Major Drug Offender Unit

 The Major Drug Offenders Unit is a specialized force of prosecutors whose experience and training in the law of search and seizure and other expertise in drug case law make us particularly effective in the prosecution of drug traffickers.

We provide legal counsel and support to local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in the investigation and prosecution of individuals trafficking in large amounts of illegal drugs. We also prepare search warrants prior to indictment.

Following indictment, we handle these cases through all stages of the prosecution including motion hearings, trial, forfeiture and sentencing.

Our mission is to prosecute criminals who make a living in the sale or trade of drugs.

Quantity of drugs is not the only criteria we use for identifying major drug cases. We also consider:

• Whether guns were involved
• Whether children were involved
• Kind of drug
• Size of cash seizure
• Association with organized crime
• Criminal history
• Community input and complaints
• Police request

We work closely with the U.S. Attorney's Office to bring drug dealers to justice.

Recently the disturbing increase in the use of heroin throughout the county -- and the subsequent increase in heroin overdose deaths -- has caused this office and law enforcement agencies throughout the county to take additional and different steps in attacking the drug problem.

In conjunction with federal drug task forces, this office has now begun to prosecute those low level defendants, users who would not normally be prosecuted in federal court. This is in an attempt to spotlight their problem and encourage treatment for their problems.