Medical marijuana and how I got busted

[Seeker30]

Here's a story that happened to me about 12 years ago. I'm not saying I was in the right or defending it but it did leave a bad taste in my mouth on just how low the govt and cops will stoop to get their bust.

I ran across a girl I went to high school with in a club. One of my close friends had just died of cancer and I told her about it and the suffering he went through the 2 years before his death (he was 25 years old). I told her that pot was really the only thing that kept him from the constant throwing up the days after his chemo sessions. I really didnt think to much about it and we exchanged numbers to keep in touch. About a week later she called me and told me a friend of hers had a brother who was going through cancer treatment and she wanted to know if I knew anywhere I could get him some weed. I didnt feel comfortable about it so I told her I would look around and figured that would be the end of it. The days that followed she called me 4 or 5 times a day telling me how sick this guy was and she really wanted to help him. I did know a guy at work that I knew could get some so I finally got an ounce of weed for her basically just to get her off my back if nothing else. Well you may have guessed, she was an undercover drug cop. When I got busted they confiscated my car that was paid for under the forfeiture laws, confiscated $250 from my wallet that I never got back and I ended up with a felony out of the deal. Never been in trouble before, never even had a traffic ticket. I only got probation out of it but the felony ended my plans of being a lawyer after spending 3 years in law school. I was told that if I setup 3 other people they would drop the felony to a misdemeanor, but I told them as far as I was concerned they were the evil ones and to go screw themselves.

So now I am forever labeled a felon. Its hard for me to even get homeowners insurance because of it. Cant travel to a lot of foreign countries such as Canada, Australia or the UK. My own fault I know, but I would have never dreamed the police would operate in such a fashion. Live and learn.

[alittlelark]

1. Damn, that sucks. What state did this occur in?

[Jersey Devil]

2. Call a lawyer about an expungement

Most states allow you to wipe out your record, even for most felonies, after a period of time where you do not get into any criminal trouble.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

5. Expungment laws are generally only for those

who committed crimes when they were juveniles. For everyone else, you're screwed.

[Jersey Devil]

6. That is not true - expungements are available to adults as well

Usually all that is required is that you go a specified period of time without committing a crime. In NJ it is 5 years for a disorderly persons offense (a misdemeanor) and 10 years for a felony. You apply to the court, notify the police and prosecutors and unless they have some unusual reason why it should not be done, the record is expunged.

I have done it dozens of times for clients.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

7. I think if you did a survey of the states

You would find NJ is the exception to the rule. At least that is what I found in most the states I looked at.

[Jersey Devil]

8. Could be you are right

I just checked Colorado and indeed it appears expungement is just for juveniles. Too bad. A lifetime of punishment for an indiscretion in someone's youth is a bit much.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

27. Yea I think in most of the states

if you are over the age of majority you are screwed. Rcently in the state where I live, Indiana, they have enacted a law that will consider up to 21, but there are some clearly defined limitations on it, most notably any crime of domestic battery, and you are out of luck.

I personally have never understood the logic of releasing someone from prison, allegedly to reintegrate into society, and then having laws that make them a second class citizen for the rest of their lives and ensure that they will not reintegrate.

[sui generis]

3. apply to have it expunged

see what the law is in your state - there have been recent changes in the law in several states.

[Seeker30]

4. It happened in Colorado

and Colorado has no expungement.

[Jersey Devil]

9. yup, just checked Colorado

It seems odd to me that any state would make someone bear the burden of a record decades later if there were no further offenses.

[Seeker30]

11. That is correct

The only thing would be a pardon from the Governor which is highly unlikely.

What bothers me more than anything is since then I have created a successful business and have paid close to a million dollars in taxes the past 10 years yet I am treated as a second class citizen.

[Jersey Devil]

12. Just read that only 12 states allow adult conviction expungements

NJ and RI are among them, as well as Ky to my knowledge.
http://www.insidepolitics.org/heard/expungement.html

In NJ, unless there is some compelling reason why the record should remain public (ie child molestation) the courts generally grant these applications routinely.

[Rainbowreflect]

10. What the fuck is wrong with our country?

Pedophiles & child abusers spend little or no time behind bars & our legal system pulls crap like this. It makes me ill.

[not systems]

13. That is a sad sad story...

how do this police state functionaries justify this
type of behavior to themselves.

[Jersey Devil]

14. Could be worse - could have happened in Texas

He'd probably still be in jail.

