South Jersey Premier Trial Firm Blog

Receiving a sentence of probation after your conviction means you were able to convince the court that you were not a risk to public safety. Perhaps this was your first offense, or the circumstances of the offense were not serious. Your sentence probably brought great relief to you and your family. Probation means you will serve your sentence under supervision but not in jail.

However, now you may be feeling the stress of that supervision. You understand that violating the terms of your probation can bring serious trouble, but do you know what to expect if that should happen?

Facing criminal charges can turn anyone's life upside down. Even if you believe that you have not done anything wrong, police officers could charge you if they suspect that you are involved in some type of criminal activity. Suddenly, a normal day could turn into you facing a serious predicament.

One type of charge that could catch you off guard is possession of drug paraphernalia. Police may consider a number of seemingly everyday objects to be drug paraphernalia depending on the context in which authorities find them. However, you can still defend against this allegation in hopes of avoiding unnecessary consequences.

Like many New Jersey couples have done in the past, a woman in another state recently attended a Stokes interview. She happens to be a U.S. citizen and had been married to her husband, a Nicaraguan immigrant, for three years when the date for their immigration marriage interview finally arrived. She was confident all would go well because she was prepared to show clear documentation that would substantiate the legitimacy of their marriage. The woman was left feeling completely distraught when the interview not only did not go well, it resulted in immigration detention for her spouse.  

The couple went to their marriage interview armed with photo albums, printed statements from a jointly owned bank account and other hard copy evidence that their relationship is sincere. During the interview, officials asked her to step out of the room where she and her husband had been answering questions. This is not uncommon in such circumstances, as one of the means officials use to determine if a marriage is legitimate is to question spouses separately, then compare their answers.  

If you obtained your green card quickly with little effort, you are one of the rare immigrants to the U.S. It is more likely that you went through a lengthy and frustrating process, waiting months or years before gaining lawful residency status. Whether you intend to seek citizenship in the U.S. or you are here for a specific purpose, the last thing you want to do is jeopardize your green card status.

One of the quickest ways to lose your lawful residency is to break the law. It is important to understand that the standards the government sets for those in the immigration system are much stricter than those for U.S. citizens. However, there is another factor that may endanger your green card status.