Don’t give up. You can still ship out on time with the right criminal defense strategy. The secret here is to study the regulations for your branch of the armed services and determine  what crimes will trigger the need for a “waiver” from your commanding officer. You do not want to be convicted of a crime that requires a waiver as you  may not qualify for  a waiver and your dream of serving your country will come to a screeching halt.  If your criminal defense case is weak and you need to plea bargain, you will want to plead guilty to an amended charge that does not require a waiver to join the military and where you can be   discharged from probation by the judge before your ship out date.

I recently defended a client in Hennepin County against a charge of DWI and Underage Drinking and Driving with a .06 blood alcohol content. My client had previously enlisted in the Navy and was in the delayed entry program with a ship out date scheduled  5 months later. Unfortunately, he was charged with two misdemeanor offenses while on the delayed entry program.  The length of probation on a misdemeanor is one year.  The military will not accept any candidate who is still on probation. We were able to negotiate a guilty plea to the amended charge of careless driving and arranged for his   discharge from probation prior to his ship out date.

If you or someone you know has been charged with a crime while on the delayed entry program, call Minneapolis criminal defense attorney Robert J. Shane NOW for a free phone consultation and the “Best Defense” at (612) 339-1024.