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Busted in Illinois

skunkpunk

Member
Well everyone, I took the plea deal. 2 years probation, 30 hrs community service, $2500 in fine and fees. Not happy about it still but it beats prison. I am going to do my time and stay clean, case gets dismissed if I do what I'm supposed to. No felony and a second chance. I am going to get the hell out of here as soon as I am released. I am now moving on to dealing with my divorced, I'm going to fight hard to get my kids and hopefully by the time its all over I will be getting done with my probation.
I want to thank everyone who posted, I needed some support from somewhere. There are a lot of good folks on here and I hope I can repay the favors someday. Hopefully this thread can help someone one day who is in a similar situation.

Peace my friends, I will burn one for you all in 727 more days!
 

Crusader Rabbit

Active member
Veteran
No Felony? That's GREAT!

Hopefully there is some record of your wife's newest antics here that you will be able to use to keep your kids.
 
S

SeaMaiden

Well everyone, I took the plea deal. 2 years probation, 30 hrs community service, $2500 in fine and fees. Not happy about it still but it beats prison. I am going to do my time and stay clean, case gets dismissed if I do what I'm supposed to. No felony and a second chance. I am going to get the hell out of here as soon as I am released. I am now moving on to dealing with my divorced, I'm going to fight hard to get my kids and hopefully by the time its all over I will be getting done with my probation.
I want to thank everyone who posted, I needed some support from somewhere. There are a lot of good folks on here and I hope I can repay the favors someday. Hopefully this thread can help someone one day who is in a similar situation.

Peace my friends, I will burn one for you all in 727 more days!

You know what? That's very good, far better than what my son got for a first time offense.

Are you amenable to any kind of therapy or counseling? At this point, considering what you posted just a few days ago, and everything else, I think that as far as the court's concerned it may stand you in very good stead. Or, get into a parenting class so you can tell the court the steps you're taking to be the very best single dad you can possibly be. Fathers have an uphill battle as it is, unfair as it is, it's the truth.
 

mwz

Member
Veteran
I'd take the plea. I don't think I'd handle the whole "jail experience" too well lol
 

silver hawaiian

Active member
Veteran
Just found and read through the thread. Good for you, man, that it's been resolved. It gets to a point where the uncertainty of the outcome becomes more mentally taxing than the outcome itself..

Went through some shit of my own many years back - and by the time I wound up in prison, it was almost a relief to have the shit "over with," in a sense.

(PS - for some reference, sounds like you made out better than I did. If I lost at trial, the prosecutor would recommend two years in the clink. If I plead guilty, she'd withhold any sentencing recommendation. I was dead to rights busted, so I took the plea. She stood silent with her sentencing recommendation, deferring to the judge. ..who then gave me two years in the clink.)

:) Glad you've gotten it resolved man. Best of luck on paper, .. I'm hopeful you'll find a whole new sort of life routine/habit, and once you're up and running, you won't feel like you're "sacrificing" to proby-compliant. Otherwise, I imagine living on probation might be full of resentment.

:tiphat:
 

talktosamson

Active member
Veteran
Well everyone, I took the plea deal. 2 years probation, 30 hrs community service, $2500 in fine and fees. Not happy about it still but it beats prison. I am going to do my time and stay clean, case gets dismissed if I do what I'm supposed to. No felony and a second chance. I am going to get the hell out of here as soon as I am released. I am now moving on to dealing with my divorced, I'm going to fight hard to get my kids and hopefully by the time its all over I will be getting done with my probation.
I want to thank everyone who posted, I needed some support from somewhere. There are a lot of good folks on here and I hope I can repay the favors someday. Hopefully this thread can help someone one day who is in a similar situation.

Peace my friends, I will burn one for you all in 727 more days!

Good work brother. Some times this is the only option. I basically took the same deal as you did when I was 25. Quit everything, did my shit and stayed clean. Im 30 now and my life is in an immeasurably better place. My advise, READ read all you can about the herb you love while your away. I read the mag, books, magazines and got so much smarter about everything by the time I fired up the old grow room again. Come back to this thread if you ever need further support.
 
B

BrnCow

Some places let you become eligible to get off probation when you have done a third of your sentence. ..some half...but you have to have your fine paid off as well as the payments to probation current and other stuff done - like community service or classes. So, ask the lawyer or others busted about this and if it is possible, save up extra cash so when that month rolls around, you can have the lawyer apply for early release. You'll likely go before the judge and answer a few questions and he'll grant your request and you'll get an order in the mail with a date you are off. Don't discuss this type of shit with anyone but the lawyer and PO if you have to. Loose lips sink ships - like false reports to the police made by jealous persons around you. Same with job interviews - no one know until you have already been working for awhile. And tell the ex and her friends nothing. Most people blame others but burn themselves by running their mouths. They might drug test you also. If you want off, stay away from all drugs and alcohol. No clubs or known drug areas or places. It is possible for you to get off in 8 months if your state allows this. If not then 12 months. So, if it's 8 months, you need to put $315 in the bank per month so don't waste any money. Get off your ass and get than done. Every day you stay on probation past the possible release date is a day that they could catch you and stack shit on your ass - and they fucking will. Lay low and stay out od sight as much as possible. Movies and bowling are cool as they get you off the street and out of sight.
Good luck...and remember not to be hauling pot in your car. Cops break the laws when they pull you over and wanna search your car...
 

