My fiance just got sentenced Thursday for drug charges. He received a mandatory 3-6 year sentence and was recomended for boot camp. I and others feel his lawyer didn't fight for him. The police wanted him to set people up. He didn't.

He signed the guilty plea because his lawyer said he'll probally get a year with work release. They did a PSI on him. He has two boys 6 & 8. They only negatives are the DUI from 4 years ago. He got ARD for that. The boys live solely on his support, the mother doesn't work. The lawyer did not have the mother of his children or me speak for him. Also when the judge, DA and lawyer go to discuss the case behind closed doors, isn't the defendant supposed to be present?


Will a lawyer be able to help us? We have 10 days from the date of his sentencing to file for reconsideration.

I feel for you. My husband recieved a 20- yr sentence for not setting people up,and to have all charges dropped against me, who actually had no say in anything anyways.
I wish you the best of luck. I dont believe the defendent is supose to be in the room with the lawyers and judge, but they do have to discuss all decisions with the defendent. I would call an another attorney on his case. I believe the first consitation is free and you will be able to get some much need advice. God Bless

Thank you! I called a lawyer today, waiting for a call back!

I would go ahead and file for reconsideration regardless of whether or not you have acquired a lawyer. After all, if your fiance was convicted by the court, then I assume he no longer has a job, which means he is still entitled to a public defender, even if he is applying for reconsideration.

Something similar happened to my husband. He regrets no having filed for reconsideration.

Also, you may try the ACLU or NORML, if the drug charges were marijuana-related. Good luck.

I'm not an atty.,but back in 1993 I was sentenced on drug charges as well.My atty. told be to go on and accept the 3 year sentence and that I would be out on parole in like 5 months.Anyway,10 months roll on by and I am still in prison,so I called up a friend of mine that is also an atty.,and I asked him to check into this for me,that I NEVER would have signed the guilty plea had I known the atty I had was that unfamiliar w/ the state guidelines etc..So,I also explained to my friend that I felt my attorney mis led me and to see if he could find a way to get me back into court w/ time served,because at that time in Ga.,they were coming down on all drug offenders...sales OR distribution,intent etc,you get the picture.Well,he DID get me back into court and my sentence was commuted to time served.Maybe it is possible for you and your husband to do the same,I do not know and I do not know the details of your case but you could also ask yourselves if you are satisfied w/ your atty's work and representation and if you are not,you have the option of telling the judge this in court...but it could also HURT yall as well.So if I were you ,I would take EVERYTHING into consideration before I did ANYTHING.










QUOTE=Neek26]My fiance just got sentenced Thursday for drug charges. He received a mandatory 3-6 year sentence and was recomended for boot camp. I and others feel his lawyer didn't fight for him. The police wanted him to set people up. He didn't.

He signed the guilty plea because his lawyer said he'll probally get a year with work release. They did a PSI on him. He has two boys 6 & 8. They only negatives are the DUI from 4 years ago. He got ARD for that. The boys live solely on his support, the mother doesn't work. The lawyer did not have the mother of his children or me speak for him. Also when the judge, DA and lawyer go to discuss the case behind closed doors, isn't the defendant supposed to be present?


Will a lawyer be able to help us? We have 10 days from the date of his sentencing to file for reconsideration.[/QUOTE]

I'm going to try. I read online that in PA it is impossible to get a mandatory minumum sentence lessened unless the defendant snitched or had to be hospitalized.

If that's true, then why is it possible for him to get out early if he goes to boot camp? Doesn't make sense to me.

He was given the manditory minumum because of the amount he had.

