Don't flame if this is not the correct forum, I couldn't find a good place to post it. Yesterday a friend and I were smoking a bowl chilling on this street where we often toke. A cop drives by and 10 minutes later I am arrested for having the bowl. We had no weed whatsoever. Under Illinois law, I'm charged with unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. So I have a few questions. How much will the fine be? I have researched and found that it is usually 750. Since I'm going off to college next year (University of Iowa-Pharmacy) will I still be able to receive financial aid? I will plead guilty to the charge but I heard if I cooperate then it will say I was just arrested for the charge, and not convicted (misdemeanor?) I'm extremely worried since my fam is dead ass broke and I am seriously hoping I didn't totally fuck my pharmaceutical future up. (What drug company is gonna want to hire someone with a drug arrest) How can I get this expunged? I am 18 years old and I hear you can only get expungement if you're a minor... Thanks so much in advance (Mods-If not in the right forum, feel free to move)
When I got my paraphernalia charge it was a $315 fine but I went to court and they lowered it to $157 in exchange for me pleading no contest.
if you're not convicted, then I don't think it should fuck with your financial aid. The thing with FAFSA is that they only know whats good if you get tried and convicted in a federal court. If its a local or state thing, then they only find out if they actually go looking for it which is hard to do when millions of people are filing FAFSA applications. When it asks if you've ever been charged with drug offenses, you can just check NO. If it comes to that. Also, I would get a public defender when you go to court if possible, and try telling the judge that you've been accepted into Pharmacy school and that you want to better yourself but you need to have financial aid. Hopefully he won't be a scumbag and help you out. The more I hear these types of stories, the more I realize that this country is a joke. Oh, and you can thank Bill Clinton for the Higher Education Act which takes away finanical aid for people with drug convictions.
You leave a BIG portion out of your story for anyone to give you any real helpful advice. These details will be the deciding factor of whether or not an attorney's services are reccomended. If you were smart, kept your mouth shut and enforced your constitutional right to not self incriminate, you probably have a strong case to dismiss on the grounds of unreasonable search and seizure. Now, if you didnt stay quiet, and when the cop came up, said whatever he said, and you handed him the bowl, then you screwed yourself and need to plead out... Which did you do?
He came up, asked what we were doing, and we said we were waiting for my friend's GF outside of her court for her to get home. He asked me to step outside of the car and I did as he said. He asked when the last time I smoked pot was and I said to be honest it was 2 days ago, he said he could tell since he could smell it in the car. I waited outside while he went and talked to my friend. He then next came up to me and said if I have anything in the car that I should tell him now and if it wasn't shit then who knows what could happen. I told him there was a pipe underneath the passenger seat, but no weed whatsoever. He took my friend out the car then searched the fuck out of my whip and only found the bowl. I took responsibility for it and then was arrested. Dude said he was gonna let us dip but 2 other squad cars came and one was his boss so he couldn't do that. He told me he knew we weren't smoking then but having the bowl fucked me over. I was only charged with unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia
Sorry about your troubles, i am all too familiar with police bullying tactics as they just did to you. Your best bet is probably to plead. You effectively put yourself in jail and sealed the conviction. You admitted guilt. That cop would not be asking for permission if he had probable cause. You gave him the probable cause by telling him exactly what he needed to take you to jail. Take this as a lesson learned. You need to read up and learn about your constitutional rights. NEVER tell a cop ANYTHING, you don't have to sit there and answer ANY questions, he by law, HAS to answer yours. You answer his questions with "am i free to go?" Ask him if you are free to go and thats it. Especially don't GIVE him the evidence, geeeesh..... lol