DeoXy

Active member
Man that's a shitty thing to go thru.. From one person currently serving IL probation time - 2years to another, I wish you the best of luck bro seriously! w/ probation and your personal life.. I got fucked and got caught in Dupage county rather then my home county of Cook(would of most likely been thrown out).. they seriously where ready to throw the book at me.. I got yanked out of my house like something out of a movie and carted almost 2 hours away and locked up.. took me 3 days just to get a hold of somebody to let them know I was locked up ... never an experience I want to go thru again.

What started as 3 felony charges for me quickly grew to 8... 3-5 years in prison w/ up to $25,000 fine.. 6 months of court dates later turned into all 7 other counts being thrown out & a plea deal for the lesser damaging count(class 4) not even related to the crime w/ 2 years probation w/ random drug tests, 30 days in county jail, $500 in court costs, $250 DNA swab & $30 a month in probation fees.

I was able to transfer my probation to my home county instead of almost 2 hours away, I got lucky and got one of the best PO officers I could of hoped for(yes they do exist, some just don't give a shred of shit and you suffer the whole time) and now close to 1 year of being on probation later w/ only 1 drug test thus far, I am on what they call low level supervision/low risk for re-offending - I report in person once every other month and report by mail the month in between and was just told that I will be reporting by mail up to 5 months at a time as long as I don't fuck up... So things started off really bad and somehow over time it did get somewhat better.. given the situation.

Not a day goes by that I don't think about it and regret it all.. but given how poor I am I had no choice but to take the plea.. a trial would of cost me $5K+ and I already had to sell all my shit just to pay my lawyer her $4k retainer and $3.5k to bond out.. I had more to lose if I lost the case.. so I get that feeling of "what IF I would of battled it at trial".. so keep your chin up bro.. things WILL GET BETTER w/ time.. you got a way better deal then I did.. don't fuck it up with all the small B.S. that can ruin that.

- Don't forget that everyday you serve in a IL county jail = 2 days served.. so a 30 day sentence = 15 ACTUAL days.. the day you go in and the day you get out also count as a full day a piece.. time will fly by - just read, watch tv, workout and learn new card games you will never play outside of there to pass up time.. as you can only sleep for so long on that piece o'shit bob barker mat.
 

Drift13

Member
Any conviction sucks. But not being a felon sucks much less. I'm just a few years off of paper from Illinois and in the end I was really suprised how fast it went. Best of luck to ya with your kids.
 

skunkpunk

Member
Thanks everyone, so far its been no big deal. Not smoking isn't an issue for me, I was an after work and weekend smoker anyway. Just going to help me appreciate it more when I can again. Slow going with my kids but I have a positive attitude and a few tricks up my sleeve. 20 months left, at least I think? Does anyone know if you can request early termination when on first offender probation? It's be super sweet if I could get off after a year! But I'm not going to hold my breath.
 

St3ve

Member
As far as I know there isn't early termination, but that could be different in your state.


And I for one am glad that you're wife didn't get brought into it. Its been my experience that fuck up women (and men) only get worse when they get into positions like that. Who knows how much more hell that woman can bring upon you if she is the kind of person it sounds like she is. The fact that you have kids to worry about means you should really just try and keep her happy. (as fucked up as it is I know)

The best advice I ever got from an attorney was be as nice as you can. I commend you for keeping it cool.
 
Take the two years probation. As someone who has spent some time in, and some hard time as well, I can see that you are not built for jail. DA offers me 2 years of probation on a manufacture charge and I'm whistling dixie. I'll take the #2 with probation and a large fry all day. Never risk jail over 2 years probation. The general rule is 5/1. If they offer you 6 months and no probation vs 2 years probation, depending on conditions I might take 6 mos county, get 2 for one time served and be out in 90-100 days, free to do what I want. If you can swing it financially, the lost income and not have it affect your family its worth it. But in your case, there is no way I take it to trial and get 2 years. Did you have the plants? Yes. So unless your lawyer has a disqualifying loophole... take the deal. If there was a problem with the search, or he could get the plants ruled inadmissable fine, but he would have filed those motions after he read the discovery and talked to you. Take probation and be more careful.
 
I'm busy today and didn't get to read the whole thread but don't take your wife down too. I know shes a **** and all but think about the kids, they'll probably end up in CPS Where they have about a 50% chance of being molested, DON'T DO IT. Gotta be a dad now do what's right for them.
 

supermanlives

Active member
Veteran
if everyone stopped taking deals the court system would get so backed up. I would not take a deal for something i didn't do . ever period. good luck. intent to distribute will follow you for ever and get you searched every time a cop runs your plate/id and can find a reason
 
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