I don't know why that is..I dont know anything about how Pa. works at all ...I also was not aware that ..that (excuse the double neg) was the mandatory MINIMUM,there is likely nothing you can do if that is the case,I would think...unless he had already been to court and had some kind of grounds for a "habeous corpus" which an atty would know or if there were any "mistakes" that the judge made etc....and THAT only happens on rare occasions.If I read ya correctly,you said that he only SIGNED a guilty plea???If that is so and he hasn"t actually pled guilty before a judge ..if you arent happy w/ the agreement all you have to do is rip up the paper...take back that plea..me personally however,if that is the MINIMUM sentence offered I would keep it as is..

he did plead in front of a judge. i was told i could try to reconcider it or appeal and he would have to pull the plea because of the wrong the lawyer told him. the lawyer told him the cops would most likely be dropping some of the charges against him and he would only get the year of work release. he plead guilty because of that. at the same time he plead open and i just found out that pleading open means the judge sentences you. the manditorys don't come into play. we were screwed with. i have calls to make tomorrow.

he did plead in front of a judge. i was told i could try to reconcider it or appeal and he would have to pull the plea because of the wrong the lawyer told him. the lawyer told him the cops would most likely be dropping some of the charges against him and he would only get the year of work release. he plead guilty because of that. at the same time he plead open and i just found out that pleading open means the judge sentences you. the manditorys don't come into play. we were screwed with. i have calls to make tomorrow.

Ok,I gotcha',yeah,you can ALWAYS try because you never know WHAT you might come across....like w/ myself everyone kept telling me to give it up and I told you what happened top me..and on that thought the minimum sentence was infact 3 years on what I did and I was commuted to time served w/ NO PAPER at 11-13mos,dont exactly remember.I know quite a bit of the legal system tho I AM NOT AN ATTY OR TRY TO BE,but still,I'm always finding out new things and getting new ideas from people..so I don't blame you for not giving up seeing what you can do.So are you basically saying that he had a "bench trial" instead of a "jury" trial or a plea out? I once waited a sentence out to the very last minute where the victim(so called) and the jury was on stand by and plead out before the judge .I was unable to "appeal" I was told because I gave up my right to a jury trial,understand what I am saying?Good luck w/ all of this..I wish you well.

yeah. i guess you call that a bench trial. no jury or plea. we have a friend of a friend who is a public defender. i am so broke. i collect unemployment and go to school full time. i'm nervous about using a PD though. What do you think?

Im not sure really.I do know that a lot of public defenders really do know their way around the court room but they are always overwhelmed w/ cases.Plus they have such limited funding and all.I am also really not sure that a public defender would be wiling to take this type of thing on,but maybe if he/she is a friend...,I don't know,but I definately feel your pain on that one.I never liked using public defenders myself and I think one of the reasons I've been so lucky in the system is that I haven't for the most part unless it was a petty thing.Have you ever considered checking out things in a law library or telling him to do that..it could really help because that is exactly one of the main reasons I know my way around the Ga. system like I do?

Oh thanks for lowering my hopes!

Just kidding :)

Maybe we should try that. Tomorrow, i'll make my phone calls and see what he can do. Actually, now that I think about it. He was going to take my fiance's case before he got sentenced, but he already had a lawyer. I'll start with him and see what happens.

Maybe I can find some resources to help me on line too.

Thank you so much for your help!

One more thing? So your state has the mandatory min. sentences too?! And you beat it because your lawyer said you would be out in 5 months and you weren't? Maybe we have a chance.

See his lawyer told us about the minimums before an tried to get him to snitch. He told him he couldn't and wouldn't because of his kids, mom, and my safety. (he knows too many people and they know us. but....a couple months later, he signed the guilty papers after the lawyer said if he pleas open he can suspend the sentencing a couple months so they can run a PSI on him. The lawyer also said the police will most likely lessen or drop some charges. "because they like him and know he's not big time." Then he checked in at the probation office and they ran the PSI on him (pre-sentence investigation; shows priors, the kids, job history etc...). A month later he had to check in again and the PO showed him his file and the mandatories were dropped. Then the week he was sentenced they were back on and the judge sentenced him to the mand. min. 3 years!

Now all this time, until today, we thought pleading open meant it allowed time for them to review the PSI and give the sentence that fits his situation. That's what the lawyer told us! (the PSI showed he was the sole provider for his two boys, and has always held a ft job, you would think that counts for something) I found out today from another lawyer, that open means, the judge decides the sentence.

I even remember the judge saying to Demetrus when he pled open, "now you realize by doing this you might be facing a minimium of 3 and a max of 6 years?" The keyword is might! I AM SO MAD!

I am so confused! There is so much more to it but it just makes the lawyer look worse. HE was yelling at me when they took my fiance away, etc...

