# Drug Crimes [areas-hero](https://ahl-whmsqlm30xzl.wpfv3.comradeserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/areas-hero.webp) service San Antonio Drug Crimes Attorney ## Found in the Car Doesn't Mean Found on You A drug case usually rests on two things the State treats as settled: that the search was lawful, and that the drugs were yours. Austin Hagee filed and prosecuted these cases for the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office before he began defending them, and neither of those points is as solid as an offense report makes it look. [Get a Free Confidential Consultation](https://ahl-whmsqlm30xzl.wpfv3.comradeserver.com/contact/) 295 reviews - Austin Hagee Law Firm - / - Drug Crimes Attorney San Antonio article - The people we defend on drug charges are rarely dealers. They are drivers pulled over for a taillight, passengers in someone else's car, roommates whose house got searched, students with a pill they were not prescribed, and people carrying a small amount for themselves. What separates a manageable outcome from a felony record is usually how early someone starts pushing back. - main - prose - A Former Prosecutor Who Knows How the Other Side Thinks - Texas does not have one drug law. It has a system, and where your substance lands in that system matters as much as how much of it there was. - The Controlled Substances Act divides everything into penalty groups. Group 1 carries the harshest treatment and covers cocaine and many prescription opioids. Group 2 includes MDMA and THC concentrates. Group 3 holds most common prescriptions, including Xanax, Valium, Adderall, and Ritalin. Group 4 covers certain compounds with small amounts of narcotics. Marijuana sits outside the groups under its own statute. - main - prose - Texas Sorts Drugs Before It Sentences Them - Substance and Amount - Charge Level - Marijuana, 2 ounces or less - Class B misdemeanor - Marijuana, 2 to 4 ounces - Class A misdemeanor - Group 3 or 4, under 28 grams - Class A or Class B misdemeanor - Group 1 or 2, under 1 gram - State jail felony - Group 1 or 2, 1 to 4 grams - Third-degree felony - Group 1, 4 to 200 grams - Second-degree felony - Group 1, 200 grams or more - First-degree felony - main - compare - h2 Two features of this system catch people off guard. Group 1 has no misdemeanor tier at all, so even residue in a baggie is a felony. And Texas weighs adulterants and dilutants along with the drug itself, meaning the cutting agent counts toward your total. That rule reshapes cases involving concentrates in particular, which we cover on our THC vape and concentrate defense page . - main - prose - The same drugs produce wildly different exposure depending on a word the State chooses: possession, or possession with intent to deliver. - Intent is rarely proven directly. It gets inferred from circumstances an officer describes after the fact: how the substance was packaged, whether a scale was present, how much cash was in the car, what your phone contained. Each of those has an innocent explanation that the report does not include. People divide their own supply into smaller containers. Scales sit in kitchens. Cash exists for reasons unrelated to drugs. - Defeating the intent element does not just improve a case. It drops the charge by one or more felony levels, which is often the single largest swing available. - main - prose - Possession or Delivery Is a Judgment Call [Ask What Your Options Are](https://ahl-whmsqlm30xzl.wpfv3.comradeserver.com/contact/) - main - internalcta - h2 - Wondering Whether You Qualify for Any of This? - Bring us the charge and your history, and we will tell you plainly what is realistic. - Prosecutors have to prove you knew the substance was there and that you exercised care, custody, and control over it. Texas courts call this evidence affirmative links, and the requirement exists precisely because proximity alone proves nothing. - This is where a large share of our cases live. Drugs found in a car with four people in it. A shared apartment where the search turned up something in a common area. A borrowed vehicle. A jacket that was not yours. The State's position is that whoever was closest is responsible, and the law does not actually work that way. - What makes the links strong or weak is specific: whether the substance was in plain view, whether it was within your reach, whether you had exclusive access to the space, whether you made incriminating statements, whether your belongings were mixed in with it. We work through each of those, because a case built on presence rather than proof is a case that can be attacked. - main - prose - Being near Drugs Is Not the Same as Possessing Them - Nothing shapes a drug case more than how the evidence was found, and this is where cases end early when they end well. - Officers need a lawful basis for the stop before anything that follows counts. A traffic violation that did not happen, a stop extended past its purpose while waiting on a dog, a consent that was requested in a way that made refusal feel impossible, a warrant supported by an affidavit that does not hold up. Each of those can take the evidence out of the case, and without the evidence there is usually no case left. - We request the dashcam and body cam footage in every drug