Tampa Florida Law Blog

It was alleged that my client’s probation was violated for picking up a new charge of criminal mischief and not paying his fines. Even though these seem like small issues, they had serious consequences. My client was facing 58.13 months to 25 years in prison for this violation! As I discussed in an earlier post, this is proof even the smallest VOP can lead to serious prison time. He was being held on no bond and had to wait over a month for his next court date. However, I was able to convince the Judge to allow him to bond out at the bond hearing. The Judge allowed a bond and my client was able to get back to his family and work the next day. The new offense for criminal mischief was dropped by the State Attorney’s Office. I was able to get a certified copy of this from the clerk’s office showing the dismissal and advised my client to get the outstanding money paid. He did this and I brought copies of everything to the Judge for the hearing. After the Judge reviewed all the information, I requested that he dismiss the violation, which he did. My client did not have to do any jail or additional conditions on probation.