Oh thanks for lowering my hopes!

Just kidding :)

Maybe we should try that. Tomorrow, i'll make my phone calls and see what he can do. Actually, now that I think about it. He was going to take my fiance's case before he got sentenced, but he already had a lawyer. I'll start with him and see what happens.

Maybe I can find some resources to help me on line too.

Thank you so much for your help!

One more thing? So your state has the mandatory min. sentences too?! And you beat it because your lawyer said you would be out in 5 months and you weren't? Maybe we have a chance.

hahaha,no,Im sorry if I made you feel hopeless...Im just the kind of person who has very little faith in the criminal system..so I like to PREPARE for the worse and HOPE for the best,LOL...but you can do that,all Im really saying to ya is this...the best thing,well,what I would do is definately speak to that attorney,infact,I spoke to several before I even remembered my friend who is an atty.,I even had a few come and visit me w/ free legal advice...a lot of them thought I had an interesting point about my case and at that time there were no others like it,so in a way I might made the Ga. law books!hahahahaha!!!Kind of something like that anyway,if Im thinking clearly.LOL.I was only on my 2nd offer and there are usually 3 made..my "out of touch w/ the people" atty was like.."take it take it take it ,Sarah...they could give you 15 years and usually do..take it and youll be out in 5 mos" so I RELUCTANTLY took it and continued to complain and drive everyone in my cell w/ me crazy..till I finally thought about it and decided that the jerk simply just wanted to be done w/ it (lazy)and that he mis led me...well THAT is when I started using every resource and connection I could think of.On a more personal note of advice..relentless determination NEVER hurt anyone...so go for it!!!!!!!!







See his lawyer told us about the minimums before an tried to get him to snitch. He told him he couldn't and wouldn't because of his kids, mom, and my safety. (he knows too many people and they know us. but....a couple months later, he signed the guilty papers after the lawyer said if he pleas open he can suspend the sentencing a couple months so they can run a PSI on him. The lawyer also said the police will most likely lessen or drop some charges. "because they like him and know he's not big time." Then he checked in at the probation office and they ran the PSI on him (pre-sentence investigation; shows priors, the kids, job history etc...). A month later he had to check in again and the PO showed him his file and the mandatories were dropped. Then the week he was sentenced they were back on and the judge sentenced him to the mand. min. 3 years!

Now all this time, until today, we thought pleading open meant it allowed time for them to review the PSI and give the sentence that fits his situation. That's what the lawyer told us! (the PSI showed he was the sole provider for his two boys, and has always held a ft job, you would think that counts for something) I found out today from another lawyer, that open means, the judge decides the sentence.

I even remember the judge saying to Demetrus when he pled open, "now you realize by doing this you might be facing a minimium of 3 and a max of 6 years?" The keyword is might! I AM SO MAD!

I am so confused! There is so much more to it but it just makes the lawyer look worse. HE was yelling at me when they took my fiance away, etc...


OOPS..LOL if you will look in the middle of your ORIGINAL message that you posted to me..I made a boo boo,lol,my reply was placed..well I placed my reply in the middle of yours...LOL

I called the PD office today and they told me he has to get the original lawyer to withdrawal from the case before they can help us. :( Now I have to wait for my fiance to call me so I can tell him this.

then ya'll ought to create a "conflict of interest"!!!!!"I do NOT like the perfomance of this attorney,we are NOT AT ALL satisfied"!LOL...ya know???

then ya'll need to create a "conflict of interest",..."I am not satisfied w/ this atty's performance at all"..ya know?

then ya'll need to create a "conflict of interest",..."I am not satisfied w/ this atty's performance at all"..ya know?

sorry but my computer is completely wiggin out on me here...didnt mean I thought ya were slow and had to tell ya twice,it is just playing games w/ me...LOL

:) I called his lawyer for him yesterday. He's supposed to go up to the prison to talk to him. My fiance told me to call and tell him he needs to talk to him. I see him tomorrow morning. I haven't talked to him since Saturday.

well,hey if you want to..you can always send me a private message ..((personal email addy removed from this post by moderator,.per PTO policy))