Possession and Paraphernalia in Illinois
My question involves criminal law for the state of: Illinois in Dupage County - Warrenville
So last week I was with some buddies driving to the movies, we parked on the side and we were passing around a grinder and one hitter. A cop pulls up and i took the blame for it, they just confiscated it and wrote me 2 tickets. I wasn't arrested or anything, just got two tickets and a bail bond for 120. The cop said I would just have to go to traffic court and pay up to a 300-400 dollar fine, 120 for each ticket and what ever the outrageous price of court fees is. But I called a lawyer today and he said Paraphernalia charges would be 700 alone. I don't know how credible he was though they sent me mail and said i had a free call to them, and he was kind of an ass. But what he said kind of freaked me out and I don't know what i'm looking at ball park and what I should do, also this is my first offense.
My questions are
How much money and what consequences do you think i'm facing?
Should I get a lawyer and try to get one of the charges dropped?
Any advice? Maybe since I didn't get arrested its a easier case?
Thank you in advance.
Re: Possession and Paraphernalia in Illinois
Not really sure what the tickets are for so I can't tell you what the chances of having them dropped are. If you google the ticket type, you can find out what the fines are. And consider yourself lucky. DuPage plays no games. you could have easily had criminal charges and an impounded vehicle for that.
Re: Possession and Paraphernalia in Illinois
I got one ticket for possession of cannabis and another for paraphernalia.
I did call an attorney today and he said the way the cops came about the situation was illegal as well. We were legally parked in day light and they just approached us and asked if we had anything on us. Is this true or not? I'm meeting with him Monday and i'll update what i've found out.
Re: Possession and Paraphernalia in Illinois
Quote:
How much money and what consequences do you think i'm facing?
Under what statutes/ordinances were you charged?
Quote:
Should I get a lawyer and try to get one of the charges dropped?
Of COURSE you should get an attorney. Showing up for court without representation is a bad idea, even if you're super smart. Let a pro handle it.