Possession with intent to deliver

Penalty Group 1 manufacture or delivery

How do prosecutors try to prove intent?

With packaging, scales, cash, messages, quantity or statements. None of these is automatically proof of intent, and each can be challenged.

What about drug-free zones?

Health and Safety Code 481.134 increases punishment for certain offenses committed within 1,000 feet of a school and other listed places. The State must prove the location and distance.

What are the delivery ranges for other penalty groups?

What does "deliver" mean?

Under Health and Safety Code 481.002, "deliver" means to transfer, actually or constructively, to another person, whether or not there is an agency relationship, and it includes offering to sell. That means a person can be charged with delivery for an offer to sell, even if no drugs changed hands.

Is an offer to sell enough by itself?

Not without more. Proof of an offer to sell must be corroborated by a person other than the person to whom the offer was made, or by evidence other than that person's statement (Health and Safety Code 481.183). That corroboration requirement is an important check in undercover and informant cases.

What evidence do prosecutors use to show intent?

• Quantity beyond personal use
• Packaging into multiple small bags
• Digital scales, ledgers or large amounts of cash
• Text messages or social media messages about sales
• Statements made to officers

Each of these has innocent explanations in many cases. Cash may come from a job, scales may be unrelated, and messages may be ambiguous or written by someone else.

How are these cases defended?

• Challenging the stop, search or warrant
• Challenging the link between the person and the drugs
• Challenging the evidence of intent
• Challenging the weight and the lab analysis
• Challenging informant reliability and corroboration
• Challenging drug-free zone measurements (481.134)

Can a delivery charge be reduced to possession?

Sometimes. If the evidence of intent is weak, a reduction to simple possession can greatly lower the range. See the possession ranges by penalty group.

Where are these cases heard outside Dallas?

Felony cases are heard in the district courts of the county where the offense is alleged to have happened. We handle cases from our only office, in downtown Dallas, in 12 North Texas counties. Each county page lists the courthouse, the prosecutor's office and the jail: Dallas, Tarrant, Collin, Denton, Rockwall, Kaufman, Ellis, Johnson, Parker, Wise, Hunt, Navarro.

What evidence suggests intent to deliver?

• Packaging into many small bags or units
• Scales, ledgers or large amounts of cash
• Messages discussing sales
• Quantity larger than personal use

None of these proves intent by itself, and each can have an innocent explanation. The defense looks at how each item was found and linked to the accused.

How does a drug-free zone change a delivery charge?

Health and Safety Code 481.134 applies to delivery and possession with intent. For delivery or possession with intent to deliver in Penalty Groups 1, 1-A, 1-B, 2, 3 and 4 and for marijuana delivery, an offense otherwise a state jail felony becomes a third-degree felony, and a third-degree felony becomes a second-degree felony, when it happens within 1,000 feet of a college or university, a youth center or a playground, or within 300 feet of a public swimming pool or video arcade (481.134(b)). Near a school or on a school bus, the minimum term for higher-level delivery offenses increases by five years and the maximum fine doubles (481.134(c)), and a state jail felony delivery becomes a third-degree felony (481.134(d)). Because the State must prove the location and the distance, those facts are part of the defense review.

Can I get deferred adjudication on a delivery charge?

Often, but not always. Code of Criminal Procedure 42A.102 bars deferred adjudication for certain drug cases, including a case enhanced under 481.134(c), (d), (e) or (f) when the person was previously convicted of an offense enhanced under one of those subsections. Whether deferred is possible depends on the charge, the weight, the zone allegation and your record.

What is the difference between delivery and possession?

"Deliver" means to transfer, actually or constructively, to another person, and includes offering to sell (Health and Safety Code 481.002). Possession with intent does not require that any transfer happened. A case charged as possession with intent may be resolved as simple possession when the evidence of intent is weak, which can change the level a great deal. For example, 1 to 4 grams of a Penalty Group 1 substance is a second-degree felony for delivery (481.112) but a third-degree felony for possession (481.115).

How do I get started?

The first consultation is free. It is with a Director of Client Engagement, not an attorney. Clients who hire us work with an attorney. Call (214) 239-2013 or start a chat. Phones and chat are answered 24/7, with AI covering when no staff is free.

Last updated October 2026