In 2026, illegal drug distribution carries steep penalties under Pennsylvania law. Drug possession carries steep penalties as well, though defendants in Monroe County may be able to pursue diversionary programs like Drug Court in these cases. When a case ends in a conviction, sentencing depends heavily on the offense, the defendant’s “Prior Record Score” and, for drug charges, the type and quantity of the substance involved.
If you have been arrested for a drug crime in Monroe County, it is important to know what is at stake in your case. It is also important to know what options you have available. While all drug crimes carry steep penalties under Pennsylvania law, defendants may have various options for seeking to avoid a conviction—including options like Drug Court in some cases.
Determining the penalties you are facing can be challenging. While Pennsylvania’s drug crime statutes establish penalty ranges for possession, possession with intent to deliver, distribution, and other offenses, the Commonwealth’s Sentencing Guidelines come into play as well. With this in mind, to ensure that you are making informed decisions about your defense, you should discuss your case with an experienced Monroe County drug crime lawyer as soon as possible.
2026 Sentencing Guidelines
Pennsylvania’s Sentencing Guidelines provide a roadmap that judges must consider when imposing penalties for drug crimes and other offenses. Under Pennsylvania law, judges are required to “consider the sentencing guidelines in determining the appropriate sentence for persons convicted of, or pleading guilty or nolo contendere to, felonies and misdemeanors.”
Under the Sentencing Guidelines, several factors go into determining the penalties to be imposed following a conviction or plea. These factors include (but are not limited to):
- The Offense Gravity Score
- The defendant’s Prior Record Score
- The applicability of any enhancements or aggravating circumstances
- The applicability of any mitigating circumstances
- Any applicable mandatory minimum sentencing requirements
As the Sentencing Guidelines explain, judges may consider a defendant’s drug dependency and various other personal factors as well. As a result, while the Sentencing Guidelines can provide insight to the potential penalties that are on the table in a drug crime case, defendants who are not able to avoid a conviction entirely can—and should—advocate for a particular sentence based on their individual circumstances.
An experienced Monroe County drug crime lawyer will be able to assist with understanding what is reasonable to expect under the circumstances at hand. Once you hire a lawyer to represent you, your lawyer will also be able to assist you with taking steps—such as entering into a drug rehabilitation program—that could help mitigate the consequences of your arrest. As discussed in greater detail below, if you are eligible, your lawyer can also help you pursue options such as Drug Court, whose diversion track ends in a dismissal of misdemeanor charges.
Possession vs. Intent to Deliver
For many people, facing a drug possession charge is their first introduction to the Pennsylvania criminal justice system. If you are facing a drug possession charge in Monroe County, it will be important to make sure you know whether you are being charged with “simple” possession or possession with intent to deliver.
In Pennsylvania, “simple” possession is a misdemeanor offense. If convicted of a first offense involving most drugs, you can face up to a year in prison and a $5,000 fine. These are serious consequences, and having a drug possession conviction on your criminal record can negatively impact your life in many other ways as well
The consequences of a conviction for possession with intent to deliver are far more severe.
Possession with intent to deliver is a felony under Pennsylvania law for every drug schedule except Schedule V, where it is a misdemeanor; possessing a small amount of marijuana with intent to distribute it, but not to sell it, is instead the small-amount misdemeanor described below. The baseline maximum for a first offense depends on the drug: up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine (or an even greater fine in some cases) for narcotic drugs listed on Schedule I or Schedule II, up to 10 years and $100,000 for cocaine, methamphetamine and PCP, up to five years and $15,000 for most other Schedule I, II or III substances, three years and $10,000 for Schedule IV, and one year and $5,000 for Schedule V. Some drugs, including GHB and MDMA-type substances, carry up to 15 years and $250,000; a second or subsequent offense can double both the maximum prison term and the fine; and distribution by someone 21 or older who is not drug dependent to a minor at least four years younger can double the maximum prison term (35 P.S. §§ 780-113(f), (n) and (o), 780-114 and 780-115).
What Happens for a First-Time Drug Possession Charge in Pennsylvania?
