hey can anybody please suggest what to do one of my fren got caught by TABC at townson gas station selling beer to minor as he looked old so he sold without looking his id but they didnot arrest him can any body say what to do next...is it a crime does it affect on student visa....hope you guys will help it out...

hi jeewan,

It is true that it depends from state to state and county to county. If he is not taken to prison then he will most probably be given a court date. Then they will make your fine of certain amount and certain time of community service. There won't be any problem with the immigration as far as i know. But it is better for your friend to quit working in that place.

Good luck

thanks for giving me idea it happened on texas at harris county ya he wasnot taken to jail but they did told him to pay bond after it gets out or surrender to police so we have no clue what it is? is it fine or like getting arrested..

thanks for giving me idea it happened on texas at harris county ya he wasnot taken to jail but they did told him to pay bond after it gets out or surrender to police so we have no clue what it is? is it fine or like getting arrested..

thanks for giving me idea it happened on texas at harris county ya he wasnot taken to jail but they did told him to pay bond after it gets out or surrender to police so we have no clue what it is? is it fine or like getting arrested..

Jeewan,That should be a ticket or fine that your friend was issued for the offence. It is really great that he was only given a ticket. The amount on that ticket comes out afterabout two to three days of the issuance. So, call the number on the ticket/fine and try to find out the amount. If you have any questions, the best thing to do is to callthe number on the ticket/fine and talk to an operator. Mention to the operator that thisis the first time this thing has happended to you (or your friend) and you know nothingabout how to proceed further. The operator would explain every thing in detail andyou'll be very clear.In TX, tickets should be paid or court must be contacted within 21 days of the issuanceof a ticket or fine. If you don't pay the ticket or fine or contact the court withinthe 21 days, a warrant will be issued. So, be very careful on this!Good Luck guys.

hey thanks for reply again

but am confused.....  he wasnot given any ticket i mean those TABC people didnot gave him anything just asked are you going to leave country he said no and left saying call bail bond company and pay the bond and they will give you court date or surrender to police so if they had given ticket he would have got some piece of paper right ? he did not have anything expect a letter given to the store saying  administration action has been filed....so have no idea where to call....we tried checking calling attorney all attorneys have own views some says after bond is issued he needs to surrender himself and its misdeameanor A and some says its misdeameanor C and after bail is issued pay bond and get the court date no idea wht the hell is happening

As far as i am in light of this situation, i think the employer is in trouble not ur friend.

Did ur fren give the officers any form of id? Or the letter that the officers gave him, does it have ur frens name or the name of the store on it? "Administrative action has been filed" it is probably a case against the store.....

And did ur fren talk with the owner of the store about this matter?

A lot of things u need to think about man.

peace

ya the letter given is in the store name and those cops took his license id and took his information and ask to contact bail bond any company ...

The whole thing sounds confusion. I think the best thing right now would be to call the TABC in Austin, explain them the situation and confusion, and ask for further instructions. He should be honest in this matter right now because they have all his information. They said him to contact a bail bond company and to surrender. From what I understand, they mean he should surrender to the police himself and then get a bail from a bail bond company. But I am not sure on this and I pray and hope that this be not the case. So, it would be a wise idea to call and check with the TABC. Also, have you tried contacting the DWI or TABC attorneys or criminal attorneys as they will have better ideas in cases like these than the regular attorneys.

Good Luck and God Be with your friend.

hey HappyFace

thanks for your help ya we tried to talk attorney but all attorney has different views so we are just waiting to issue bond but do you know which Misdeameanor is it?.....

once again thanks yaar!

Hey Jeeewan, it's classs A Misdemeanor in Texas.

Jeeewan,Here's something interesting that I found:http://www.vogueseattle.com/Austin%20Criminal%20Defense%20Attorney.htmVisit the link above. They have some important tips for your friend's case.Also try googling "selling alcohol to minor in TX" or something like this.Hope this helps you.Good Luck!

Happyface thanks again ya its kind of similar case like that found on the linked but now we are just confused about surrending to police as we talked couple attorneys one told the bail bond will issue bond and pay it then after he can find conclusion what to do with the case as we are trying to dismissed it rather then paying small fines coz the guy looked old....and next attorney he said that the warrant issue will be formed and my fren needs to go to custody for few hours and you can pay bond and get released and fight for the case so we dont have no conclusion until bond is formed so we are just praying he doesnot need to go for police himself and we can pay bond before he gets arrested lets see what happens...

i really appreciate your help man keep up

hey jiwan,

sth happened like this before in liberty in houston for my frn...but i have no idea thhat is harris county or not...as fas as his case he went to the court...plead for guilty and just pay the fine...and the case is dismisses...there will be be nothing more than that.....it was happened for a guy too in beaumont in texas....its not a big problem...as far as the immigration everything is just happened on the drivers id...so no immigration is engaged...dont worry..it will be ok.......

Okay there is nothing to worry about.  
Since it is a misdemeanor and not a felony the charges or fines are minimal. 

