Legal Question in Criminal Law in New York

drug conviction question

In 1992, during college in NY my husband was charged with ''crim. sale control. sub. 5'' and served 5 years probation. He was caught with others in connection with a local sting on his fraternity house. This was his first and only crime of any kind.

Is this a felony conviction? If so, are there different degrees of felony convictions? What does this mean for his civil rights ie: voting, jury duty, gun ownership (not that we'd ever own a gun...)? Does this show up on his record? Is there any circumstance or time frame that this gets expunged?

My husband definitely made a mistake, but in my opinion he didn't seem to have decent legal representation at the time. He's now a professional, father of two awesome daughters and this event hangs over his head. I would love for him to be able to volunteer/coach at our daughter's schools, but he's terrified that he'll be ''found out'' as all volunteers need to fill out a CORI background check form.

I know nothing about criminal offenses and what this means 16 years later.

Any information, suggestions and/or advice will be much appreciated. Thank you, Joanna


Asked on 8/22/08, 3:19 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Sergey Mikhlin Law Office of Sergey Mikhlin

Re: drug conviction question

First, what your husband was charged with is immaterial. What is important is what charge he pled to or what charge he was convicted of (if he, in fact, went to trial). In other words, just because your husband was charged with CPCS 5 (PL 220.06) which is a class "D" felony, it does not necessarily mean that he pled to that charge.

Secondly, regardless of whether he pled to a misdemeanor or a felony, if your husband was not adjudicated "youthful offender" or "juvenile delinquent", such a plea does constitute a criminal conviction and will stay on his record indefinitely. While such a conviction may or may not show up on his local (MA) rap sheet, it will definitely show up on his FBI rap sheet (should your daughter's school request such information).

Regarding his rights to vote, own a gun, etc., you should check your local Massachusetts laws to see if his out-of-state conviction will have any effect on such rights/privileges.

Finally, in New York, a Certificate of Relief from Civil Disabilities is availbale to certain offenders. This tool, however, has very limited effect and applications.

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Answered on 8/22/08, 4:03 pm


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