Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan

We have had much success all over Michigan with these kinds of situations. If you can afford to hire an attorney, you should call us at 1 866 766 5245. You can read more about us at:

www.AggressiveCriminalDefense.com

It sounds like you would be eligible to petition for your case to be handled under the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act (HYTA) where -- after you have pled guilty -- your plea is taken under advisement by the court, you are put on probation, and the court has the authority after you have successfully completed probation to dismiss the case. If restitution is required in your case, it must be ordered as a condition of the HYTA probation. If you screw up on probation, then the court would 'accept' your previous guilty plea and formally sentence you, and the conviction would stay on your record. If THAT happens, your only remedy would have to wait until more than 5 years after your sentence date when you could petition the court to set your conviction aside ("expungment"), but that process has several hurdles to cross and one that blocks many petitioners is that this one conviction must be your one and only criminal conviction ... ever ... anywhere. Even a conviction for driving on a suspended license (a misdemeanor) disqualifies you from setting aside any conviction because you had "more than one prior conviction". The expungment laws are controlled by the legislature, and there have been bills in previous legislative sessions to loosen up the eligibility terms but those bills didn't get anywhere. It's possible that a similar bill could be filed in the new session but it would not help anyone unless it's approved and sign by the governor. Whether you're trying for HYTA or eventually an expungment, it is a good idea to have an attorney who can guide you through some hurdles, and make an argument on your behalf when you get in front of the judge.