Lowering a felony to a misdemenor?

[laladeda84]

What is the name of your state? NC
My boyfriend joined the Air Force about 8 years ago. He had a felony on his record when he joined... he stole some $10.00 shirts from the Wings store he was working at when he was 17 and was convicted when he was 18. Anyhow, when he joined he was told that they would either completly get rid of the felony or get it lowered to a misdemenor. He has been out of the Air Force for a few years now and the felony is still there. He needs to get rid of it in order to be hired on by the company he is working for (through a temp-service), get a $3.00 raise, comission, insurance and vacation days, and to be transferred to Charlotte when I go there for grad school. The company loves him and wants to hire him on but it is against company policy to hire anyone with a felony.

So, he went to the recruiting office and asked about it, they gave him an 800 number to call but when he called that number they said he needed to go to the recruiting office. Is there a number he can call where they can help him? He has talked to lawyers in town and they want about $1,500.00 non-refundable and can't garentee anything so we would like to get it fixed free if we can. Especially since you not even supposed to be able to join the Air Force with a felony, which is why they said they would take care of it.

[seniorjudge]

Originally Posted by laladeda84

What is the name of your state? NC
My boyfriend joined the Air Force about 8 years ago. He had a felony on his record when he joined... he stole some $10.00 shirts from the Wings store he was working at when he was 17 and was convicted when he was 18. Anyhow, when he joined he was told that they would either completly get rid of the felony or get it lowered to a misdemenor. He has been out of the Air Force for a few years now and the felony is still there. He needs to get rid of it in order to be hired on by the company he is working for (through a temp-service), get a $3.00 raise, comission, insurance and vacation days, and to be transferred to Charlotte when I go there for grad school. The company loves him and wants to hire him on but it is against company policy to hire anyone with a felony.

So, he went to the recruiting office and asked about it, they gave him an 800 number to call but when he called that number they said he needed to go to the recruiting office. Is there a number he can call where they can help him? He has talked to lawyers in town and they want about $1,500.00 non-refundable and can't garentee anything so we would like to get it fixed free if we can. Especially since you not even supposed to be able to join the Air Force with a felony, which is why they said they would take care of it.

He needs to get a job at a place that hires thieves.


Expungement/pardon

There are several thousand questions on this forum similar to yours. Thus, I have prepared a standard answer.

Standard answer: Expungement is generally granted for illegal arrests or unlawful convictions. Generally, pardon mean you are forgiven for the crime but it remains on your record.

The usefulness or effectiveness of either procedure is generally worthless.

Check with the governor or attorney general of your state to see how you can go about either of these procedures. Check with the Attorney General or the President for federal expungement or pardon.

You must remember that there may be private background check companies that have past offenses on their databases; those reports will never be expunged.


[url]http://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?p=848776#post848776[/url]

[url]http://www.uslegalforms.com/lawdigest/expungement-of-criminal-records-law.htm[/url]



Stand by...others may offer more advice.

[laladeda84]

But what about the Air Force saying they would take care of it and then sending him in circles? Does anyone know a number he can call?

[fozzy2]

Originally Posted by laladeda84

But what about the Air Force saying they would take care of it and then sending him in circles? Does anyone know a number he can call?

The air force can't "take care" of it. The military has no authority to change any sentence or judicial ruling made by a civil court. It sounds like he misunderstood (or was misled). Who precisely in the Air Force told him he could get his felony "taken care of"? I don't suppose you've seen this in writing anywhere?

His felony conviction is there. Given the amount of time that has passed, with presumably honorable military service to boot, a lot of employers would make exceptions to their non-hire policies. But there is nothing the military can change about it.

[SHORTY LONG]

02 JUNE 06

Yes, as stated, presumably "Honorable Discharge!" Try calling the GI Hotline they may or may not be able to help: 1-800-394-9544 and or search out a locale branch in your town for the ALCU; they may be interested in such case as you posted! Good luck and do not give up. Shorty out!

Originally Posted by fozzy2

The air force can't "take care" of it. The military has no authority to change any sentence or judicial ruling made by a civil court. It sounds like he misunderstood (or was misled). Who precisely in the Air Force told him he could get his felony "taken care of"? I don't suppose you've seen this in writing anywhere?

