How Much Cocaine Is a Felony in Florida? Weights and Penalties

In Florida, any amount of cocaine is a felony. There is no misdemeanor threshold and no personal-use exception, so the question of how much cocaine is a felony in Florida has a short answer: a trace is enough. What changes with weight is how serious the felony gets. Possession of any amount below 28 grams is a third-degree felony. Selling or delivering any amount is a second-degree felony. At 28 grams the offense becomes trafficking, a first-degree felony that carries mandatory prison time a judge cannot go below.¹

Any Amount Is a Third-Degree Felony

Possessing cocaine without a valid prescription is a third-degree felony no matter how small the quantity. The statute sets no minimum weight. A fraction of a gram in a baggie, residue in a pipe, or a few grams in a pocket all fall under the same charge, provided the total is under 28 grams.²

A third-degree felony carries up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.³ First-time offenders caught with a small personal-use amount often receive probation or qualify for a pretrial program rather than prison, but the felony classification is on the charging document from day one.

Florida also does not distinguish between powder cocaine and crack for state-law charging purposes. Both count as cocaine under Schedule II, and the same weight thresholds apply to both forms.

Sale or Delivery Is a Second-Degree Felony at Any Weight

Selling cocaine, delivering it, or possessing it with intent to sell or deliver is a second-degree felony regardless of amount. A gram sold hand-to-hand is charged the same way as several grams held for distribution.²

A second-degree felony carries up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.³ Prosecutors do not need to prove a completed sale to file the intent-to-sell version of this charge. Intent can be inferred from packaging, quantity inconsistent with personal use, and other circumstantial evidence.

Trafficking Starts at 28 Grams

Once the weight reaches 28 grams (roughly one ounce), the offense becomes trafficking under Florida law. Trafficking is a first-degree felony, and it comes with mandatory minimum prison sentences a judge cannot reduce. It applies whether you were selling, buying, transporting, or simply holding the cocaine.⁴

The mandatory minimums scale with weight:

28 grams to under 200 grams: 3-year mandatory minimum prison sentence and a $50,000 fine.
200 grams to under 400 grams: 7-year mandatory minimum prison sentence and a $100,000 fine.
400 grams to under 150 kilograms: 15-year mandatory minimum prison sentence and a $250,000 fine.
150 kilograms or more: mandatory life imprisonment, with no eligibility for early release except through a pardon, executive clemency, or conditional medical release.

These are floors, not ceilings. A first-degree felony can carry up to 30 years, so a judge can sentence above the mandatory minimum. The trafficking fines listed above are set by the trafficking statute and are much higher than the standard $10,000 first-degree felony fine cap.⁴

The Substantial Assistance Exception

Florida law provides one narrow way below a trafficking mandatory minimum. If you provide substantial assistance to law enforcement in identifying, arresting, or convicting accomplices or other traffickers, the state attorney can ask the court to reduce or suspend the mandatory sentence. The judge decides whether the cooperation justifies departure. This is the only realistic path to a sentence below the mandatory floor.⁵

Drug-Free Zones Push the Felony Up One Degree

Committing a cocaine offense within 1,000 feet of certain protected locations bumps the felony classification up by one degree. A sale that would normally be a second-degree felony becomes a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years if it happens near a qualifying location.²

The 1,000-foot zones cover:

Public or private elementary, middle, and secondary schools, between 6 a.m. and midnight.
Child care facilities as defined under Florida law, between 6 a.m. and midnight.
State, county, or municipal parks, community centers, and publicly owned recreational facilities, at any time.
Public housing facilities, at any time.
Churches and religious organizations that regularly hold services, at any time.
Assisted living facilities, at any time.
Convenience businesses, at any time.

In dense urban areas these zones overlap, and someone can be charged with the enhancement without realizing they were within range of a qualifying location.

Pretrial Intervention for First-Time Possession

Florida’s pretrial intervention program can keep a first-time third-degree possession defendant out of prison and lead to dismissal of the charges. Eligibility generally requires that you be a first offender or have no more than one prior nonviolent misdemeanor conviction, and it needs approval from the state attorney, the program administrator, and the judge. You waive your speedy trial right for the duration of the program.⁶

Complete the program successfully and the state attorney can recommend dismissal. Fail it and prosecution resumes. Some counties run separate drug courts for defendants whose underlying issue is substance dependency. Pretrial intervention is not available for sale, delivery, or trafficking charges.

Consequences Beyond the Sentence

A cocaine felony conviction reaches past prison and fines. Florida law requires the court to suspend your driver’s license for at least six months on any drug conviction, including simple possession. The suspension lasts until you complete a drug evaluation and any recommended treatment, and in limited cases the court may allow a restricted license for work driving.⁷

Any cocaine felony conviction also strips your firearms rights under federal law. Federal law permanently bars anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison from possessing firearms or ammunition, and even the lowest cocaine felony charge, at up to five years, clears that line.⁸ A felony drug conviction can also affect employment, professional licensing, housing, and immigration status for non-citizens.

When Federal Charges Apply Instead

Most Florida cocaine cases are prosecuted in state court, but federal charges are possible, especially in large-scale cases, interstate cases, or investigations led by federal agencies. Federal law uses different weight thresholds and, unlike Florida, treats powder cocaine and crack differently.

Federal mandatory minimums for powder cocaine:

500 grams or more: 5-year mandatory minimum, up to 40 years.
5 kilograms or more: 10-year mandatory minimum, up to life.

For crack cocaine (cocaine base), the thresholds are lower:

28 grams or more: 5-year mandatory minimum, up to 40 years.
280 grams or more: 10-year mandatory minimum, up to life.

Prior serious drug felony convictions raise these federal minimums significantly. A second offense involving 5 kilograms or more of powder cocaine, for example, carries a 15-year mandatory minimum.⁹ The crack/powder gap matters at 28 grams: the same weight that triggers a 3-year state trafficking minimum triggers a 5-year federal minimum if the case is charged federally and the substance is crack.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 893.03 – Standards and Schedules
2
Justia Law. Florida Statutes 893.13 – Prohibited Acts; Penalties
3
Justia Law. Florida Statutes 775.082 – Penalties; Applicability of Sentencing Structures
4
Justia Law. Florida Statutes 893.135 – Trafficking; Mandatory Sentences
5
The Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 893.135 – Trafficking; Mandatory Sentences
6
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 948.08 – Pretrial Intervention Program
7
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 322.055 – Revocation or Suspension of Driver License for Drug Offenses
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 21 USC 841 – Prohibited Acts A