My question involves criminal law for the state of: Ohio
April 2009 I was confronted by the police, had marijuana on me. Went to court, pled not guilty, was found guilty, but was sentenced 30 odd hours of community service- so I didn’t have to pay 300+ in court fees and such. Procrastinated with doing community service, had a warrant out for my arrest but resolved the issue with a letter to the judge asking for community service back, and she agreed, doubling it. Which was fine. I was a first time offender (and I still am) and completed their program by doing community service.
But my predicament is that in October 2009 School FAFSA said that because of this conviction I cannot receive financial aid. They said to get past this issue the "FAFSA" way I would attend a rehab program (which is way too expensive) and upon completion be able to receive FAFSA again, but there would be a year waiting period before I was able to receive money again. I was also told by them that an expungement would take care of the issue and FAFSA would continue on as normal. Which for me is a lot cheaper. The court says from start to finish it would take 6 weeks to get it expunged, but I’ve heard it take 6 months or longer.
I called FAFSA at my school a little bit later and now they say that it is applicable to any felony not any misdemeanor. The lady didn’t explain anything more then that. I don’t want to waste my time running in circles because I’ve heard different things from the same people. Do I need to get my record expunged to be able to receive FAFSA as soon as possible? Because I cannot afford more then one semester of school without this money.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

