Accepted with Pending Criminal Charges

[ScubaSam]

So here's my situation:

I have already been accepted to a pharmacy program not too long ago but I'm also looking at a pending drug related felony charge. My record is clean besides this felony charge; I don't even have any traffic violations. It's sort of an odd situation because it happened after submitting my applications and the criminal background check by certiphi didn't pick anything up either. I do plan to defer my acceptance to the next year to see how my case pans out as well. I have already hired a defense attorney for my case and considered hiring an administrative/licensing attorney but it may be too early for that.

There are a ton of questions I have but off the top of my head, what I'd like to find out is whether or not I need to disclose this to the school. Even if I do attend the school, I still have to get a student intern license so I'm not sure how that would work. I wouldn't want to get into the program and move there only to find out I'll be dismissed from the school.

I'm reaching out to anybody that may be knowledgeable in this area and hopefully can give me some advice on what I can/should do or point me in the right direction.

I understand my chances are slim, but I'm definitely not going to give up.

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[DraziLurker]

That depends. A felony charge is a pretty big deal. With a drug related felony conviction you will not be able to become licensed, and thus work as a pharmacist/intern/technician in just about any state.

Without knowing the circumstances of your charges, nor the likelihood of a conviction...
It's hard to say exactly what you should do.

 

[JohnFe]

Hmm. That is a difficult situation. My opinion is defer enrollment until your charge is resolved and eventually get cleared. An Intern License is required and they will do a background check on you and drug/urine testing.

Best of luck :/

 

[Starshipp]

Hmm…my friend had a felony on his record prior to his acceptance. Centriphi picked it up and notified the school. The school questioned him about it. I forgot to mention that he submitted his background check after matriculation. Anyway, it wasn't drug related but he did explain what happened. He got lucky and they didn't kick him out. But it's been hard for him to find rotation sites as an intern because they check your background again. Drug related felonies + pharmacy applicant = ironic. Sorry man. Wish u best of luck.

 

[The Recoverer]

Why dont you tell us what you did? Unless you murdered someone who sold cocaine, you should be able to talk yourself out of the charge. I would NOT defer enrollment. Just go ahead and attend the school. If the felony doesn't show up, then just tell the school about it and give them a good explanation.

If it is a drug related felony though, you are pretty much screwed

 

[rxlea]

Felony drug charge??? I don't think you would be able to get licensed. You have to disclose it to the BOP.

 

[ScubaSam]

Thanks for the responses

In regards to deferring enrollment, I would have to agree with JohnFe since the case is still open. If I do receive a sentence I would most likely be able to serve it before attending the school rather than enrolling this year and receiving a sentence while I'm in school.

Hopefully somebody with similar experiences can chime in, I'm mostly concerned with the problems I'll run into when applying for a student intern license. A few lawyers have told me not to disclose anything to the school unless have have to so I'm not sure how I should proceed from here.

 

[xia101010]

Most states have some kind of deferred adjudication
Program . They will ask you to do some years
Of probation and if you do, that case will be dismissed.
You will have no conviction. Ask ur lawyer.when you are in
School you can be on probation and come time for
License you are done with probation and case dismissed.
Let us know how it goes. They can seal it too. But expungement
Means nothing as board can always see it.so you can not hide
anything at least you will not be a convict.

 

[rxtech2012]

To the OP: not trying to bring more bad news your way but I just completed my FAFSA and it stated "If you are convicted of possessing or selling drugs after you submit your FAFSA, you must notify the financial aid administrator at your college immediately. You will lose your eligibility for federal student aid and will be required to pay back all aid you received after your conviction." BUT it also says if the charges are dropped/removed from record or if you completed successful drug rehab program you are then cleared to receive financial aid. I hope everything clears up for you, good luck!

 

[ScubaSam]

Update for those who are interested or in similar situations:

I've deferred one of the four schools that accepted me.
My case is complete and unfortunately I won't have a clean record for another 3 years.

