State v. S.A. (Sherburne County 2016)

The client was charged with Possession of Marijuana in a Motor Vehicle and Speeding. The initial offer was for him to plead guilty to the marijuana charge as a petty misdemeanor, which would mean it wouldn’t count as a criminal conviction and would only involve a small fine. The client was a college student, however, so I was concerned that even a petty offense would disqualify him from receiving federal student aid. The prosecutor, however, wasn’t willing to deal. So I got documentation from the federal agency and two separate case agents from my client’s financial aid department showing that he would be disqualified and took it to the prosecutor. Based on that proof, I was able to convince the prosecutor to dismiss the marijuana charge and my client only pleaded guilty to speeding. Even better, by not pleading to the marijuana charge, my client avoided the 30-day loss of driver’s license and $700 reinstatement fee that would have followed a marijuana conviction.