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Entrapment and Oklahoma Drug-Related Crimes: What You Should Know

Entrapment and Oklahoma Drug-Related Crimes: What You Should Know

Depending on the facts, a defendant charged with drug crimes in Oklahoma may use the affirmative defense of entrapment in court. You may have some understanding of entrapment from popular culture, but the legal definition of this defense is not the same as the cultural understanding. In court, entrapment has 2 specific requirements: The defendant has no previous intent or purpose to violate the law, and The defendant is induced or persuaded by law enforcement officers to commit a crime. Oklahoma Uniform Jury Instructions, OUJI-CR 8-25. Each requirement raises an important and sometimes difficult to prove issue. First, defendants who are...

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The Oklahoma Trafficking in Illegal Drugs Act and Its Consequences

The Oklahoma Trafficking in Illegal Drugs Act and Its Consequences

In Oklahoma, the Trafficking in Illegal Drugs Act prohibits drug crimes involving large amounts of controlled substances. Sentencing requirements for people convicted of drug trafficking have changed in recent years, but Oklahoma still has one of the strictest sets of drug laws in the country. Oklahoma law criminalizes possessing, distributing, manufacturing, or transporting into the state certain quantities of various different controlled dangerous substances. Further, the Trafficking in Illegal Drugs Act also prohibits (1) possessing CDS with the intent to manufacture drugs in large quantities and (2) using or soliciting services of a minor to distribute or manufacture a CDS. All...

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Can You Commit a Drug Crime Just by Using the Telephone?

Can You Commit a Drug Crime Just by Using the Telephone?

Using a telephone to commit certain felonies could net you another felony conviction in Oklahoma. This state law follows similar federal law focusing on use of communications devices in facilitating or committing crimes. Under the law, it is a felony to willfully use any “communication facility” in committing any act that is one of several felonies. 13 O.S. § 176.3(8). The felonies include distributing, manufacturing, cultivating, or trafficking drugs, including any conspiracy to do so. 13 O.S. § 176.7. Using a communication facility to cause or facilitate the commission of these felonies is also prohibited. Communication facilities include telephone, mail, wire,...

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Sentence Enhancements for Drug Crimes Involving Children

Sentence Enhancements for Drug Crimes Involving Children

In Oklahoma, committing drug crimes that involve children leads to increased jail time and penalties. Specifically, the criminal sentence for the underlying crime will be doubled or tripled, with other restrictions imposed. This is known as a sentence enhancement. Drug court judges may impose sentence enhancements for people who use minors to distribute or transport drugs, for people who distribute drugs near schools, and for people who possess or buy drugs near schools or in the presence of young children. The enhancements emphasize the state’s focus on keeping drugs away from children under age 18 – both for safety reasons and...

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