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    SonofSam's Avatar
    SonofSam Posts: 35, Reputation: 7
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    #1

    Jan 7, 2008, 11:37 AM
    Early Discharge of Probation
    I'm serving two 5 year concurrent felony probation terms in WI. [Two different cases that were sentenced on the same day] Bail Jumping, 2nd Poss. THC and The other was Escaping Arrest. I already served an 8 month sentence that was supplemental to the probation.

    I've paid all of my fines [a small fortune] and haven't had any violations so far, and have complied with the other conditions as well.

    What are my chances of convincing my PO to let me off after 2 1/2 years, or 3 years?

    This stuff took place 5 years ago [took a while to get sentenced] and I really just want to get on with my life and not worry about dotting ever I and crossing every T so to speak. Plus I have a lot of traveling that I want to do in the near future.

    Would it be best to hire an attorney and have him formally file a motion to the judge, or just talk to my PO about it?
    twinkiedooter's Avatar
    twinkiedooter Posts: 12,172, Reputation: 1054
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    #2

    Jan 7, 2008, 12:18 PM
    Why are you getting antsy now about early probation release? You should be more than satisfied that you are not still sitting in prison and are out on probation. You need to let more time go by before you even begin thinking about early release. I would say no, they are not going to entertain it even if you paid off your fines (which is good on your part don't get me wrong). You can approach your PO if you are on good terms with him and kind of hint around and see how they feel about it. You could possibly get your PO to intervene for you (after the required time the PO says you have to do) and have them do the asking of the judge for early release. Just paying a lawyer to file papers at this point would be foolishly throwing your money away as no judge would entertain cutting you loose this early on. My educated guess would be at least 3 years of exemplary probation on your part to even begin asking anyone about this... and that's including your PO. Your PO is the key to your case (if you haven't figured this out yourself yet). They can really make a difference in what the Judge has to say and do.

    In the meantime, unpack your bags as you aren't going anywhere in a big hurry except to work and back home again.
    SonofSam's Avatar
    SonofSam Posts: 35, Reputation: 7
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    #3

    Jan 7, 2008, 01:29 PM
    Quote Originally Posted by twinkiedooter
    Why are you getting antsy now about early probation release?
    Well a few reasons really.

    I know life is unfair, but I've compared my case to quite a few other similar cases, and the 5 year term IS a bit lenghthy.

    It was a victimless crime, unless you consider the state a victim. There were no injured parties, no one was left emotionally scarred, I didn't steal anything, or rape anyone.

    I've seen pedophiles, repeat offenders, and just plain old people that can't learn their lessons get way less time on paper than I did.

    Although it was not ONE single isolated incident, it was an isolated period of my life. this stuff happened when I was 19 and 20 years old. I'm going on 25 now and have a daughter that's going to be 2 very soon. I think if I can manage a life besides my own, I don't need someone to be supervising me. Who hasn't done something stupid when they were 19. My mistakes just happened to be "criminal" in nature.

    Not that I need to convince you [twinkidooter] of anything. I thought I'd just shine a little more light on my situation.

    I've learned my lesson, the rest is just redundancy.
    twinkiedooter's Avatar
    twinkiedooter Posts: 12,172, Reputation: 1054
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    #4

    Jan 7, 2008, 03:33 PM
    You are a bit young, but hey, you've learned your lesson. You can't really compare your crime with someone else's unless it was the same crime, same circumstances. Don't beat yourself up over the fact that they got lesser sentences than you did... because you know in your heart that you're not going back there and they will be back. I was a paralegal for many years and saw it all in the criminal sentencing world. It all depends on what they want to do with you and who was your judge and just how bad the cops wanted to have you punished. A lot of different items come into play when sentencing a person. 8 months was not too excessive considering they gave you 5 years probation and not 5 years and 8 months probation.

