The Existence of Actual Drugs Is Not Necessary to Convict for Attempt to Traffic

In Kocol v. State, 546 So. 2d 1159, 1159-60 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989) the defendant was charged with trafficking in cocaine after selling to another party what the defendant claimed was a full ounce of cocaine. In fact, the amount delivered was determined by police to be only 27.58 grams of cocaine, just short of the 28 grams required to convict for actual trafficking. See id. at 1160. Regardless, it was held that the deficiency did not defeat the defendant's conviction for conspiracy to traffic. Instead, where there was evidence that the defendant had explicitly agreed to deliver an ounce of cocaine, the district court found competent, substantial evidence of his intent to sell a trafficking quantity. See id. Similarly, in Spera v. State, 656 So. 2d 550, 552 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995), the Second District upheld a conviction for conspiracy to traffic, despite the defendant's delivery of only 26.8 grams of cocaine, where the evidence established that the defendant had previously agreed with his coconspirators to deliver a full ounce. Even the existence of actual cocaine is not necessary to convict a defendant for conspiracy or attempt to traffic.