case, because the video and the written report frequently describe two different encounters. - main - prose - Almost Everything Traces Back to the Search [Request a Free Consultation](https://ahl-whmsqlm30xzl.wpfv3.comradeserver.com/contact/) - main - internalcta - h2 - Think the Search Was Questionable? - Walk us through how they found it. That conversation costs nothing and often changes how a case looks. - San Antonio is dense with schools, parks, and daycares, which makes one enhancement more common here than most people expect. - An offense within 1,000 feet of a school, youth center, playground, daycare, or public pool can be enhanced under the drug-free zone statute. The effect is significant: it adds years to the minimum sentence, doubles the maximum fine, and can strip probation eligibility from a state jail felony. - Distance is a measurement, and measurements are checkable. We verify how the State calculated it and whether the facility was actually operating as claimed at the time, because these allegations are added routinely and confirmed rarely. - main - prose - Where You Were Standing Can Raise the Penalty - Here is the part that changes how most clients feel about their case. - Texas requires judges to place a defendant on community supervision, rather than send them to state jail, after a conviction for a first state jail felony possession offense with no prior felony record. This is written into the Code of Criminal Procedure, and it is not discretionary in those circumstances. - Beyond that, a judge can reduce state jail felony punishment to a Class A misdemeanor range, and first-time offenders can often reach pretrial diversion that ultimately ends in dismissal. Also, Bexar County operates treatment-based court programs for people whose underlying issue is addiction rather than dealing. Deferred adjudication remains available in many drug cases as well, and unlike some other charges, a successful outcome here can leave a path to sealing the record. - None of these apply automatically. Eligibility is narrow, the windows are early, and the way a file looks when a prosecutor first reviews it affects which doors stay open. That is the work. For more detail, see our guide on first-time drug possession charges in Texas . - main - prose - A First Felony Often Does Not Mean Prison - These are the drug matters we handle most often in Bexar County. - Possession of a controlled substance, all penalty groups THC vape, oil, and concentrate charges Marijuana possession , and the hemp and delta questions that come with it - Prescription medication charges, including possession without a prescription and prescription fraud - Possession with intent to deliver - Delivery and distribution - Manufacturing and cultivation - Drug paraphernalia - Drug-free zone enhancements Juvenile drug allegations, covered on our juvenile defense page - main - bullets - Charges We Defend [Request a Free Consultation](https://ahl-whmsqlm30xzl.wpfv3.comradeserver.com/contact/) - aside - paycard - h2 - flush - Charged After a Search You Did Not Agree To? - A former Bexar County prosecutor will tell you what the State can actually prove, on a free and confidential call. - Available 24/7 for new inquiries ## Real Results: 350+ Cases Dismissed for Our Clients Dismissals in drug cases usually come from the same places: a search that did not hold, or links the State could not prove. - Dismissed — Charge: Possession of Controlled Substance PG 1 < 1 Gram — December of 2024 - Case Dismissed — Charge: Possession with the Intent to Deliver Controlled Substance PG 2 4 Grams – 200 Grams — September of 2022 - Dismissed — Charge: Possession of Controlled Substance PG 2 >=1 Gram < 4 Grams — March of 2025 - Dismissed — Charge: Possession of Marijuana — October of 2025 [See If Your Charge Can Be Dismissed](https://ahl-whmsqlm30xzl.wpfv3.comradeserver.com/contact/) Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different. [cta-portrait](https://ahl-whmsqlm30xzl.wpfv3.comradeserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/cta-portrait.webp) [cta-portrait-mobile](https://ahl-whmsqlm30xzl.wpfv3.comradeserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/cta-portrait-mobile.webp) ## Top-Tier Defense Shouldn't Be Out of Reach A felony drug record follows you into every job application, lease, and licensing decision for the rest of your life. We quote a flat fee in writing before you hire us, then finance it ourselves with a low initial payment and monthly terms. [Ask About Payment Options](https://ahl-whmsqlm30xzl.wpfv3.comradeserver.com/pay-online/) Available 24/7 for new inquiries ## Why San Antonio Clients Choose Austin Hagee Law Firm inner - inner-2 - He Decided These Cases from the Other Side - Austin reviewed and filed drug charges for Bexar County. He knows which files the office considers strong, which ones it will trade, and how a weak set of affirmative links reads to a prosecutor. - inner-1 - Suppression Is Litigated, Not Mentioned - Motions to suppress are where drug cases are won. That means pulling the video, examining the affidavit, and being willing to argue it rather than use it as leverage for a plea. - inner-3 - Your Outcome Is Explained Before You Choose It - Diversion, deferred, reduction, trial. You will know what each one actually