If you walk into court by yourself with an Arnold MO criminal charge, then you are not doing yourself any favors!! Most people believe that representing themselves is the best way to go, but you are putting yourself at great risk!
Why? Because most people do nothing more than plead guilty to the charge. Let’s look at a common scenario: you are charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and/or marijuana. Both of these charges are Class A Misdemeanors (and therefore come with up to one (1) year of jail time and a $1000 fine for each). But let’s assume the judge makes it clear that he will not sentence you to any jail (and maybe only a small fine), so long as you plead guilty.
Pleading Guilty Is Not Your Best Option!!At this point, many people feel like they’ve struck gold!! How could they have gotten so lucky?? All they have to do is plead guilty, and they get to walk out scot free?! Wow! That was easy!!
But nothing could be further from the truth. A guilty plea will allow the state of Missouri to put the charge onto your permanent record as a criminal conviction. Once it is there, it will stay forever. There is no getting it off at a later date.
How could this harm you in the future? If you apply for a job, the employer could run a background check on you. This background check will reveal the criminal conviction. And as a result, you could easily miss out on the employment opportunity.
But we can get you a much different result!! All you need to do is give us a call! We will answer all your questions, describe your full range of options, and help guide you through the entire process. Sometimes our efforts will result in a dismissal of the charges; other times we can get the charge reduced to a lesser offense (so that nothing shows up on your record).
The affordable St Louis, MO criminal defense attorneys at The Bankruptcy Company, have been helping people with their criminal charges for over ten (10) years. We want to do everything we can to help you get the best possible outcome! We want to make sure that your record stays as clean!! And we want to do all of this at an affordable price. The fees for a typical St. Louis misdemeanor charge start at $450. Our fees for a low level felony charge start at $750. But the initial consultation to discuss your legal issues is free of charge. So contact us today!!
We have two main locations: in the Central West End of St. Louis, at 1 North Taylor (on the corner of Taylor and Laclede), 63108; and in the Twin Cities of Festus / Crystal City, at 1000 Truman Blvd (Highway 61/67), 63019. The initial consultation is free of charge. So contact us today to learn more!!