A ticket, but no arrest.

[talkative 1]

Hello Everyone -

I am not sure if i am posting this in a the right section, please let me know if I am not. This is regarding my very dear friend who works at a gas station part time and goes to college. On Thursday he got a ticket on selling beer to a minor - he is a shift in charge in the store and he was busy closing the registers and changing the shift. The store was very busy that night as it was Memorial day weekend and then in all this the cops sent a kid to buy some beer. My friend said that the kid was very tall and looked over the age to buy beer, unfortunately, he was not. The cop gave my friend a ticket and told him to appear in the court. This is the first time he got a ticket in his life in USA, he is a very nice person and I feel really sad that this happened with him. On the ticket it says that the charge is criminal - he will be eligible to apply for his US citizenship later this year, how would that effect his application and what should he do? His owner said that he will talk to a criminal lawyer to see what this is all about. They both have received this kind of ticket for the first time.

Any advice in this matter will be appreciated - thanks!

[jkelly07 120]

thats not good,if he goes to court and is convicted, he needs to keep all records and copies of every thing, when the time cames for him to apply for his citizenship,ther is a question it ask if your where ever arrested or detained by the law, you answer YES in that box then you send a letter to explain along with all the court papers. and the at the interview you are asked about that.do not lie, and hope that your approved, if not then you may need a lawyer, or say as a permanent resident, good luck

[talkative 1]

Ok Thank you for your advise. You think he should consult an immigration lawyer now before he goes to the court? or you think he should consult a criminal attorney? I really feel bad for him that he got in trouble of something he never meant to do. He himself don't even drink alcohol - before this he got 2 green cards from the cops. You get these green cards when cops try to bust you and you ID the minor kids and they congratulate you saying that you are doing a great job. But this time, he was too busy at that moment and he kid didn't looked like a minor. Anyway, the cop he gave him the ticket said that don't worry about it the judge will probably give you some community work, lol.

I was wondering if anyone has been in this kind of situation before and what did the judge said to them. Thanks

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

He will state that charge truthfully, as it's in the system anyway.

I don't think that the charge is severe enough to have an impact on his naturalization, even if the judge gives him a slap on the wrist. He failed to ask for an ID of a customer buying beer: big f*cking deal. That's not like he was a drug dealer for crying out loud.

[talkative 1]

Thank you Bob and Kelly for your replies. I will pass this information to my friend - who called me last night and said that some cop he knows who is his customer for a long time and know the owners personally assured him that he can go with him to the court and tell the judge that this was an 'unintentional' mistake. Thank you again.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Thank you Bob and Kelly for your replies. I will pass this information to my friend - who called me last night and said that some cop he knows who is his customer for a long time and know the owners personally assured him that he can go with him to the court and tell the judge that this was an 'unintentional' mistake. Thank you again.

'unintentional' mistake means negligence, but that is better than deliberately ignoring the law. He will probably get a fine and a warning if this is his first time getting caught. It is the kind of mistake that everybody gets to make once without serious consequences, but they want to make sure you don't let it happen again.

[talkative 1]

Yes Old guy that is exactly what i told him - it is just that he is worried about it too much probably because this is his first ticket since he came to America. Thank you very much for your response.