costs you afterward, including what it does to your record. - inner-4 - Reachable When It Happens - Arrests do not respect office hours. New client inquiries reach us any hour, any day. ## Meet Austin Hagee, Former Prosecutor and Trial-Tested Defender Before defending the accused, Austin Hagee prosecuted them as a felony prosecutor for the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office, where drug possession and delivery cases were part of his regular docket. A St. Mary’s University School of Law graduate with honors, recognized by Super Lawyers and the National Trial Lawyers, he keeps his caseload deliberately small and prepares each case as though a jury will decide it. ## Trial Attorneys [Meet the Full Team](https://ahl-whmsqlm30xzl.wpfv3.comradeserver.com/about-us/) ### [Hannah Hawkins-Cunningham](https://ahl-whmsqlm30xzl.wpfv3.comradeserver.com/about-us/hannah-hawkins-cunningham/) Trial Attorney - Purdue University, Bachelor of Arts - Indiana University School of Law, Doctor of Jurisprudence - Order of the Barristers ### [Kyra Falcone](https://ahl-whmsqlm30xzl.wpfv3.comradeserver.com/about-us/kyra-falcone/) Trial Attorney - The University of Texas at Austin, B.A. with double minor - St. Mary’s University School of Law, J.D. - Dean’s Scholarship Recipient ### [Jeremy Best](https://ahl-whmsqlm30xzl.wpfv3.comradeserver.com/about-us/jeremy-best/) Trial Counsel - Texas State University, B.A. Business Finance - St. Mary’s University School of Law – Juris Doctor Degree - All Texas Courts – 2016 ### [Lucas Holzmann](https://ahl-whmsqlm30xzl.wpfv3.comradeserver.com/about-us/lucas-holzmann/) Trial Attorney - Texas A&M University, B.A. in English, cum laude - St. Mary’s University School of Law, J.D. - Dean’s Research Fellow, St. Mary’s University School of Law ### [Ruby Livas](https://ahl-whmsqlm30xzl.wpfv3.comradeserver.com/about-us/ruby-livas/) Paralegal - University of Texas at San Antonio, Bachelor of Arts in History - Texas A&M University Corpus Christi, Certification in Elementary Education - University of Texas at San Antonio, Paralegal School ### [Ana Sofia Mohamed](https://ahl-whmsqlm30xzl.wpfv3.comradeserver.com/about-us/ana-sofia-mohamed/) Legal Assistant - New York University, Bachelor of Arts in Political Science - Bilingual in English and Spanish ## Where We Handle Drug Cases service Our office is on Austin Highway, minutes from the Bexar County courts. We also appear in the surrounding counties, including Comal (New Braunfels), Guadalupe (Seguin), Hays (San Marcos), Kendall (Boerne), and Atascosa (Pleasanton), and we take serious felony matters elsewhere in Texas. See San Antonio criminal defense or our full areas we serve. Our Office [location-photo](https://ahl-whmsqlm30xzl.wpfv3.comradeserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/location-photo.webp) - Boerne - New Braunfels - San Marcos - Seguin - Atascosa County ## Frequently Asked Questions It matters a great deal, and it is a defense rather than an excuse. The State has to connect you to the substance through more than location, which is difficult when a car or a residence was shared. - The drugs were not mine. Does that matter? For Penalty Group 1 and 2 substances, yes. There is no misdemeanor level for those groups, so even a trace amount is charged as a state jail felony. Marijuana and most prescriptions work differently. - Is possession of a small amount still a felony? Three things, mainly. A prior felony conviction removes it. A drug-free zone finding can remove it. And if a jury assesses your punishment and declines to recommend probation, the requirement does not bind them. Knowing which of these applies shapes every decision in the case, including who should decide punishment. - What would take mandatory probation off the table? **Yes**, and it happens regularly. Suppressed evidence, insufficient links to the substance, lab problems, and completed diversion programs all produce dismissals. - Can a drug charge be dismissed? A valid prescription is a defense to possession of those medications. Producing the documentation early, in the right form, is what turns it into a resolution rather than an argument. - What if the pills were prescribed to me? Unfortunately not on its own. Awareness of your surroundings is not an element the State carries here, which is part of why this allegation gets added so freely. The productive angle is not what you knew, but whether the enhancement was properly established in the first place. - They said it was near a school, but I had no idea. Does that help? A dismissal or acquittal can be expunged, and some deferred outcomes qualify for sealing later. A conviction cannot. See [expunction and record sealing](https://ahl-whmsqlm30xzl.wpfv3.comradeserver.com/service-area/record-sealing-attorney-san-antonio-tx/). - Can this ever come off my record? **No.** Explaining whose drugs they were, or why they were there, almost always supplies the State with the links it was missing. Say nothing and call a lawyer. - Should I explain the situation to the officer or detective? ## The Search Already Happened. What Comes Next Is Still Open. Call us or request your free, confidential consultation online. We answer new client inquiries 24 hours a day. 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