I have not informed the school about my situation and I'm still not sure how to approach it just yet. It's not like I'm trying to hide it so I figure it won't hurt me in the long run when I reapply if I tell them about it now. It will ultimately be up to the dean if it gets that far.

Had a chat with several BOP's from various states and the answer is the same from all; it's a case by case basis.

That's about all I can think of for now. Comments and questions are welcome.

 

[pharmerjohn]

Unfortunately you have a tough situation going on there. Even when your record is considered "clean," it may still show up on background checks. Have you tried telling the BOP the specifics of your situation to see how it could impact you in the long run?

 

[grumps]

20 years ago a pharmacy school would have said goodbye stat. Now is a different story, you're the hen that lays golden eggs at 40-50 grand per year. Felony, smeloney, as long as the finaid keeps flowing. I wouldn't worry about school. I would worry about the BOP and future employers.

 

[ScubaSam]

Unfortunately you have a tough situation going on there. Even when your record is considered "clean," it may still show up on background checks. Have you tried telling the BOP the specifics of your situation to see how it could impact you in the long run?

Yea the BOP hasn't been that helpful. They'll either just tell me that it's a case by case basis or have me leave a message and not respond. I've actually talked to somebody from *UT admissions anonymously and he was pretty sympathizing but couldn't help much although he did give me the dean's contact information.

*I was not accepted to UT, I just wanted to see how a school would react when I disclosed my situation.

Also, after 3 years, my conviction won't show up on a regular background check but it will still show up on a livescan. Either way I'm not trying to hide it from the BOP and hoping that I can get past it.

 

[WhiteSnows]

Even if you are licensed, what will be a chance of any employer to hire you? I wonder this question myself.

 

[pharmerjohn]

Yea the BOP hasn't been that helpful. They'll either just tell me that it's a case by case basis or have me leave a message and not respond. I've actually talked to somebody from *UT admissions anonymously and he was pretty sympathizing but couldn't help much although he did give me the dean's contact information.

*I was not accepted to UT, I just wanted to see how a school would react when I disclosed my situation.

Also, after 3 years, my conviction won't show up on a regular background check but it will still show up on a livescan. Either way I'm not trying to hide it from the BOP and hoping that I can get past it.

Unfortunately, the reason why they're not helpful is because they just don't care or don't want to deal with it. Also, it's hard to say because it really depends on the severity of your offense (not all felonies are the same). If it's something to do with, say, marijuana, then you might have it a bit easier than a hard drug. However, a big concern in your situation is the likelihood of you gaining employment after graduation to pay back your student debt. Pharmacy schools may be more lenient in terms of accepting you given your background, but companies may not be as forgiving (based on what I'm seeing). It's hardly worth it to invest your effort and finance into an already competitive and relatively saturated profession when you're legally disadvantaged from the get go. I don't mean come off as negative or discouraging, but I just want you to weigh your options and be realistic about it. I believe people can change and I wish you the best of luck!

 

[ScubaSam]

Unfortunately, the reason why they're not helpful is because they just don't care or don't want to deal with it. Also, it's hard to say because it really depends on the severity of your offense (not all felonies are the same). If it's something to do with, say, marijuana, then you might have it a bit easier than a hard drug. However, a big concern in your situation is the likelihood of you gaining employment after graduation to pay back your student debt. Pharmacy schools may be more lenient in terms of accepting you given your background, but companies may not be as forgiving (based on what I'm seeing). It's hardly worth it to invest your effort and finance into an already competitive and relatively saturated profession when you're legally disadvantaged from the get go. I don't mean come off as negative or discouraging, but I just want you to weigh your options and be realistic about it. I believe people can change and I wish you the best of luck!

I appreciate the realistic approach and advice you've provided. I haven't given gaining employment afterwards a lot of thought yet since I'm still taking it one step at a time. Do they typically do a live scan before hiring a pharmacist? I thought live scans only applied to government employment and licensing. In general I thought private companies could only do a regular background check if they're not government related. From that I kind of figured that if the BOP grants me my license then I should be fairly okay from there.

