in the holding tank for 14 hours. I was released onto the streets of a bad part of town, I took a taxi home and this is where things really begin.
At the time, boy was I holding I had a mushroom grow, a bunch of dried shrooms, marijuana, and a shipment of dried mescaline cacti coming in the mail which I immediately destroyed upon receiving (fourth mistake was ordering this). I was horrified in the jail that a warrant would be executed on my house, and then I would be fucked. Fortunately, when I got home no warrant had been executed and my stash was intact. I immediately destroyed the grow, the mushrooms, and the pot. I destroyed all paraphenalia, and anything that could possibly relate to drugs. I began to search for a lawyer, and I eventually hired one of the most elite lawyers in my area. This is when I learned that I was on Federal land, and these were Federal felony charges. It was here that I learned about the mandatory (now advisory) minimum sentencing guidelines and the penalty for LSD. In federal sentencing, all drugs are converted to a marijuana equivalent and then sentenced from there. I found that 1 gram of LSD equals 100,000 grams of marijuana. That's 1 gram of LSD is 100 kilos of marijuana. Unbelievable! And LSD is charged by total weight, no just by the pure drug. So one droplet (100 mics) of LSD on a sugar cube is equal to 100 kilos of marijuana, and triggers a 5 year sentence! The amount I had weighed out to probably around 3 milligrams, anything less than 50 mgs is a level 12 Felony offense with a reccomended 10-16 months in prison.
I was shocked to learn what sort of sentence I was facing for a stupid and seemingly innocent act. The possibility that I could spend a year in jail for a few hits of acid, and be a felon for the rest of my life was too much for me to bare. I began to research laws and learned about Booker variances (lesser sentences) for extraordinary rehabilitation. I found out what others did to earn this, and began to do the same. I started attending NA (even though I am not addicted to any drug, I lied and played along with it), I did community service, I got myself drug tested, I got on antidepressants, I started psychology counseling, all on my own volition so I'd look good and be able to redeem myself in front of the court. My lawyer did not advise me to do anything of this, but I sent him all the documentation to use in my favor. The next 6 months would be hell, I fell into deep depression and had suicidal thoughts for a long time. I immediately stopped all illegal activity, including legal activity such as drinking alcohol. I was miserable, as was my family members who had learned about this as well. I obsessed over the fact of being a felon, losing my financial aid, and basically having my life ruined. I was miserable, and I became a waste of life. I would say that waking up every day not knowing what would happen to me, just that my life was ruined was the closest thing to hell. I reached out to so many people in desperate attempts for them to tell me it was going to be okay, that a good person like me shouldn't have this happen to them. I have no other way to describe it I was living, walking, breathing, and drudging through a nightmarish hell day in day out. I was sure I'd lose everything.
Six months later, and a few days before trial I had supposed to meet with my lawyer to discuss what's going to happen next. I meet with them, and it's then that everything changes. It's then that a miracle happens. My lawyer tells me, "We've got you a great deal they're going to drop the possession and distribution charges, if you plead to the under the influence charge and pay a $135 fine" ... a fine less than a speeding ticket. For some reason, I'd been so depressed and come to accept my circumstance so much so at that point that while I was shocked my face was incapable of showing true expression. It was hard for me to believe, but this morning when I went to court it was confirmed. For whatever reason the US attorney did not want to bother with my case, or did not feel like prosecuting me "to the full extent of the law." The confiscated LSD was never sent to a crime lab for tests, only field testing suggested it was LSD. I could've taken it to trial and faced felony charges, with probation or a short jail sentence if I lost. And no doubt the LSD would've been sent to an official lab to be used against me. Keep in mind the Feds have something like a 99% conviction rate, almost NOBODY gets away from the Feds. Or I could take the Being Under The Influence Of A Controlled Substance To A Degree That May Endanger Oneself, which is considered a "petty offense" or lowest level misdemeanor pay the $135 fine and be on my way. Needless to say, I choose to pay the fine. I have NO drug testing, NO probation, NO community service nothing, just a fine that's it. Now that this is done and said with I can finally get on with my life, and pretend like this never happened. I got extremely lucky, normally the Feds will come down on you hard, and I've never heard of someone getting off as easy as I did. A sentence like this would be rare, even in State. I breathed the largest sigh of relief when the judge read that the felony charges were dismissed. Just for the record, my so called friend who ratted on me got a worse fine than I did, and had to do community service as she pled gulty at arraignment.
What I've learned
1. Do not ever carry more than what you are going to use.
2. When the police get involved, there's a good chance your friends will turn on you so avoid confrontations with police all together.
3. Do not ever trip in public, ESPECIALLY on federal land. Federal penalties are almost always harsher than State penalties.
4. When involved with illegal drugs, do NOT break any law no mater how minor, even jaywalking. I would not have been caught up in this mess had we not been parked at a trailhead AFTER posted hours.
5. Drug laws do not discriminate it does not matter if you have a 4.0 gpa when the cop arrests you, though it may be considered later in court
6. If you get busted, SHUT UP, the cop might be pissed off you won't talk to him/her but it will only hurt you if you open your mouth. I kept my mouth shut, but was sold out by someone who did not know their rights and was intimidated.
6. Do not settle for anything less than the best lawyer money can buy
7. Sentencing miracles can happen
8. Federal laws are HARSH some of the harshest laws in the world. Do not under any circumstance find yourself caught up with the Feds. You probably don't think you're committing as big of a crime as you are. Something you perceive to be relatively minor, might carry a sentence of multiple years. It's not minor in the eyes of the law. Educate yourself on federal law, and you will be paranoid.
9. Know your surroundings like the back of your hand before you trip.
10. There's no such thing as being too paranoid, or too careful. Let people make fun of you, or call you ridiculous you can NEVER bee too paranoid. You will get fucked if you slip up.
11. If the Feds didn't bother to knock down my door, and make any real effort to prosecute me I highly doubt they're tapping your phone lines. You should be paranoid but remember they probably don't have the time to worry about you unless you're trafficking or you fall into their lap and say "arrest me" like I did.
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And Kudos on doing the math for Donating towards Policy Reform. I also read somewhere if you donate to NORMAL and you have drug charges (weed only I think not sure) they will help you to get lawyers who know what to do in those situations and they will also help to inform you on loop holes and what not. Now that's service!!! 
Great Post! Goes to show you can never be too safe when dabbling with your "hobbies". Take it easy out there and remember to have your "trips" very well planned in advance. Be safe guys!
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