A first charge of simple possession of most controlled substances is a misdemeanor carrying up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $5,000, or both, and possessing a small amount of marijuana for personal use (30 grams or less, or 8 grams of hashish) carries up to 30 days in jail, a fine of up to $500, or both (35 P.S. § 780-113(a)(16), (a)(31), (b) and (g)); a simple-possession violation committed after an earlier conviction under § 780-113 has become final raises the ceiling to three years in jail, a $25,000 fine, or both, and simple possession of GHB is a felony carrying up to 15 years (§ 780-113(n)). A first offense is also when diversion is most within reach: the District Attorney can move to place you in ARD, the court can place you on probation without verdict if you plead guilty or no contest to a nonviolent Drug Act offense other than the delivery-type and other charges the statute excludes, including possession with intent to deliver, and prove drug dependency through the testimony of a physician or psychologist trained in drug abuse, while prior convictions, a prior ARD and certain other histories rule it out (35 P.S. § 780-117), and Monroe County’s Drug Court, described below, is a third route. Completing ARD or probation without verdict ends in a dismissal rather than a conviction, which is what makes expungement possible. Which path is open to you depends on the charge, your record and the District Attorney’s office, so ask Brian where your case stands.
Monroe County Drug Court
Depending on the specific drug charge you are facing in Monroe County, you could be eligible for Drug Court. If you are eligible, pursuing Drug Court could be your best option. Monroe County’s Drug Court, which the county calls Treatment Court, has more than one track. In its diversion track, which the District Attorney decides whether to offer, you enter a guilty plea and sentencing is put on hold; if you complete the program successfully, misdemeanor charges are dismissed and felony charges are reduced to misdemeanors. The other tracks are alternatives to incarceration that still end in a sentence. The program is for nonviolent people with a substance use disorder and lasts at least 12 months.
Enrolling in Drug Court is similar to being on probation. You will need to undergo drug treatment and testing, and you will need to comply with various other requirements. However, if you do everything that is required in the diversion track, a misdemeanor drug charge will be dismissed at the end of the program—even if there is no question that you broke the law.
Can a Drug Possession Charge Be Expunged in Pennsylvania?
Yes, if the charge ended without a conviction: a drug charge that was withdrawn or dismissed, ended in an acquittal, or was dismissed after you completed ARD, probation without verdict or the Drug Court diversion track can be expunged by court order. If the charge ended in a conviction, expungement is generally not available, and the realistic goal is limited access, often called sealing, under Pennsylvania’s Clean Slate law.
When the charge ends without a conviction
- Withdrawn, dismissed or acquitted – The Drug Act directs that the arrest and prosecution records for a charge under that Act be expunged when the charges are withdrawn or dismissed or you are acquitted, as a matter of right once, except for people indicted for manufacturing, delivering or possessing with intent to deliver under clause (30) of § 780-113(a) (35 P.S. § 780-119). Pennsylvania’s general expungement statute also lets a court order nonconviction records expunged, and a full acquittal of every charge from the same episode is now expunged automatically; the District Attorney has 60 days to object that the acquittal was only partial, and the court then decides (18 Pa.C.S. § 9122(a)).
- ARD – When the judge dismisses the charges after you complete ARD, the judge “also shall order the expungement” of your arrest record; if the District Attorney objects within 30 days after your motion for dismissal is served, the judge holds a hearing first (Pa.R.Crim.P. 320).
- Probation without verdict – Completing it ends in a discharge and dismissal that does not count as a conviction for any purpose, so the record can then be expunged. It is available only once (35 P.S. § 780-117).
- Drug Court – In the county’s diversion track, misdemeanor charges are dismissed when you graduate, and the Monroe County Treatment Court program sheet says graduates may have their charges expunged automatically if they take part in after-care or return to court as directed. A felony charge in that track is reduced to a misdemeanor plea, which is a conviction, so the next section applies to it.
Some information survives an expungement in non-public form. When the record was expunged after a diversion or probation program such as ARD, the District Attorney and the State Police keep a list used only to decide eligibility for future programs, to identify people in criminal investigations and to grade later offenses (18 Pa.C.S. § 9122(c)); a Drug Act expungement goes on a confidential list used only to decide eligibility for that once-only expungement (35 P.S. § 780-119).
