A drug charge can change the picture of your future. You might find yourself suddenly thinking about prison. And about what a felony does to a job, an apartment, or a background check years from now.
But a charge is not a conviction, and the worst possible outcome is not the only one. A Greenville drug crime lawyer at Axelrod & Associates is ready to stand up for your rights through each phase of the criminal justice process.
Stay silent and call our criminal defense team. We can talk through what happened, and we can tell you honestly what you are facing.
When you hire Stuart Axelrod, you hire a Greenville criminal defense attorney who brings real experience and solid credentials to back it up.
If the matter is serious, your counsel should be exceptional.
A record like this means that the prosecutor knows your attorney will take a case to a jury and treats your case differently from one where the lawyer expects a quick plea. We use that position from your first call to give you an honest read on where you stand and a plan built for your specific charge, not whatever moves the docket along fastest.
Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.
In South Carolina, the amount of a drug, not what you planned to do with it, can turn an arrest into a trafficking case with a mandatory minimum prison sentence that the judge cannot reduce.
| Charge | When It Applies | First-Offense Exposure | Governing Law |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Possession | A small amount held for personal use (under 1 gram of cocaine, crack, or meth; 1 ounce or less of marijuana) | Misdemeanor. Up to 30 days for marijuana, up to 3 years for harder drugs. First offenses may qualify for dismissal through conditional discharge. | §§ 44-53-370(c), 44-53-375(A) |
| Possession with Intent to Distribute (PWID) | Quantity, packaging, scales, or cash suggest distribution. No actual sale required. | Felony. Up to 15 years for cocaine, crack, or meth. Up to 5 years for marijuana. | §§ 44-53-370(b), 44-53-375(B) |
| Trafficking | Weight at or above the statutory threshold, regardless of intent. | Felony with a mandatory minimum prison term that the judge cannot suspend. Starts at 3 years and increases to 25–30 years at the highest weights. | §§ 44-53-370(e), 44-53-375 |
The damage does not stop at sentencing. A felony drug conviction can cost you federal student aid, professional licenses, and jobs you have not even applied for yet. So what decides whether one bad day defines the next 20 years of your life?
Prosecutors in the 13th Judicial Circuit handle these cases every week, and they are not measuring your future by your potential. Much of the outcome comes down to who is standing next to you in the Court of General Sessions and how early they start working.
These are real outcomes from drug cases this firm has handled in South Carolina courts.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. But they do show what is possible when a drug case is worked hard from day one by an experienced drug crime attorney in Greenville.
Our drug crime defense attorneys defend the full range of Greenville County drug charges, from a first arrest to a serious felony.
This list does not cover every drug charge in South Carolina. If yours is not here, tell us what happened, and we may be able to help.
Where your case goes depends on your charge, and which courtroom it lands in tells you a great deal about what you are up against.
Felony drug charges, including trafficking and possession with intent to distribute, are prosecuted by the 13th Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office and heard in the Court of General Sessions at the Greenville County Courthouse, 305 E. North Street, downtown.
This is where the most serious exposure lives, including mandatory minimum prison terms.
Misdemeanor possession charges often start here instead, in a lower court with lighter penalties. Where a case begins is not always where it ends, and getting a lawyer in early can keep a charge from climbing to General Sessions.
For charges rooted in addiction, the Solicitor’s Office runs an 18-month Adult Drug Court program of treatment, testing, and regular check-ins that can take the place of incarceration. Finishing the program can mean a very different future than a conviction.
For people who qualify, Pre-Trial Intervention can end in a full dismissal and a clean record. Not every case belongs in a diversion program, and not every case should plead out at all.
Our Greenville drug charge defense lawyer can look at your charge, your history, and the evidence, explaining which of these paths are available and what they may mean for the outcome of your case.
Yes. This firm has won a Not Guilty verdict on a Trafficking Cocaine charge at a full jury trial and has had other trafficking charges dismissed. The earlier a lawyer reviews the stop, the search, and the lab work, the more options you have.
Yes, but that does not mean it has to. First-offense simple possession may qualify for conditional discharge under S.C. Code § 44-53-450, where finishing probation results in dismissal, and the arrest can later be expunged.
Simple possession means the drugs were for personal use. Possession with intent to distribute (PWID) means the state believes you meant to sell or share them, and prosecutors can infer that from quantity, packaging, cash, or scales. That inference is often more defensible than it first looks.
Yes. A drug conviction can suspend your license for 6 months on a first offense, even when driving had nothing to do with the case. Avoiding the conviction is how you protect the license.
Now. Video, witness memories, and physical evidence fade, and early work on the search and the lab results is often where drug cases are won or lost. Waiting only gives away time you cannot get back.
The criminal justice process does not wait, and neither should you. The sooner we see the evidence against you, the more we can do with it. You do not have to sort out what you are facing alone, and you do not have to guess at how serious it is for your future.
Contact Axelrod & Associates today for a confidential consultation, and let a Greenville drug crime lawyer who has taken drug cases to trial tell you honestly where you stand and what comes next.
I just had the most awesome results with Axelrod Law Firm, particularly with Tatiana Berkey! She got my 8 points reduced to zero with only a $25 fine! She was so informative, caring and productive! It’s a great law firm with great results!
The staff at Axelrod&Associates is far none the best on the grand strand.they have taken care of 5 different cases for me and they went way above my expectations. Heather,Kelly ,Stuart and notably the best paralegal in the business…”Jenna” are so professional and most of all….caring. A million thanks to everyone there.
Go see Kate O’Hara! Her and her team work great together! Kept me up date and answered all the questions that I had! I couldn’t thank them enough!
Words can’t describe how thankful I am for this law firm ! They went way beyond anything I could have ever expected. If you are looking for a firm that really cares about their clients , this is the one!
Great experience working with Jenna and Heather on my adoption. It has been a long, lengthy process, and they were great getting me through all of it. Would recommend and definitely use them again in the future if needed. Thank you so much.
The fields marked with * are mandatory.
Our attorneys handle a wide range of legal concerns ranging from personal injury, to traffic tickets to criminal charges to on-the-job injuries, to divorce and custody matters, to social security and veterans administration disability claims.
4701 Oleander Drive, Suite A
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
843-484-3983
1550 N. Oak St.
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
843-390-9090
1510 Ebenezer Road
Rock Hill, SC 29732
803-956-1224
3700 Golf Colony Ln
Little River, SC 29566
© Copyright 2026 Axelrod & Associates, P.A. • All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer | Site Map | Privacy Policy. Digital Marketing By: 
Images are obtained under license from Canva and other third-party stock image providers, with attribution included where required.
Spanish