Georgia Trafficking Thresholds and Mandatory Minimums
The table below shows the weight tiers and the mandatory minimum sentence and fine for each, as set by O.C.G.A. 16-13-31 for offenses committed after the most recent amendments.
| Substance | Weight | Mandatory minimum | Mandatory fine |
| Cocaine | 28 g to under 200 g | 10 years | $200,000 |
| Cocaine | 200 g to under 400 g | 15 years | $300,000 |
| Cocaine | 400 g or more | 25 years | $1,000,000 |
| Heroin, morphine, opium and listed opioids | 4 g to under 14 g | 5 years | $50,000 |
| Heroin, morphine, opium and listed opioids | 14 g to under 28 g | 10 years | $100,000 |
| Heroin, morphine, opium and listed opioids | 28 g or more | 25 years | $500,000 |
| Fentanyl and fentanyl analogs | 4 g to under 8 g | 10 years | $75,000 |
| Fentanyl and fentanyl analogs | 8 g to under 14 g | 15 years | $150,000 |
| Fentanyl and fentanyl analogs | 14 g to under 28 g | 25 years | $250,000 |
| Fentanyl and fentanyl analogs | 28 g or more | 35 years | $750,000 |
| Methamphetamine or amphetamine | 28 g to under 200 g | 10 years | $200,000 |
| Methamphetamine or amphetamine | 200 g to under 400 g | 15 years | $300,000 |
| Methamphetamine or amphetamine | 400 g or more | 25 years | $1,000,000 |
| Marijuana | Over 10 lb to under 2,000 lb | 5 years | $100,000 |
| Marijuana | 2,000 lb to under 10,000 lb | 7 years | $250,000 |
| Marijuana | 10,000 lb or more | 15 years | $1,000,000 |
Manufacturing methamphetamine is charged under its own subsection, and any amount under 200 grams still carries a 10-year minimum. For a closer look at individual drugs, see our page on cocaine trafficking in Georgia, which walks through purity and weight issues specific to cocaine.
Maximum sentences and limits on early release
The mandatory minimum is a floor, not a ceiling. For trafficking other than fentanyl, the sentence can run up to 30 years and a fine of up to $1 million. Fentanyl trafficking now carries up to 40 years. No part of a mandatory minimum can be suspended, probated, or deferred except through the departure rules in subsection (g), and a reduced sentence imposed under those rules is not eligible for parole, earned time, or early release, apart from transitional center or work release consideration in the final year.
The 2026 Fentanyl Change: What HB 535 Did
Georgia rewrote its fentanyl trafficking law twice in two years. In 2025, the Fentanyl Eradication and Removal Act (Senate Bill 79) created a separate fentanyl trafficking offense with the four tiers in the table above, effective for offenses on or after July 1, 2025. That version counted four grams of any mixture containing fentanyl.
In 2026, House Bill 535 narrowed the threshold. For offenses committed on or after May 5, 2026, trafficking requires four grams or more of fentanyl, or a mixture that contains four grams or more of fentanyl. HB 535 also raised the sentencing ranges available when a judge departs from the fentanyl minimums and set a 40-year cap for fentanyl trafficking.
Why purity now decides fentanyl cases
The practical effect is large. Street fentanyl is almost always cut with other substances. In an August 2026 operations bulletin, the GBI crime lab told agencies that it tests only for the presence of fentanyl and does not measure purity, that purity above 25 to 30 percent would be extremely rare, and that a powder seizure would likely need to exceed 20 grams, or a tablet seizure 1,700 tablets, before it contained more than four grams of pure fentanyl.
For anyone charged with fentanyl trafficking for conduct on or after May 5, 2026, the first question we ask is how the State intends to prove the weight of the fentanyl itself. For conduct before that date, the earlier mixture rule may still apply, so the offense date is critical. Our fentanyl charge defense page covers lower-level fentanyl cases.
Lawful Ways Below the Mandatory Minimum
Because the minimums are so severe, much of trafficking defense is about whether a sentence below the floor is legally possible. Georgia law gives three routes.
Substantial assistance
Under subsection (g)(1), the district attorney may ask the court to reduce or suspend a sentence for someone who provides substantial assistance in identifying, arresting, or convicting accomplices or others involved. The motion may be heard privately. Cooperation carries real risks and should never be offered without counsel, because what you say and to whom can create new legal and personal exposure.
The safety valve
Subsection (g)(2) lets the judge depart from the minimum if the court finds all of the following:
- You were not a leader of the criminal conduct.
- You did not possess or use a firearm, dangerous weapon, or hazardous object.
- The conduct did not result in death or serious bodily injury to someone other than a party to the crime.
- You have no prior felony conviction.
- The interests of justice would not be served by the mandatory minimum.
Even then, the judge must stay within a statutory departure range. For example, the range for 28 to under 200 grams of cocaine or methamphetamine is 5 to 10 years, and for 4 to under 8 grams of fentanyl it is 2 years and 6 months to 10 years. The judge must state the reasons on the record, and the State can appeal the departure.
An agreed sentence
Under subsection (g)(3), the court may impose a sentence below the minimum when the prosecutor and the defense agree to it. This is where preparation pays off. A defense that has exposed real weaknesses in the search, the knowledge evidence, or the lab work gives the prosecutor a reason to agree to a sentence the statute would not otherwise allow, or to reduce the charge to possession with intent or simple possession.