[Seeker30]

15. Well it was illegal

and I knew I could get in trouble, but to pay for something like that for the rest of your life really makes ya wonder what kind of society we really live in. I got lucky because I did create my own company and was able to make a living but I cant help to think about others in the same situation that can never get a decent job again. A lot of them probably have no choice but to sell drugs or continue being a criminal. The system definitely represses those who have made mistakes.

[not systems]

16. She was preying on your friendship and compasion...

that is what I don't understand a person being able
to justify to them self.

If you didn't know her from high school your paths never
would have crossed yet she behaved like a stalking
animal looking for prey rather than a normal person.

I'm glad that you have been able to make your way and
have such a forgiving attitude about it.

To me it seems like you were wronged by exploiting you
better nature.

[Zorbuddha]

17. You should have contacted the ACLU

This sounds like a model case for them to champion.

Clearly an abuse of Constitutional protections.

[Zhade]

18. Yet another story about the brutality of the WOD.

I'm sorry you were punished for something that shouldn't be illegal.

(And to all those pro-WOD posters here on DU, go fuck yourselves. You should be ashamed of yourself for swallowing the lies and propaganda from the government about this beneficial plant. You have no excuse with all the information available, and I consider you as dishonest and scummy as the fucking DEA. Assholes.)

[htuttle]

19. For every good cop, there's about 50 shitheads with badges

Unfortunately, you seem to have found one of the shitheads.

[crispini]

20. Wow, that totally sucks.

Just curious, was the conviction for possession or for dealing? If it's for dealing, she basically entrapped you into dealing. That does suck totally.

I wonder, if you had GIVEN her the pot, for her brother's friend, would that count as dealing?

[Vladimir]

21. How was that not entrapment?

or does that not matter over the pond? n/t

[Media_Lies_Daily]

23. That's my question, too.

[Seeker30]

25. I've always believed it was entrapment

but at the time I made very little money so the Attorney I had was a cheap one and told me you can never win an entrapment case when it came to drugs and that I should accept their plea offer. Whether thats true or not I don't know, but I really wanted to see what a jury thought about it but I would have been facing 5 years in prison if I took that chance. I know now if anything like that ever happens again to get the best Attorney even if it means selling everything you have.

[SheepyMcSheepster]

22. a similar setup happened to a friend of mine

he worked with this girl, she wanted to know if he could get pot for boyfriend. she kept bugging him and bugging him about until finally he justed decided to help her out, half becase he wanted to get her off his back, half because he is a really nice guy. she requested and ounce (felony).

so, he gets the weed and meets her and her boyfriend somewhere, turns out someone else is there waiting too. my friend felt a little spooked but continued anyway. the extra guy turned out to be undercover, the boyfriend was narcing out people in a deal to have his own charges deminished.

nothing happened at the sale, but a day or two later cops showed up with handcuffs for my friend.

basically this was a manufactured sell.

yeas later the cop who busted him got in trouble for being caught up in a police crime ring (selling stolen goods, drugs etc.)



another story about narcing out someone: a friend of a friend got arrested, he was told that if he narced he would get a ligther setence/charge reduction, so he got one of his friends busted. he got nothing in return. they lied to him.


so yeah, the war on (some) druges is going fantastic.
:eyes:

sorry for you trouble seeker.

[sweetheart]

24. Wow, i'm sorry that happened

The only good thing, is that they wasted money on you that would otherwise
have gone towards murdering people in a war, so, hey, you saved a few
bullets and a few lives overseas by your involuntary civil disobedience.

Imagine, if its a felony to sell 28 grams of weed, what a crime it must
be to wage criminal aggressive war killing 100,000 innocent civilians?

I'm glad its working out ok for you in the aftermath... subtle justice
in life... the good persons come out ok... and the evil police live
in their sewer of shit.

[jonnyblitz]

26. correct me if i am wrong but isnt that entrapment when they set

up a situation where your drug purchase wouldnt have occured otherwise. I don't know jack about legal specifics so i could be blatently wrong in my assumption.
so your high school friend was a narc eh? i wonder if she could sleep at night after that. i think that people like her are lower then whale shit.

on edit: i see you already addressed the entrapment thing in other posts..i didnt read thru all of them before posting this..

[SouthernDem2004]

28. It was entrapment if your story is correct and not missing anything.

Here is a good explaination:

http://www.lectlaw.com/def/e024.htm

Also, if it was 12 years ago and you have no record since that time there is a good chance you can get it expunged like the others mention. Talk to an attorney.