I lean toward drugs being the motive/motivation behind Khalil's disappearance.
I can empathize with his family when they say he wasn't running from the law at the time he went missing, but these charges seem really, really serious to me. I think it most likely he was made to disappear by someone who either had knowledge of or was concerned that he may turn State's Witness. A less likely scenario would be that he voluntarily disappeared to avoid standing trial- either being handed a lengthy prison sentence, or being pressured to give up someone higher on the food chain in exchange for leniency.
Being charged with Distribution is more serious than Possession. Usually, the difference between a Possession charge and an Intent to Distribute charge comes down to the "weight" (or amoutn) of drug(s) the suspect had on him. The larger the amount, the more likely the person was planning to distribute, as opposed to having it on hand for personal use.
None of the articles I read state Khalil was charged with Intent to Distribute- but rather, they say he was charged with Distribution. To charge Distribution, one must be able to prove the defendant intended to distribute the drugs. Either the person was physically seen selling the product, or they sold it to an under-cover officer.
Finally, setting his bond at $50,000 seems excessive if he was merely in possession of a little marijuana. Considering we're talking about a 19 year old kid, popular, etc... whatever the circumstances are, the charges are extremely serious, and way beyond what you'd expect if he'd simply been caught with a couple of joints on him during a wild night out with friends.
JMO