Lets say a school does accept me, I think I should be able to have an idea of where the BOP stands within the first or second year since I'd have to apply for a student intern license right?

 

[grumps]

Any question for clarification directed at a BOP is often ambiguous, flaky, or a tepid referral to an administrative rule that is ambiguous to begin with. The BOP can tell you something one day and do an 180 later.

 

[Sardinia]

I'm surprised that you got convicted. You should have placed more emphasis on your clean traffic record.

 

[BMBiology]

Your employer will ask you to disclose any crimes you have been convicted so it doesn't matter. Any employer would be liable for hiring a pharmacist who is a convicted drug felon. That's like hiring a fox to guard the hens.

It would be pure greed for any pharmacy school to matriculate anyone who can't get license/work so there's no point in going to a pharmacy school.

I am sorry but you don't deserve another shot. You screwed up big time and hiring you as a pharmacist will only put the public at risk. Please look for another line of work.

 

[romylove]

I'm just going to throw it out there that if you were convicted of the felony, you either had a terrible lawyer, or no leg to stand on on your case and were screwed either way. A relative of mine was caught transporting several pounds of marijuana, and was initially charged with I think 3 felonies. With no prior history of drug charges, the lawyer got it brought down to 6 misdemeanors, time served (a few nights) and a pretty large fine.

 

[pharmerjohn]

I appreciate the realistic approach and advice you've provided. I haven't given gaining employment afterwards a lot of thought yet since I'm still taking it one step at a time. Do they typically do a live scan before hiring a pharmacist? I thought live scans only applied to government employment and licensing. In general I thought private companies could only do a regular background check if they're not government related. From that I kind of figured that if the BOP grants me my license then I should be fairly okay from there.

Lets say a school does accept me, I think I should be able to have an idea of where the BOP stands within the first or second year since I'd have to apply for a student intern license right?

It really depends on the company and the contracts they signed. My current company requires live scan for all technicians and pharmacists due to a contract we have. You don't have to wait until your first or second year of pharmacy school to figure out if you'll be able to work in pharmacy. Also, by then you'll be in the hole in terms of debt. When your record clears up, try getting licensed as a technician through the BOP and getting a technician job to see where that gets you. If everything is in the clear, then do a bit more research to make sure before you start taking out student loans for pharmacy school. That route is a lot cheaper and safer than going half way through pharmacy school only to find out you can't work because of your history.

 

[Mur7ay]

Wouldn't you kinda know once the pharmacy school runs a background check on you when you get accepted?

 

[asdf123g]

does certiphi pick up pending charges, does anyone know?

 

[tpb3]

So here's my situation:

I have already been accepted to a pharmacy program not too long ago but I'm also looking at a pending drug related felony charge. My record is clean besides this felony charge; I don't even have any traffic violations. It's sort of an odd situation because it happened after submitting my applications and the criminal background check by certiphi didn't pick anything up either. I do plan to defer my acceptance to the next year to see how my case pans out as well. I have already hired a defense attorney for my case and considered hiring an administrative/licensing attorney but it may be too early for that.

There are a ton of questions I have but off the top of my head, what I'd like to find out is whether or not I need to disclose this to the school. Even if I do attend the school, I still have to get a student intern license so I'm not sure how that would work. I wouldn't want to get into the program and move there only to find out I'll be dismissed from the school.

I'm reaching out to anybody that may be knowledgeable in this area and hopefully can give me some advice on what I can/should do or point me in the right direction.

I understand my chances are slim, but I'm definitely not going to give up.

I know it's been a while now but could you follow up on your story to what happened? I'm in a similar situation

 

[pharmguitar]

If you've been charged with a drug offense tpb3, maybe pharmacy isn't a good environment for you to be in. Also it will most likely show up on a background check, but that isn't the end of the world as long as it's a misdemeanor. However I would be more worried about finding a job after wasting 4 years of my life at least.

Hopefully you're truly repentant for your actions though they sound like they were recent and I doubt you've had time to be. Why are you doing things like this so close to application/acceptance time anyway?