A pill in the wrong bottle, or a second doctor who never heard about the first, can turn into a felony. These charges are built on records — and records can be read more than one way.
Call 904-383-7448Prescription drugs are controlled substances, and possessing them without a valid prescription is prosecuted under section 893.13, Florida Statutes. Holding oxycodone, hydrocodone, Adderall, Xanax, or similar medication that was not prescribed to you is generally a third-degree felony, even when the pills sit inside someone else's labeled bottle.
Florida also targets the way some prescriptions are obtained. Doctor shopping is prohibited by section 893.13(7), and the State often builds these cases out of pharmacy records and the prescription-monitoring database. Graham W. Syfert defends prescription cases in Jacksonville and the surrounding counties. Call 904-383-7448.
Many people are surprised to learn that carrying a few of a friend's or a family member's pills is a felony. Common medications — opioid painkillers like oxycodone and hydrocodone, stimulants like Adderall, and benzodiazepines like Xanax and Valium — are controlled substances on the Florida schedules. Possessing them without a prescription issued to you is generally a third-degree felony under section 893.13, with sentencing exposure framed by section 775.082 and section 775.083, Florida Statutes. The defense often turns on knowledge and on possession itself: whether you knew what the pills were, and whether the State can actually tie them to you when they were found in a shared car, a shared home, or a bag that several people used. As with any drug case, outcomes depend on the facts.
Doctor shopping is its own offense under section 893.13(7), Florida Statutes. In general terms, it prohibits withholding from a practitioner the fact that you obtained a controlled substance, or a prescription for one, from another practitioner within the previous thirty days. The State usually proves these cases through the statewide prescription drug monitoring program and pharmacy records, lining up dates and prescribers to argue that a disclosure was required and was not made. Those records are not as airtight as they look. Whether a practitioner was actually asked the right question, what the patient understood, gaps and errors in the data, and the timing between visits are all open to examination. The defense reads the records as carefully as the State does, because the case usually lives or dies on what they really show.
Prescription cases can grow beyond the drug code. When the State alleges that a prescription was altered, called in with a stolen prescriber number, or fabricated outright, it can add fraud and forgery counts to the controlled-substance charge, and obtaining a controlled substance by fraud is itself addressed within section 893.13. Each added count is a separate question of proof, with its own elements the State has to establish, and the defense addresses them as a connected whole rather than one at a time. The same scrutiny that applies to the records in a doctor-shopping case applies to the document the State calls a forgery.
Where pills are found during a stop or a search, the Fourth Amendment still governs. An unlawful stop, an overbroad search, or consent that was not truly voluntary can lead to suppression of the medication. And where the case is built on records rather than a roadside discovery, the focus shifts to how those records were gathered and what they actually prove. Either way, Mr. Syfert looks for the weak link the State would rather not discuss.
Related: Jacksonville drug crime defense · Possession with intent to sell · Drug trafficking
Yes. Possessing a controlled substance such as oxycodone or Xanax without a valid prescription is generally a third-degree felony under section 893.13, even if the pills are in someone else's bottle.
It is prohibited by section 893.13(7), Florida Statutes, and generally covers failing to tell a practitioner that you received a controlled substance or prescription from another practitioner within the prior thirty days. The state monitoring database is a common source of evidence.
It can. When the State alleges an altered or fabricated prescription, fraud and forgery counts may be added. Each is a separate question of proof, and the defense addresses them together.
The call is free and confidential. Whether it is a traffic citation or a felony, the sooner a defense begins, the more can be done. Graham W. Syfert answers his own phone.
Call 904-383-7448Graham W. Syfert, Esq., P.A. · Jacksonville, Florida
Serving Duval, Clay, Nassau, and St. Johns Counties