    I know you are antsy to get on with your life, but right now you have a big speed bump in your way that you'll just have to be patient with. Thank your lucky stars you were not on home arrest and had to look for a job while doing it! Now that's fun, believe me. Not having to be able to go outside your home more than 2' and having to ask permission to leave other than go buy groceries when they tell you to (and keep the receipt no less) or go to work and come right home and then staying home... that's tough to do when you have no one else to run errands for you and you have to do for yourself. That's really having a leash shoved up your privates compared to probation.

    You are getting a chance at being free and soon this will pass, too. It will go by quicker if you think every day how lucky you are to be out here free instead of locked up with all those unsavory characters. Your little girl needs you and you need her. She is one bright light in your life that I know you cherish.

    Honey, you have the rest of your life to live... and you will live it proudly knowing that you conquered the "little speed bump" that was placed in your life right now. Possibly this was put into your life just now so that you WOULD take the time to reconsider your life. You know, we are all sent here for a reason and nothing is coincidence in our lives. Read Dr. Wayne Dyer's books or listen to his tapes. He can teach you a lot about yourself and how just possibly this "speed bump" was sent your way for a purpose.
    excon's Avatar
    excon Posts: 21,482, Reputation: 2992
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    #5

    Jan 7, 2008, 03:44 PM
    Quote Originally Posted by SonofSam
    Would it be best to hire an attorney and have him formally file a motion to the judge, or just talk to my PO about it?
    Hello Son:

    It's not up to the PO. The judge sentenced you and only the judge can let you go early. I wouldn’t hire a lawyer. They don’t know probation law.

    You can do this yourself. On the criminal law page I wrote a thing called transfer of probation. The technique is the same. Once you know the criteria for early release, you can demand it (almost).

    excon
    SonofSam's Avatar
    SonofSam Posts: 35, Reputation: 7
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    #6

    Jan 7, 2008, 08:51 PM
    Thanks twinkiedooter, that was quite insightful. And yes, the cops wanted me punished badly. The cop beefed up his police report to the point where the judge was starting to get pissed as he read it.

    I believe that officer was reprimanded for even letting me escape custody in the first place. I guess I picked the wrong cop to mess with. So yeah, thet sent a strong message. "Don't F*** with the law or the state of Wisconsin"

    And yeah maybe I'd have turned into a junkie or an alcoholic if I wasn't forced to stay totally sober and attend counseling. You're right, I've done a lot of re-evaluating of my priorties, let me tell you they were wayyyy out of wack back then.

    Excon:

    Here's the criteria for early discharge straight out of the Probation/Parole Officer's Manual. [its published online]
    Maybe this might help, I think in your state you have to go back to the judge but in Wisconsin its all done within the confines of the dept. of corrections. [Don't ask me why we do everything screwy in Wisconsin :/]

    -Minimum or administrative supervision for a reasonable period
    -Satisfied goals and objectives of supervision
    -Financial obligations paid in full
    -Served at least one year if a felon, 6 months if a misdemeanant
    -Must be in central office 60 days or more before original release date [I assume that means the PO has to file the appropriate paperwork on time]
    -No outstanding warrants

    I'm really not sure what the objectives are I've attended all the counseling that I needed to and did counseling to get my driver's license back. But isn't the real point just not to re offend?

    I've already been on paper for 2 years, so maybe it'd be best like twinkidooter said and cool my jets for a bit. Maybe I'll bring it up to my PO later this year, or early next year.
    twinkiedooter's Avatar
    twinkiedooter Posts: 12,172, Reputation: 1054
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    #7

    Jan 8, 2008, 10:02 AM
    If you'd like to learn more from Dr. Wayne Dyer he has audio tapes and books that are really good to read and listen to. I can download the audios from Shareaza (file share) and burn them to CD's and listen in my car going to and from work. You can search in any P2P file share for his audios. If you buy them they are pricy. He's been around since the 1970's and his wisdom is truly magnificent in helping a person know themselves inside.

