if you're on probation and you mess up. is it best to go to prison or run?

Answer 1

thats a hard question if you run make sure to stay in a big city so you have a better chance of not being recognized

Answer 2

The honorable thing to do is turn yourself in and hope for the best. Whether or not you will actually go to prison will depend upon several factors, including; how badly you "screwed up," how many times you did, your ability to convince your officer to give you another chance, the degree to which the prisons in your state are overcrowded, etc.
That being said, it's up to you in the end. If you know you are facing prison, you may choose to run. They will almost certainly issue a warrant for your arrest, and that warrant will show up any time you are stopped by law enforcement anywhere in the country. That brings up another issue - whether or not the state/county in which you violated probation wants to pay the cost of bringing you back. If you are a sex offender or other serious criminal, they likely will. If you are not a serious offender, they may be glad that you're gone and not choose to extradict you. However, that may mean you can never safely return to the jurisdiction where you live now. If you have friends and family there, that will be hard.
I would recommend that you give this serious consideration before acting.

Answer 3

The best thing for you to do is to take it like a man do the prison time. More than likely since you were just revoking probation, you won't have to spend too much time in the prison. It all depends on what your original charge is and how you revoked your probation. Since you were out on community supervision, which is what probation really is, they won't keep you in the prison system long because the prisons are way overcrowded.

If you run, then you will just make it harder on yourself because you will eventually get caught. It will for sure happen. And when you, they will revoke you harder than as if you would have stayed and did the punishment.

Good luck.

Answer 4

Honesty is the only policy to live by. If you have made a mistake while on probation then you should imeadiately own up. No ifs or buts about it. To own up will show that you want to do the right thing and that you are man enough to take responsibility for your way of life. To ask such a question sugests to me that you have messed up and that your heart is still able to discern right from wrong. Be very thankfull that you can still do this because living in wickedness sears the conscience and the mind and the cost of so doing is enormous

Answer 5

Go in and face the music. Depending on how bad you messed up, they may only give you a warning or have you check in more often.

When you run, you bascially are giving the "system" the finger. They will then put extra effort into making an example out of you.

I was at Virginia's Dept of Corrections for over 12 years. Had a unit who's only purpose was to go after absconders (you, if you run). These people were constantly going all across the country to pick up people.

Some guy, walked away over 30+ years ago. Hadn't gotten into any trouble during that time period. But then he went to New York, got drunk, and got arrest. Cops in New York did a fingerprint check - found Virginia still wanted him. New York held him on the drunk driving until Virginia could pick him up. Virgina brought him back to serve the balance of his time and his penalty for walking away.

I was a computer person. My role was to work with them so they could access computer databases that identify everything on you - where you have lived, who your neighbors have been, who was living with you, who was living at your neighbors, and on and on. To show me, one of the officers ran my name thru - found out that my step daughter, while living at home, 6 (?) years ago, had rented a post office box number. Other details I will not go into. My report (clean record, not even a speeding ticket) was over 24 pages.

And that was before 9/11 - so I know they are pulling even more stuff together.

Answer 6

Where are you going to run to? In this age of communication there are no dark areas on earth. Hiding from the law will only last a moment. Then the penalty will be even more harsh. Maybe, if you go to the authorities things will work out. You will have to go thru this bad time, but in reality, there is no way around it. When it is finally over you the law and God will be at peace, and one day it WILL be over!

Answer 7

You're kidding, right? Where you gonna run? Are you gonna leave the country over a probation violation? I agree with the other guy: Just don't mess up.

Answer 8

Usually it is better to go back to prison, but I guess it depends on how long they would send you there.

Have you been to prison before? Can you handle yourself there without getting raped and catching HIV? If so, just go back, as long as the sentence is not too long.

Are you going to a federal facility, where things are run generally pretty well, or are you going to one of the state ones?

Do you have someplace you can go and not get extradited? If you are not a violent criminal and you have dual citizenship, that would influence your decision.

I guess without more information, it is hard to say what I would do in your shoes.

Answer 9

It is better to go to prison, because with good behavior you will get your sentence reduce(if it is a minor thing) if you run then more charges will be added like evading arrest, violation of probation, this things and many more can add years instead of months if you turn yourself in.

Answer 10

If you run you'll continually be looking behind your back. It's not like life will be great since you will become paranoid. Besides, if the police try and stop you, you might actually attempt to elude them at that point which will make for a new felony in some states. Go talk to your attorney.

Answer 11

Just because you are on probation and you mess up.It does not mean the court is going to send you to prison.If you run.It will be a one way ticket to prison.Why make a bad situation worse?The court could extend your probation time instead of sending you to prison.Depends on you,the court and the circumstances surrounding your probation violation.Running from your problems is not going to resolve them.It is only going to make them worse.