Adjudication withheld on a felony drug possession and a conviction for reckless driving(misdemeanor). The conviction for the reckless prohibits me from expunging through regular avenues. The drug charge happened 7+ years ago and the reckless 6+.
I have since completely turned my life around. I am married, completed my Electrical Engineering degree and am actively searching employment.
I am flirting with the idea of writing the Gov. a letter explaining my situation in hopes of getting an expungement granted. I don't want to think all of my hard work in Engineering School was wasted. I am unable to get a second interview after they find out about my criminal background.
Let me blunt and allow me to disagree with my colleagues. You can not get your record expunged. You also can not get your record sealed. The problem is the reckless conviction. Once convicted of anything, and I do mean anything, you are ineligible to get any charge sealed, ever. Your only chance is to do something about the reckless such as withdrawing your plea. You will need an attorney to talk the prosecutor to see if they are even willing to do that. Since you have made progress over the last few years they may be williing. If they agree to withhold adjudication on the reckless, then you can get the drug charge sealed. Good luck.
Sealing the records should accomplish what you want to achieve. It will make the records unavailable from government agencies for employment background checks. Please contact a local attorney for more information. FYI, a withhold of adjudication will allow you to say on a job application that you were not convicted.
tephen Andrew MoscaCriminal Defense AttorneyJacksonville, FL ·
To the best of my knowledge, even sealing a record requires that you received a withhold of adjudication. So, at this point you could have the drug charge sealed but not the reckless.
Since you have come so far since those crazy days, it may be possible for an attorney to motion the misdemeanor court to vacate, set aside and modify your prior disposition on the reckless and change it to a withhold. I have had judges do this for me before and with your story you have a good argument. It happened a long time ago, no trouble since, graduated engineering school, and need to have record sealed to profit from your effort, which will profit society as well. I don't recommend you do this yourself as a local attorney has a better chance to speak to the judge ahead of time, try to get the State Attorney to say they have no objection, and generally smooth the path.
Be advised that when you seal a record it is still available to certain elements, such a professional licensing boards, the military, DOD, etc. Those with a special need to know of your full record will get it, just not the average employer. So, if, as an engineer, you ever require a secret clearance, for example, the DOD will see your record and you will likely be called in to explain the circumstances.
Writing the Gov. will not work for you. See the FDLE website for pretty nice FAQ on getting your record sealed or expunged. Then go see a local attorney who works in the criminal court system of the jurisdiction of your conviction to write that motion and then, if successful, file the paperwork to get both items sealed. If all else fails, seal the felony conviction for sure. Good luck.