    My late husband was from Wisconsin also. I'm not surprised that the PO dept takes care of the early releases from there versus a judge. But like I said earlier, the PO is your best friend in this case and I sure hope that you have made him a good friend and have not given him one iota of trouble. A friend on mne years ago in South Florida was on probation for 5 years for poss of 1 lb of pot. She would go see her PO once a month and have wonderful chats with the lady PO and made really good friends with her. After the fine was paid of and she did 2 1/2 years of the probation, the PO officer herself with very little asking prepared the early termination papers herself, took them to the judge to sign, and my friend was free. And on top of that the judge she had was a real "hanging judge" to boot! Believe me, it really does pay to be nice to those PO people!

    A lot of them are burnt out on their jobs as they have so many nasties to deal with, and people who are worse than uncooperative, but you, on the other hand, sound like you've gotten your act together big time and hopefully the PO can see that and you, too, will be on your merry way to a wonderful new life!
    SonofSam's Avatar
    SonofSam Posts: 35, Reputation: 7
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    #8

    Jan 8, 2008, 10:28 AM
    Wayne Dyer is awesome... I wish I taped his special that was on PBS a while back. His upbeat perspective on life just can't be beat.

    As far as PO's, I basically get a new one every six months [They have a high turnover rate where I live] so its very difficult to build a good rapport with them. So basically they know nothing about me other than what's in my file, which isn't a very good representation anymore.

    Plus they have such a huge caseload in my county that they really don't spend much more than 10 minutes with me at my appts.

    But yeah, I guess I got to deal with what I was dealt for now and just hope for the best.
    twinkiedooter's Avatar
    twinkiedooter Posts: 12,172, Reputation: 1054
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    #9

    Jan 8, 2008, 12:34 PM
    The Sky's the Limit and Your Erroneous Zones are two of Wayne Dyer's first books written back in the 1980's. They are some really good oldies but goodies that if you didn't look inside to see when they were written or published you'd never know how old they are. Just read them both again after many years and got some new insights into life all over again having read them when they first came out. Oh the latest special where he has the butterfly story? Loved that. It is available on audio. The entire show was out before his special. I forget the name of the audio series. If you have a library near you that subscribes to the Audio Books on line sites where you can download audios for free... go for it. I've saved a bundle by using my library card and computer and CD burner. Let me know if you don't and maybe we can arrange something from my end to help you.

    Sorry about the high turnover in your area but that is truly a job no one wants as a PO. They can be hard to know. But keep your chin up... you're almost home free now. Always do what they want you to do (within reason) and you'll get along fine.
    reyes lujan's Avatar
    reyes lujan Posts: 20, Reputation: 3
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    #10

    Jan 11, 2008, 12:54 AM
    I've been through this process and I got an early release. I talked to my P.O. I didn't need a lawyer my P.O. took care of the paper work.
    dpatt's Avatar
    dpatt Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #11

    Sep 1, 2009, 10:56 AM
    Quote Originally Posted by SonofSam View Post
    I'm serving two 5 year concurrent felony probation terms in WI. [Two different cases that were sentenced on the same day] Bail Jumping, 2nd Poss. THC and The other was Escaping Arrest. I already served an 8 month sentence that was supplemental to the probation.

    I've paid all of my fines [a small fortune] and haven't had any violations so far, and have complied with the other conditions as well.

    What are my chances of convincing my PO to let me off after 2 1/2 years, or 3 years?

    This stuff took place 5 years ago [took a while to get sentenced] and I really just want to get on with my life and not worry about dotting ever I and crossing every T so to speak. Plus I have a lot of traveling that I want to do in the near future.

    Would it be best to hire an attorney and have him formally file a motion to the judge, or just talk to my PO about it?
    You don't have to hire an attorney to this. This is something you can do yourself. Under title 18 Section 3583 (e) (1) and 3553 (a) (1), (a) (2)(b), (a)(2)(c),(a)(2)(d), (a)(4),(a)(5) and (a)(6)- you can either termination of probation or modification to shorten the length of it. It's been done and don't get discourage.

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