The law office of Katherine O’Brien successfully petitioned to the judge of a New Jersey Court to authorize the early termination of probation for a client who was entered into the Conditional Discharge Program after he was charged with being in possession of under 50 grams of marijuana. The early termination was granted after it was demonstrated that our client had met all the terms of his sentence and was prevented from receiving a green card due to his probation.
In September of 2016, our client was charged with being in possession of under 50 grams of marijuana. He later appeared in Municipal Court, where he was accepted into the Conditional Discharge program, was sentenced to be placed on supervisory probation for a period of one year, and was ordered to pay court fines and costs. His one-year term of Conditional Discharge began in January of 2017 and, thus, was scheduled to terminate in January of 2018.
Although the client had not yet finished the entire year of probation, he reached out to our office in September of 2017 to see if he could be released early from probation. Pursuant to N.J.SA. 2C:45-2(a), the Court on “application of probation officer or of the defendant, or on its own motion, may discharge the defendant at any time.’’ Our office demonstrated that our client had complied with the terms of his probation and had no violations of probation thus far, had passed all drug tests while on probation, and no longer used marijuana. It was also noted that our client was unable to obtain a green card while under probation, and this was problematic because our client needed to travel to address a family emergency.
We further pointed out that the client had served 8 months of his 12 month probationary sentence. In addition, we noted that the client, who was married with children, was gainfully employed. We also submitted various letters of support from the defendant’s friends, family members, and co-workers, demonstrating that the defendant was known in his community for being a responsible, hardworking, and trustworthy person. Finally, we explained that the client expressed extreme remorse for being involved in the incident and noted that he had never been involved in any prior or subsequent violations of the law and that he has learned from his mistake.
Accordingly, we requested that the court terminate his probation on an early basis. After these factors were presented to the judge, our motion for early termination of probation was granted.
Early Termination of Probation Lawyers
There are many benefits to being discharge early from probation. Often times, the fact that you are on probation can cause difficulties with employment or immigration matters. In addition, the sooner you are able to terminate probation, the sooner you will be able to apply for expungement in New Jersey, since the waiting periods for expungement start to run on the date your complete your sentence (which includes payment of your court fines and completion of probation).
If you or a loved one would like to terminate probation early, or if you have any questions regarding early termination of probation, contact the early termination of probation lawyers at Katherine O’Brien Law today for a free consultation. You can reach us through our Contact Form or by calling us at 856-832-2482.