When the charge ends in a conviction
A drug conviction generally cannot be expunged; the exceptions are narrow, such as an unconditional pardon or reaching age 70 after ten years free of arrest or prosecution since your release from confinement or supervision (18 Pa.C.S. § 9122(a) and (b)). What some people can get instead is limited access:
- Clean Slate, automatically – A conviction for a misdemeanor punishable by no more than two years, which includes a first simple-possession conviction, is sealed automatically once you have gone seven years without a conviction for an offense punishable by a year or more and have paid any court-ordered restitution and the statutory limited-access fee. Other Drug Act convictions, including a felony for possession with intent to deliver, are sealed automatically after 10 years without a conviction for an offense punishable by a year or more, unless the sentence imposed had a minimum of 30 months or more or a maximum of 60 months or more (18 Pa.C.S. § 9122.2(a); § 9102). The automatic misdemeanor track has exceptions listed in § 9122.3; for example, a felony conviction for anything other than a Drug Act offense blocks it.
- By petition – If you do not qualify automatically, you may still be able to petition the Court of Common Pleas, unless one of the exceptions in § 9122.1(b) applies (they include certain offenses against the person, firearms offenses and some histories of multiple serious convictions). A petition is possible after seven years free from conviction for qualifying misdemeanors and ungraded offenses with a maximum penalty of five years or less, or after 10 years for listed felonies that include Drug Act offenses, as long as the offense is not a first- or second-degree felony and the sentence imposed did not have a minimum of 30 months or more or a maximum of 60 months or more (18 Pa.C.S. § 9122.1(a) and (a.1); § 9102). Restitution and the statutory fee must be paid, and the District Attorney has 30 days to object.
Limited access is not expungement. The record is not destroyed: police, prosecutors and courts can still see it, a court can still use it at sentencing, and some agencies, such as county children and youth services, can still obtain it. What changes is that most employers, landlords and schools can no longer obtain or use it, and you may answer most of their questions as if the offense did not occur (18 Pa.C.S. § 9122.5).
How expungement is ordered
For the outcomes above, expungement comes through a court order entered in the county where the charges were decided, and several routes build the order into the outcome itself: after ARD, the judge orders expungement along with the dismissal (Pa.R.Crim.P. 320); a full acquittal is expunged automatically unless the court sustains an objection that the acquittal was only partial (18 Pa.C.S. § 9122(a)(4)); and when Drug Act charges are withdrawn, dismissed or end in an acquittal, 35 P.S. § 780-119 directs the court to order the expungement in writing within five days, as a matter of right once. In other cases, such as a dismissed charge that is not under the Drug Act, you file a petition with the clerk of courts, generally with a current Pennsylvania State Police criminal history report, and the District Attorney has 60 days to consent or object before the judge rules or schedules a hearing (Pa.R.Crim.P. 790). Filing costs, the District Attorney’s position on your case and how long the process takes are local questions; ask Brian before you file, and ask him to confirm that any order you are owed was actually entered.
Mandatory Minimum Sentences
As we mentioned above, a mandatory minimum sentence, where one applies, limits the judge’s options in a drug case, including when a Drug Court case ends in a sentence rather than a dismissal. If a mandatory minimum sentence applies in your case, the judge will not be able to deviate from what the law requires. Your Monroe County drug crime lawyer will be able to tell you if a mandatory minimum sentence applies in your case; and, if you are not eligible for Drug Court, your lawyer will be able to evaluate all possible options for fighting your drug charge in court.
Prior Record Score Impact
As we also mentioned above, a defendant’s Prior Record Score is a key factor under Pennsylvania’s Sentencing Guidelines as well. Along with the Offense Gravity Score of the offense, your Prior Record Score is one of the two factors that set the standard-range recommendation in Pennsylvania’s sentencing matrix. Here too, your lawyer will be able to explain everything you need to know, and then you can rely on your lawyer’s advice to make informed decisions about your next steps.
Schedule a Free Initial Consultation with Monroe County Drug Crime Lawyer Brian C. Jordan
Are you facing a drug charge in Monroe County? If so, we can help, but it is important that you contact us promptly. To schedule a free initial consultation with Monroe County drug crime lawyer Brian C. Jordan as soon as possible, call 570-373-9343 or contact us online now.