Need help regarding felony charges.?

Question

2 months ago, my former friend's dad got in an accident, in which he was no longer able to work. He was no longer to pay the bills and was 2 months behind. I was nice, so I loan my friend 4000 dollars. He promised he would have payed me once he received his income return. 1 month ago, his friend told me he had received his income return. Right after, I tried to get ahold of him, but to no avail. He never answered my calls or was never home. At that time, I had arranged to pay a deposit and first months rent of an apartment my friends and I were getting. I had 3 days left to pay, but I still couldn't get ahold of him. I found out one day that he told his friend that he was never going to pay me. This is when my 4 friends and I decided to break into his house to at least get some stuff of his. One night, we drove to his house. When we got there, we decided not to do it, so my friend just threw 2 rocks at the windows. On the way out of the neighborhood, we got stopped.

Are story sounded fishy, so the cops decided to check the truck. In the truck, the cops found some crowbars, gloves, and screwdrives. They took us in. They just had us for possession of criminal instruments, untill they interrogated my brother to admitting that we were going to break in. He panicked. He wrote a statement of what happend and gave it to the police. Since we overheard him, we did the same, so all our stories would match.

So, now we are charged with 3 felonies each; possession of criminal instruments, organized crime (attempted burglary), and burglary w/ intent to commit theft. We're going to see a lawyer this monday. So, what I want to know is:


1. Is there any way to change our story, even though it was a written statement? What would happen if we did?

2. Why does one charge say attempted burglary, while the other says burglary w/ intent to commit theft? I mean, we never even stepped on the property.

3. Do you think the organized crime will be dropped?

4. Should we pay for the broken window before we go to trial? If so, who do we give the money to?

5. What do you think our chances are of getting no jail time? It's all our first offense. I've never even had a traffic ticket. My brother was driving, who is 17.

By the way, our ages are 17-22. I'm 21. We didn't have any knifes or guns. All of us are out on bond, but for one friend of mine, who couldn't affort it. We all told the cops that we just did it on spur the moment. Oh yeah, my former friend was out of town, his dad was the only one there.

Answer 1

I think your only hope is to work with your attorney and just throw yourself on the mercy of the court. If your past record is clean you may have a chance of getting off with a light sentence.

Answer 2

1. Is there any way to change our story, even though it was a written statement? What would happen if we did?

Yes, you can change your story. You could claim that the police coerced it out of you... IF it is true. You ultimately want to tell the TRUTH. That is what will get you into the less trouble. If the story is not the true story, then by all means discuss that... with your attorney. Do not say ANYTHING to anyone without your attorney.

2. Why does one charge say attempted burglary, while the other says burglary w/ intent to commit theft? I mean, we never even stepped on the property.

Burglary and theft are separate things. That is why they can do both. Burglary is essentially breaking and entering. So attempted burglary makes sense. You had the stuff to do it and showed up. That's an attempt. Why were you there? Initially to steal stuff. So that's the theft.

3. Do you think the organized crime will be dropped?

If you plea bargain, maybe. It is a valid accusation under the circumstances.

4. Should we pay for the broken window before we go to trial? If so, who do we give the money to?

Wait. Talk to an attorney. Do not do ANYTHING until you have talked to your attorney. Don't contact anyone. Don't talk to anyone about the case. NOTHING. Paying for the window is going to be like admitting guilt. Do NOT do anything without the permission of your attorney.

5. What do you think our chances are of getting no jail time? It's all our first offense. I've never even had a traffic ticket. My brother was driving, who is 17.

50-50.

Let this be a lesson to everyone. There are legal ways of taking care of business, such as unpaid loans. You could have talked to an attorney about that $4,000, and you wouldn't have to talk to one now to stay out of jail.

p.s. This is not legal advice. I am NOT telling you what you should do, aside of that you should talk to your lawyer. This is a really stupid place to ask for legal advice. From here on out, you are going to want to keep this between you and your lawyer.

Answer 3

Your motives for doing what you did are inconsequential under the law; you had remedies under the law (you could have sued your friend in Small Claims Court) but chose to plan to commit a crime instead.

Felonies are very serious and can impact you the rest of your life; most employers will not hire anyone who has a felony conviction for 7-10 years.

You need to get an attorney as soon as possible and see what kind of plea agreement can be entered so you don't go to trial with those damaging statements; if you have no record, hopefully the charges can be plead down to a misdemeanor(s) as you never actually entered the residence, just threw rocks at the window.

There is no such thing as a contingency based attorney for a crime. If you feel you cannot afford an attorney, you can request a public defender at an initial hearing, but you need to indigent or nearly so in order to qualify, but a good attorney is worth it if you can afford it. It can mean the difference between serving 6 months in jail on a felony or probation with no time for a misdemeanor.

Answer 4

This would make a great episode of "World's Dumbest Criminals".
You should contact the show's producers and see if they will run your segment. I laughed so hard I almost fell off my chair!
First, you need new friends.
Second, you need to talk to a decent defense attorney.
Third, you were "over-charged" by hick cops looking to rack up more serious charges, they will be dropped.
At worst, you are looking at a misdemeanor vandalism.
Next, you need to sue the guy for your $4K, small claims is fine. Get a judgment against him, then execute on his assets.
Finally, you need some adult supervision in your life, you appear to act recklessly. You are in need of a mentor to give you advice about your choices before you get into real trouble.
You are over 21 now, playtime is over.

Answer 5

well.....get a good criminal defense lawyer-even contingency lawyers can be really good-meaning if you don't win, you don't pay them-like a public defender kinda. this is a really sticky situation you got yourself into. the only thing i can tell you is that if you have any kind of proof of this guy borrowing the $ & all that, it MAY help a LITTLE. but it is infact felony cases which do carry jail time. in any case, if you do get jail time-i suggest you talk to your lawyer/ whatever defense you have about state suspended sentence-depending on what state u r in. my husband had a felony-car theft-under his belt-he had a public defender that asked for state suspended. he had all together like 5 counts & he did 15 months in county prison & 1 year out on parole. that may help, not making any promises tho. good luck!

Answer 6

To put it nicely, and to just reiterate a fact you probably already know - you're an idiot. Sorry, but you are and now you are going to pay for it.

Here's my advice - get the best damned attorney in town and beg for mercy.

You cannot collect a debt by theft and the fact that your and your friends conspired to rob this man is not going to play well in your favor.

Answer 7

The jury NEVER cares for retaliation is all I can say, better hope a nice lawyer answers this one for ya, otherwise talk to your lawyer for these answers ask him everything you can, also I hope you are not black :)... with the name hector im assuming your mexican, so if you are in a predominately mexican city then your trial could go much better or sentenced reduced, dont sweat it though, i found worry makes it so much worse, whats done is done, just act smart and trust me dont think about it at all, i know its hard but dont worry.

Answer 8

Take the dad on Judge Judy. The attempted burglary will probably come up, but all you have to say is that it is in court and there isn't anything she can do about it.


My friend went on Judge Judy, they pay to fly you out there, give you a hotel room, pay you $100 to appear on the show and they pay your judgement if you loose.

Don't borrow any money out unless you can afford to not get it back.


Good Luck!