Legal Question in Criminal Law in Florida

Sarasota, FL. I successfully graduated drug court yet did not get my charges dropped. My charges were poss of controlled substance, 3rd DWLS and paraphernalia. The prosecutor did not want to drop them because I received withheld adjudication on a felony poss of controled substance charge from 3 years prior. I have been done with Drug court for 10 months now and I am now in school to become a veterinary tech.I have also successfully maintained employment for the last 18 months. I need to get this stuff off my record. Is there any hope for a expungement or some type of pardon? I am willing to go to great lengths in order to make myself more appealing to whatever board i would need to present my case too. What would be the best way to go about this?


Asked on 2/07/10, 1:25 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Craig Epifanio Craig Epifanio, P.A.

First, you need to know that for the field you are going into, it doesn't matter if you got this expunged, sealed, or pardoned. The boards will still want to know about this and you will need to explain it. That said, assuming you got a withhold on all charges you have ever had in the past, then you can get one set of charges sealed. (Either the one from three years ago, or the one now). However, you need to be sure everything was a withhold, including the DWLS and the paraphernalia. If you received an adjudication on anything, ever, you can get nothing sealed. You can apply for a pardon, but it is my understanding that even if you ultimately get a pardon, the process can take a couple years. I handle Sarasota county cases so if you wish to give me a call about possibly getting the charge sealed, give me a call at 727-528-1859.

Craig Epifanio

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Answered on 2/12/10, 5:53 pm


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