Hi Folks,
Been reading this forum for several years and I hope I can get some help with a question. I have tried searching the forums but have not had much luck finding the answer I need.
I am facing a possible conviction for a non drug/alcohol/violence/theft misdemeanor. The “assessment period” for my alleged offense according to the CFR is one year.
Here are my questions.
Must I immediately report a conviction to USCG?
If I am required to immediately report, will USCG suspend my MMC/License as partied the assessment period?
If I am not required to report a conviction immediately,and report when I need to renew my MMC/license, will they suspend my documents for the assessment period?
The way I read the cfr’s, it looks like you could wait it out, if you dont need to upgrade for a few years. But your best bet will be to lawyer the fuck up, and don’t get convicted in the first place. Depending on the circumstances, a decent lawyer should be able to get it down to an infraction.
Renew immediately. Make sure you pay top dollar for the very best lawyer in your area to provide a vigorous defense. There is a huge difference between what an adequately funded good lawyer can do, and what an underfunded average lawyer can do.
[QUOTE=tugsailor;128133]Renew immediately. Make sure you pay top dollar for the very best lawyer in your area to provide a vigorous defense. There is a huge difference between what an adequately funded good lawyer can do, and what an underfunded average lawyer can do.[/QUOTE]
Make sure your lawyer reads the definition of “conviction” in 46 CFR 10.107.
It’s all a money grab for the “court/lawyer industrial complex”. Judges are lawyers, prosecutors are lawyers, as are defense attorneys . You get less of a sentence for a DWI if you hire a lawyer because you are supporting all these bottom feeding scumbags. I ran some asshole off my land with my shotgun 25 years ago and was convicted of a $130 misdemeanor for threatening display of a weapon.The guy on my property had high explosives in his truck (Drilling and Blasting Company) and was blasting down the road to install a sewer line.I was threatening a guy with high explosives. Go figure. I hate all these bums and justice is sold to the guy with the biggest pockets. My wife has sat on 3 jury panels and child molesters and embezzlers were plea bargained down the road to molest and steal again.
I wish you the best in your trial and I still have my license and find work just fine
Its time for my renewal also. Where can I look to find a good license attorney? Do I look for one who specializes in Admiralty Law? Can somebody recommend a good license attorney.
Try Ralph Mellusi in NYC. He has a lot of experience defending mariners licenses.
46 CFR 10.107 — Conviction means that the applicant for a merchant mariner credential has been found guilty, by judgment or plea by a court of record of the United States, the District of Columbia, any State, territory, or possession of the United States, a foreign country, or any military court, of a criminal felony or misdemeanor or of an offense described in section 205 of the National Driver Register Act of 1982, as amended (49 U.S.C. 30304). If an applicant pleads guilty or no contest, is granted deferred adjudication, or is required by the court to attend classes, make contributions of time or money, receive treatment, submit to any manner of probation or supervision, or forgo appeal of a trial court’s conviction, then the Coast Guard will consider the applicant to have received a conviction. A later expungement of the conviction will not negate a conviction unless the Coast Guard is satisfied that the expungement is based upon a showing that the court’s earlier conviction was in error.
The point is: make sure your lawyer either wins, or pleads you out to a mere civil infraction, such as farting in a public place.