His felony conviction is there. Given the amount of time that has passed, with presumably honorable military service to boot, a lot of employers would make exceptions to their non-hire policies. But there is nothing the military can change about it.

what he said.

Was he given "youthful offender" status when he was convicted? Are you saying that the record was never sealed?

Like previously said. If he has a felony conviction then thats pretty much a wrap (aka he's stuck with it for life), but if he was given "youthful offender" status and the record was not sealed like it should have been, then thats another story.

[fairisfair]

I remember you, styling boyfriend (or is that stealing boyfriend??) with the Kenneth Cole shirts, haven't we already answered this question for you??

[RedemptionMan]

Originally Posted by laladeda84

But what about the Air Force saying they would take care of it and then sending him in circles? Does anyone know a number he can call?

There is no magic number to call and no one on here can tell you that he can or can not have it expunged. That is up to the particular judge in the county of the state in which the offense took place. I understand your frustration but if I was in your shoes. I would pick up the telephone call around to attorneys in the area that know the judge either personally or have a great professional working relationship with him/ her. Read this:

[url]http://www.uslegalforms.com/lawdigest/expungement-criminal-records-law.php/NC/NC-EXP.htm[/url]

It will cost a lot of money and could take 6-8 months to get off his record. He should not focus on the job now unless somehow they give him a wavier which I doubt. A good criminal defense attorney can get this taken care of for you, and regardless of what people on this board say. Background check companies that clear individuals to work will VERIFY all information with the source reporting agency for if they do not they tend to get sued for large amounts of money for reporting wrong information. Good Luck**************

I dont know if this will help, but i think your best bet is to do this:1. Have your boyfriend get a public defender in the county that he got the felony conviction. Hire a lawyer if you can and if money is an issue, then see if he can apply for a public defender. 2. once he gets the public defender or paid attorney, explain the situation to them and if its possible, maybe they can set up a meeting with the District attorney and/or county judge and see if it is possible to get it lowered. I personally have never heard of that, but if the attorney explains that your bf went into the airforce and he now has a good job he wants to get fulltime on and he has grown up since his teenage days, maybe they can do something for him. Good luck. The next best thing if they wont do anything which is probaly going to be the hardest to pull off, would be a pardon from the state Governors office. I would focus on the district attornys office of that county and go from there. If they wont give him a public defender, try to call the D.A's office himself and set up a meeting without a lawyer and plead with the DA.

[SHORTY LONG]

03 JUNE 06

[laladeda84] by the way: "WHO was it that to your 'bf' that they would completly get rid of the felony or get it lowered to a misdemenor?" Also, on his "Enlistment Forms" that ask about any types of criminal history, what did he disclose on the forms?" Lastly, if the 'Recruiter' knew of his 'conviction' then also it would be very helpful for your "bf" to seek him out and get an Affidavit attesting to the the facts upon his enlistment'! Remember this, anything worthwhile in life is never easy and a "Good name is worth more than**************..ECC:7.1." SHOURT OUT!

Originally Posted by laladeda84

What is the name of your state? NC
My boyfriend joined the Air Force about 8 years ago. He had a felony on his record when he joined... he stole some $10.00 shirts from the Wings store he was working at when he was 17 and was convicted when he was 18. Anyhow, when he joined he was told that they would either completly get rid of the felony or get it lowered to a misdemenor. He has been out of the Air Force for a few years now and the felony is still there. He needs to get rid of it in order to be hired on by the company he is working for (through a temp-service), get a $3.00 raise, comission, insurance and vacation days, and to be transferred to Charlotte when I go there for grad school. The company loves him and wants to hire him on but it is against company policy to hire anyone with a felony.

So, he went to the recruiting office and asked about it, they gave him an 800 number to call but when he called that number they said he needed to go to the recruiting office. Is there a number he can call where they can help him? He has talked to lawyers in town and they want about $1,500.00 non-refundable and can't garentee anything so we would like to get it fixed free if we can. Especially since you not even supposed to be able to join the Air Force with a felony, which is why they said they would take care of it.

[badapple40]

You need to hire a civilian attorney to deal with this. Expungement is the way to go, if the state allows it. The military cannot do anything about this.

[laladeda84]

Thank you so much to everyone who responded! He is still running around in circles trying to get the military to do something, but my uncle who is a district court judge is back from serving overseas and said he would look at his case and see if he could find him a good lawyer that he could afford.