justlooking76
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? North Carolina
Hello, I am here just to see if I can get a couple of opinions on a pending court matter. The person involved is my fiance and this happened in 2012. It involves the theft of army surplus items; a member of the military (fiance was army for 8 years) was basically dealing in stolen surplus property and my fiance got involved in it, mostly due to the fact that his wife at the time was telling him "You need to provide better for me and your daughter or we're gone" and "You're a sorry father if you don't bring more money home" so to take care of his family, he got involved in the theft and transport and sale of the items. Eventually it was discovered, and FBI got involved (whatever the FBI is in NC). After he and the wife ended up breaking up ANY way, he left and came back to Florida which is his home. FBI there thought he ran from the case, which he didn't....his address, phone, etc was available to anyone who needed it, and people on the case were aware that he was moving back to Florida. At any rate, the FBI in Florida was alerted and after tracking him down, they took him to the federal courthouse here where he was released that day, because "we are not moving to detain him"; and court proceedings began, in North Carolina. (His public defender tried for change of venue but was not granted). Since the initial arraignments, plea hearing, etc, he is under the supervision of a probation officer and has been for a year since when he was located here in Florida, has entered a plea and had the 8 charges dropped to one; the plea agreement mentions anything from heavy probation and fines, to jail time.
My question is, since this is his first and ONLY offense of any kind, what are the actual probable chances of jail time, in the opinion or experience of anyone here? He was in the military for 8 years, 3 rough years in Iraq, and received a PTSD diagnosis after his honorable discharge (medical). This case has been bumped up/rescheduled several times, so it doesn't seem that they are "in a rush" to sock it to him so to speak, and every one we have dealt with up there so far has seemed very nice. He has been super cooperative, meets with his PO whenever she requests, passes all random drug screens, whatever they ask. It's a financial hardship and a 12 hour drive but when he has court, we always make it there.
He knows it was a dumb, wrong, stupid thing to do. He is in no way arguing what he did, not owning up to it, etc. He is truly regretful for what he did, and he has done nothing even close to that since all this, and has no record before it, either. He basically goes to work, comes home to me and my kids which he considers his own, lives a quiet, family oriented life, and just tries to make it in life. He did something stupid, like everyone does to some degree in life, and it caught up to him. But that mistake is not who he is now. I don't see the sense in crowding another jail cell for something that is done and over with, that he is more than willing to make amends for WITHOUT sitting in jail, and he has been cooperating with his PO etc., so I would see no point in changing that. He has a stable home, stable job, good relationship with me and the kids, is getting treatment thru the VA for his PTSD, and overall is in a completely different place in life than he was when this happened. (All of which the attorney is using in his defense argument.)
I apologize if the details are scattered or I missed anything; I'm terrified of the outcome and my mind is in a thousand places right now.
Hello, I am here just to see if I can get a couple of opinions on a pending court matter. The person involved is my fiance and this happened in 2012. It involves the theft of army surplus items; a member of the military (fiance was army for 8 years) was basically dealing in stolen surplus property and my fiance got involved in it, mostly due to the fact that his wife at the time was telling him "You need to provide better for me and your daughter or we're gone" and "You're a sorry father if you don't bring more money home" so to take care of his family, he got involved in the theft and transport and sale of the items. Eventually it was discovered, and FBI got involved (whatever the FBI is in NC). After he and the wife ended up breaking up ANY way, he left and came back to Florida which is his home. FBI there thought he ran from the case, which he didn't....his address, phone, etc was available to anyone who needed it, and people on the case were aware that he was moving back to Florida. At any rate, the FBI in Florida was alerted and after tracking him down, they took him to the federal courthouse here where he was released that day, because "we are not moving to detain him"; and court proceedings began, in North Carolina. (His public defender tried for change of venue but was not granted). Since the initial arraignments, plea hearing, etc, he is under the supervision of a probation officer and has been for a year since when he was located here in Florida, has entered a plea and had the 8 charges dropped to one; the plea agreement mentions anything from heavy probation and fines, to jail time.
My question is, since this is his first and ONLY offense of any kind, what are the actual probable chances of jail time, in the opinion or experience of anyone here? He was in the military for 8 years, 3 rough years in Iraq, and received a PTSD diagnosis after his honorable discharge (medical). This case has been bumped up/rescheduled several times, so it doesn't seem that they are "in a rush" to sock it to him so to speak, and every one we have dealt with up there so far has seemed very nice. He has been super cooperative, meets with his PO whenever she requests, passes all random drug screens, whatever they ask. It's a financial hardship and a 12 hour drive but when he has court, we always make it there.
He knows it was a dumb, wrong, stupid thing to do. He is in no way arguing what he did, not owning up to it, etc. He is truly regretful for what he did, and he has done nothing even close to that since all this, and has no record before it, either. He basically goes to work, comes home to me and my kids which he considers his own, lives a quiet, family oriented life, and just tries to make it in life. He did something stupid, like everyone does to some degree in life, and it caught up to him. But that mistake is not who he is now. I don't see the sense in crowding another jail cell for something that is done and over with, that he is more than willing to make amends for WITHOUT sitting in jail, and he has been cooperating with his PO etc., so I would see no point in changing that. He has a stable home, stable job, good relationship with me and the kids, is getting treatment thru the VA for his PTSD, and overall is in a completely different place in life than he was when this happened. (All of which the attorney is using in his defense argument.)
I apologize if the details are scattered or I missed anything; I'm terrified of the outcome and my mind is in a thousand places right now.
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