Drug Trafficking Laws in Rhode Island

Manufacturing, delivering or possessing with intent to deliver a Schedule I or II drug (other than marijuana) is punishable by up to 30 years and a fine of $3,000 to $100,000; Schedule III or IV, up to 20 years and/or $40,000 (5 years for Schedule III(d)); Schedule V, up to 1 year and/or $10,000. A person who is not drug-addicted and sells Schedule I or II drugs faces up to life and a fine of $10,000 to $500,000. Possessing or delivering larger quantities (for example 1 ounce to 1 kilogram of heroin, cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine or MDMA, or 1 to 5 kilograms of marijuana) carries up to 50 years and up to $500,000, and more than 1 kilogram (more than 5 kilograms of marijuana) carries up to life and up to $1,000,000. Selling Schedule I or II drugs to a minor at least 3 years younger carries a 15-year minimum sentence (up to life) unless the judge finds substantial and compelling reasons for less.

Rhode Island's rule on court-appointed lawyers: The state Office of the Public Defender must represent and act as attorney for indigent defendants in criminal cases referred by the supreme, superior and district courts (and listed family court cases). An indigent defendant is a person who, after payment of necessary expenses for food, shelter and medical care, lacks sufficient income or assets to retain counsel and has no one legally responsible for his or her support who has such income or assets. To qualify, the applicant swears to an affidavit to that effect; the public defender may request further financial information or documents and investigate, and if the person is not indigent, notifies the referring court. False representation is penalized under § 12-15-11. R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 12-15-3, 12-15-8, 12-15-9

Lawyers set their own fees, and Rhode Island has rules on how they may charge. See hiring a criminal defense lawyer in Rhode Island for fee rules, how to check a lawyer's license and free help.

How release before trial works in Rhode Island: All persons imprisoned ought to be bailed by sufficient surety, unless for offenses punishable by imprisonment for life, for offenses involving the use or threat of use of a dangerous weapon by one already convicted of a qualifying offense (as the section specifies), or for listed controlled-substance offenses (such as trafficking, possession with intent to distribute, or possession punishable by ten or more years), when the proof of guilt is evident or the presumption great. There is no constitutional right to bail pending appeal of a conviction. A justice of the supreme, superior or district court may release a person held on a criminal charge on recognizance in the sum named in the process or, if none, any sum the justice deems reasonable. Surety, or a deposit of ten percent (10%) of the bail set with the court, is the sole monetary condition of release; a court may not require a cash deposit as the sole monetary condition (except where court-imposed restitution is owed), and a deposit is returned if the defendant appears as required. R.I. Const. art. I, § 9; R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 12-13-1, 12-13-10 What happens after an arrest.

Each state sets its own rules for sealing or expunging records. See Rhode Island expungement and record sealing rules.