No, No, No. It’s not prudent to plead guilty…even if you are guilty!

Kids go to college, party hard… sometimes too hard and then get arrested for “disorderly intoxication.”

The higher the goals that these college students intend to pursue, the more that these cases can adversely affect them. A criminal case, even a seemingly insignificant misdemeanor, may impact an ability to get into graduate school, be eligible for a professional license or may have negative consequences in obtaining employment.

Most jurisdictions have a program for first time offenders called “pre-trial intervention” or “pre- trial diversion” programs. These programs act as a voluntary form of probation where, upon successful completion, the case gets dropped. Such a disposition may then qualify the student with erasing that criminal record.

It’s smarter to pay some monies, perform community service hours or take a “don’t-do-it-again class”, which results in the matter being dropped, as opposed to pleading guilty, getting an easy to pay fine but then having that case prejudice the person for the rest of their life.

Any of allegation of a criminal law violation should be discussed with an experienced criminal defense attorney.