West Virginia Drug Offense Lawyers

A drug charge in West Virginia can threaten your job, your record, your right to own a firearm, and, for students, your standing at WVU. At Slavey & Shumaker PLLC, we defend people charged with drug offenses throughout Morgantown and Monongalia County, from a first-time possession case to a felony delivery or transportation charge. Your first consultation is free and confidential.

If you have already been arrested, the most important thing you can do is talk to a lawyer before you talk to anyone else. What happens in the first days of a case, the questions you answer and the searches you allow, often decides how the rest of it goes.

Drug Charges We Defend

We represent clients across the full range of West Virginia controlled substance cases:

• Simple possession
• Possession with intent to deliver
• Delivery and distribution
• Manufacturing and cultivation
• Transporting drugs into the state
• Prescription drug and prescription fraud charges
• Drug conspiracy
• Marijuana charges, which WV still prosecutes

How serious any of these is depends on the schedule of the drug, the amount, and what the State says you intended to do with it. We lay all of that out, with the statutes and the sentencing ranges, in our West Virginia Drug Charges Guide. This page is about something more direct: what we do to defend you.

How We Defend a Drug Case

Every case is different, but our work usually starts in the same place.

We examine the stop, the search, and the warrant

Most drug prosecutions stand or fall on a single piece of evidence: the drugs themselves. If police found them through an unlawful stop or an illegal search, we move to suppress that evidence, and a successful motion to suppress frequently ends the case. You can read more about how these challenges work in the search and seizure section of our guide.

We test the State’s proof

The prosecution has to prove the substance is what it claims, prove its weight, account for the chain of custody, and connect the drugs to you. In shared cars and homes, that last point is often weaker than the State assumes. We hold them to each element.

We look for a path that avoids a conviction

For eligible clients, West Virginia offers ways to resolve a case without a conviction on the record, including conditional discharge for a first offense and the Monongalia County drug court. We explain who qualifies in the diversion section of our guide.

We negotiate from strength, and try the case when that serves you better

A prosecutor offers more when the defense is ready to go to trial. We prepare every case as if it will be tried, and we are candid with you about when a negotiated resolution is the smarter outcome and when it is not.

WVU Students and Drug Charges

A drug arrest in Morgantown often brings a second problem that has nothing to do with the courtroom. The WVU Office of Student Conduct can open its own case, and the result there can include suspension or expulsion, on a separate track and a separate timeline from the criminal charge. Anything a student says in the conduct process can also affect the criminal case. We help students handle both at the same time, so one does not quietly damage the other. See our WVU Student Conduct page for more.

Why Clients Choose Slavey & Shumaker

• We are based here. Our office sits next to the Monongalia County Courthouse and a block away from the Monongalia County Justice Center and Morgantown Municipal Court in downtown Morgantown, and we are in these courtrooms regularly.
• Defense is what we do. Criminal defense is a core part of our practice, not an afterthought.
• You deal directly with your attorney. You will not be handed off to someone you have never spoken to.
• The first consultation is free. We will give you an honest read on your case, including the parts you may not want to hear.

We defend drug charges in Monongalia, Preston, Marion, and the surrounding North Central West Virginia counties.

This page is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Submitting a consultation request does not create an attorney-client relationship and does not guarantee representation. West Virginia laws are subject to change. Every case is different, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Attorney advertising.