I am pretty sure that you have got a arraignment date for the case.  On that day the judge will ask you either to plead guilty, plead not guilty or No contest.  In pleading guilty your friend will be out by paying a minimal amount of state fine for selling of alcoholic beverage to minor.  If you "plead not guilty" you will go to trial with a attorney on your defense.  On that case the state attorney will prepare a case against you friend and try to find as much information as possible.  It might be possible that they might pull a thread about immigration and everything comes out from selling alcohol and immigration.  The last one is "No Contest" in which your friend will accept the misdemeanor but hasn't plead gulilty yet. This case comes when you are arrested and released on a bond and you give a statement to the police. 
So the best move will be to plead guilty and to pay the fine and leave it quietly.  Because if you go to trial your criminal/background check will be done. But if the case doesn't goes beyond arraignment, there will be no background check and no trial.
Be careful the next time.
Anymore questions, let me know..

hey basnetpr

thanks for your suggestion but here it is the the court date hasnot been given yet coz bond hasnot set up yet...and next thing selling beer to minor at tx is misdeameanor A which results punishment for fine  4000 dollar and upto one yr jail so if we plead guilty isnt there any chance to get jail and next thing do you knw if he plead guilty and got only to pay fine doesnot his background check shows up misdemeanor which even hamper to get rent  apartment and reapply for renew visa after it expires.... so we thought to dimiss case but as you said if its going to come background check then immigration thing might come and its way big problem so wht do you think?

Hello Jeevan!
Dont get scared and do something stupid.  This is a very normal case.  Of course it is a misdemeanor and it is an offenc, but it is not a criminal offence or a felony.   Also it is not in your hand to dismiss the case on your own by any means.
First thing this is a first offence and the charges are a fine of $400 to one year in jail.   The one year jail is for the worst case scenario and it is given for multiple offence not in the first offence.  I assume your friend sold alcohol to the minor for the first time.  If this was his 2nd or 3rd or 4th offence, he will be charged a fine accordingly and in the worst case for the fifth or sixth offence, your friend will go to jail.  But this is the first time.  
Another thing either texas or new york, or delaware the rules are the same.   Whatever couty or state it is, federal law is supreme and court is always above these law.  So the court will make you pay a with  some "community service"   But this is the first offence and if it was undercover police that caught your friend then the charges will even be smaller.  So the best option for your friend is to "plead guilty" and pay the fine.

Also this is a misdemeanor, there would be no background check,  and nothing will be reported to the immigration.  The immigration will not receive any information until and unless it is a felony/crime.  In such cases the immigration will get the information and they will put a hold on your visa. drivers licence.   But in your friend's case there will be no background check. 
Also the information check done for the apartment is different.  They wont care about your immigration status (only if you are legal or not).  
So dont worry,  "Plead guilty".     When you plead gulity the judge will have to let you know what will be the charges, "So lets say he says 400 fine and 1 year jail " (He wont say this, but if he says so, tell him that you want to go on trail and want to hire an attorney; but trust me he wont say that).  He will just tell you to pay the fine. 
Case closed.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Hello Jeevan!
Dont get scared and do something stupid.  This is a very normal case.  Of course it is a misdemeanor and it is an offense, but it is not a criminal offense or a felony.   Also it is not in your hand to dismiss the case on your own by any means.
First thing this is a first offense and the charges are a fine of $400 to one year in jail.   The one year jail is for the worst case scenario and it is given for multiple offence not in the first offense.  I assume your friend sold alcohol to the minor for the first time.  If this was his 2nd or 3rd or 4th offense, he will be charged a fine accordingly and in the worst case for the fifth or sixth offense, your friend will go to jail.  But this is the first time.  
Another thing either texas or new york, or delaware the rules are the same.   Whatever couty or state it is, federal law is supreme and court is always above these law.  So the court will make you pay a with  some "community service"   But this is the first offence and if it was undercover police that caught your friend then the charges will even be smaller.  So the best option for your friend is to "plead guilty" and pay the fine.

Also this is a misdemeanor, there would be no background check,  and nothing will be reported to the immigration.  The immigration will not receive any information until and unless it is a felony/crime.  In such cases the immigration will get the information and they will put a hold on your visa. drivers licence.   But in your friend's case there will be no background check. 
Also the information check done for the apartment is different.  They wont care about your immigration status (only if you are legal or not).  
So dont worry,  "Plead guilty".     When you plead gulity the judge will have to let you know what will be the charges, "So lets say he says 400 fine and 1 year jail " (He wont say this, but if he says so, tell him that you want to go on trail and want to hire an attorney; but trust me he wont say that).  He will just tell you to pay the fine. 
Case closed.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Lemme share my part of whatever knowledge I gained on this topic after a fren encountered a similar situation. It happened in TX. He was told the similar thing - to call the bail bond office and pay the bond, but the only answer he got from the bond office was 'your ticket has not yet been issued'. While he was waiting for the ticket to be issued, the cops came looking for him at his work and at his residence too. So he finally had to surrender himself, remain behind the bars for 5+ hours, pay the bond and was released later on. So, from what I understood, you are not supposed to wait for the ticket to be issued, coz once its issued it is the arrest warrant (could be wrong). So, your fren  might wanna go pay the bond before cops come looking for him. Coz, if for some reason they ask the immigration to get involved in this, the situation can go ugly. If not, he will just need to spend couple thousand dollars to settle the case in the court.

In my fren's case, it was the second ticket for that particular store. I heard if the store gets 3 ticket for such demeanor, it will result in the revocation of their license!

Good Luck

hey basnetpr

thanks again but the thing is fine is not 400 hundred is 4 thousand dollar and ya finally the bond is issued and we paid it but we do need to go to give finger print and to put photo so lets see we might talk to attorney and try to dismiss if not we will plea guilty but wont go for trial as you said immigration thing might come

thanks all guys for ur help..