State or Federal: Where Atlanta Trafficking Cases Are Charged
Atlanta sits where I-75, I-85, and I-20 meet, and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport handles passengers and cargo from around the world. Those corridors draw interdiction work by local police, the Georgia State Patrol, and federal agencies, and the same seizure can be charged in state or federal court.
State trafficking cases from the City of Atlanta and most of Fulton County are prosecuted by the Fulton County District Attorney in Fulton County Superior Court. Federal cases are prosecuted in the Northern District of Georgia under 21 U.S.C. 841, which uses much larger quantities for its mandatory minimums. A 10-year federal minimum applies to 5 kilograms of a cocaine mixture, 1 kilogram of heroin, 400 grams of a fentanyl mixture, or 500 grams of a methamphetamine mixture, and a 5-year minimum applies at one tenth of those amounts for most drugs.
Federal agents sometimes hand a case to state prosecutors precisely because Georgia’s thresholds are lower. When an investigation involves a task force, we look early at which system is likely to charge it, because that decision shapes everything that follows. Our federal crimes defense team handles cases that land in federal court.
How We Defend Drug Trafficking Charges
Every trafficking case has the same pressure points: how the police found the drugs, whether the State can tie them to you, and whether the lab’s numbers hold up.
The stop and the search
Most trafficking evidence comes from a search. If the traffic stop was not justified, if it was extended without reasonable suspicion to wait for a drug dog, if consent was not voluntary, or if a search warrant was based on stale or unreliable information, we file a motion to suppress under O.C.G.A. 17-5-30. When the drugs are suppressed, the trafficking case usually cannot go forward.
Knowledge and possession
When drugs are found in a shared car, a rental, or a home with several occupants, the State must prove that you knew about them and had the power and intent to control them. Georgia’s equal access rule can defeat a presumption of possession when others had the same access to the place where the drugs were found.
Weight, purity, and the lab
Weight is the difference between possession and a decade in prison, so we never accept the State’s number at face value. We review whether packaging, moisture, or non-drug material was included, how the scale was calibrated, and whether every item was actually tested or only a sample. For cocaine, we look at the 10 percent purity language. For fentanyl after May 5, 2026, we press the State on how it will prove the weight of the fentanyl itself, given that the GBI lab does not report purity.
Informants and controlled buys
Many cases rest on a confidential informant whose credibility, payment, and criminal history matter. We push for disclosure when the informant is a material witness, and we challenge warrants built on uncorroborated tips.
Chain of custody
From the roadside to the GBI’s Chemistry Section and back to the courtroom, every transfer of the evidence should be documented. Gaps, mislabeling, or weight changes between the field and the lab are grounds to challenge the evidence.
What Happens After a Trafficking Arrest in Fulton County
Trafficking is one of the offenses that can be bailed only by a Superior Court judge under O.C.G.A. 17-6-1. That means the magistrate at first appearance cannot set a bond on the trafficking count, and the defense must file a bond motion in Fulton County Superior Court. A prepared bond argument covering ties to Atlanta, employment, family, and the weaknesses in the State’s case can mean the difference between waiting for trial at home or at the Fulton County Jail on Rice Street.
After bond, the case moves through indictment, arraignment, discovery, and motions. Expect the State to also pursue civil forfeiture of cash, cars, and other property it claims is connected to drugs. That is a separate proceeding with its own deadlines, and our guide to asset forfeiture in Georgia explains how to respond.
Example Scenarios
These hypothetical examples show how the law applies. They are not results from our cases.
The rental car on I-85
A trooper stops a rental car near the Downtown Connector for following too closely. After a 25-minute wait for a K-9, officers find a bag with 31 grams of methamphetamine mixture under the rear seat. Three people were in the car. The defense focuses on whether the stop was unlawfully extended and whether the State can prove which occupant knew about the bag.
The fentanyl pills mailed to an apartment
Police intercept a package addressed to a Midtown apartment and find 300 counterfeit pills containing fentanyl with a total weight of about 30 grams. Under the old mixture rule, that weight would have supported the top tier. Under HB 535, for a package intercepted after May 5, 2026, the question becomes whether those pills contain four grams of actual fentanyl, which the GBI bulletin suggests is unlikely at typical tablet purity.
The first-time defendant with 30 grams of cocaine
A 24-year-old with no record is arrested after a search of his car yields 30 grams of cocaine. If the search holds up, the minimum is 10 years. Because he was not a leader, had no weapon, and has no prior felony, the safety valve may allow a sentence of 5 to 10 years, and a strong suppression motion may move the State toward a reduced charge.
How Bixon Law Defends Trafficking Cases in Atlanta
Bixon Law is a Downtown Atlanta criminal defense firm, and drug cases are a core part of our practice. Founder Michael Bixon has worked on complex criminal and constitutional law matters, served as a senior associate attorney at Reynolds Law Group, and graduated from the Bill Daniel Trial Advocacy Program. He is a member of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
In trafficking cases, we move quickly to:
- Obtain body camera and dash camera video before it can be overwritten
- Request the lab file, scale records, and chain of custody documents
- Challenge the stop, the search, and any warrant in a motion to suppress
- Analyze whether the safety valve or another lawful departure applies
- Prepare a bond motion for Superior Court as soon as possible
We give honest assessments, not false promises, and you will work directly with your attorney throughout your case.