Charged with TRANSPORTATION... worried about possible jail time? (1st time offender)

[nnosentlildevil]

From Southern California,

My boyfriend was recently arrested and subsequently charged with Transportation of about a gram and a half of meth and also with possession of a pipe. He had never been arrested for anything prior to this incident. (And the drugs were for personal use. I know that probably doesn't matter...)

Anyhoo... what happened was that shortly after picking up his supply, he was stopped by a cop because his tags were bad, and like an idiot, he hadn't stashed the stash in his stash spot, so he had to hide it somewhere on the fly... and while it was hidden, it wasn't hidden that well and if the cop would have torn apart his truck, as they are prone to doing on a whim in this area, he almost definitely would have found it! And the cop already suspected that he was high... and he told my boyfriend that if he didn't give up the drugs that he WOULD tear apart the truck and when he found them he'd charge him with more than just simple possession... So, thinking that was all he'd be facing, my boyfriend told the cop where it was, and was arrested... the cop then told him that he wasn't going to impound his truck (a ****ING MIRACLE if you ask me!!! pardon my french...) and that all that would probably happen was for my boyfriend to end up spending the night in jail and getting cited out the following morning... then the cop went and retrieved the ****... and when he looked at it he was surprised at the amount... plus... for whatever reason, my boyfriend's dealer had given him 2 seperate bags, (I guess that they were two different qualities and he wanted to know which one my boyfriend preferred...) so that REALLY didn't look good... And when the cop asked him why he had so much, my boyfriend was honest and said "Look sir, I work all week and I prefer to buy my drugs in quantity because I really don't have the time to be running around just buying a $10 or $20 bag everyday... I'd just rather get more and only have to run around once..." (or something along those lines... I don't remember exactly what was said verbatim, but that was the gist of it...) So, the cop let me (who does NOT possess a license!) drive my boyfriend's truck home and he took my boyfriend to the station... He wasn't released for 3 days and was sent down to a maximum security holding facility more than 30 or 40 miles away (only to be released shortly after he arrived there...) and he ended up having to walk almost all the way back home! He said that he wasn't sure what they had charged him with at the time but he knew it wasn't just for possession....

His first court date was last week and the next one is this week... He filled out the form for the public pretender but we all know how swamped they are with caseloads and although there are some that throw their heart and soul into their work, it isn't a common trait... needless to say he hasn't heard a word from them... We are not exactly rich by any means, but we aren't dirt poor and homeless either... he makes enough money to put a roof over our heads, food on the table every night, support his habit and maybe, just maybe have a little left over, but not usually... however, I have not once gone hungry to bed since I've been with him... something that used to happen to me a lot in my previous relationship and living situation... But what he is seriously worried about is going to jail!!! If that happens, he will almost definitely loose his job, we will loose the place we live and it just goes downhill from there...

What I'd like to know is how likely is it that he will have to go to jail/prison for this? Even if it is his first offense? And should he get a lawyer (even though we really can't afford one) or should he just stick with the public defender? Any other legal advice/tips/help would also be EXTREMELY APPRECIATED!!! If I left something out or any one needs any further information PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE feel free to email me at nnosent.lil.hellrazr@gmail.com or IM me on AIM or Yahoo!, my screennames are available on my profile here at worldlawdirect.com...!!! I hope someone can help me... I'm really starting to trip as much as he is over this whole fiasco!!!

Your input is GREATLY APPRECIATED as is your time and effort put into helping me!!! Thanks again!!!

Make sure you or he hires private counsel if possible (or at least a VERY committed public defender) to try to deal with this--jail time is probably avoidable if his record is not too bad. But also having that arrest and/or a conviction on the record will make job-hunting etc. more difficult. Often this could be negotiated down to some kind of court supervision, public service etc. If it eventually appears it cannot be negotiated down, or he (or you) needs to discuss this in more detail meet with senior counsel ASAP to review options --