Expert: William A Saunders - 12/17/2007

Question
My son is on probation for 3 years from SC,  He was charged and convicted of posession of Marijuana - misdemeaner- in NC and put in jail for 30 days in NC and awaiting extradition to SC.

How long will he stay in NC for the Fugivtive extradition and then how long will SC put him in jail for..

Pls.  Help

Answer
The amount of time it takes for a fugitive extradition to go through can vary.  But it usually takes 2-3 weeks.

When he gets back to South Carolina, what will happen to him depends on many things.  First, it depends on his original sentence that put him on probation.  What typically happens is when a person has probation, it is instead of a jail term.  That jail term gets suspended and the person serves their time on probation.  If a person gets in trouble again while on probation, they they can go to jail and serve the rest of their original sentence.

So, the amount of time you son could serve depends on his original sentence.  If you can talk to him, ask him about this.  He should know how much that is.  

The other thing is this:  just because he is going back to court for violating probation does not necessarily mean that he will have to go to jail for the rest of his time.  He could go to jail for the full amount or the judge could give him credit for the time served while awaiting extradition, scold him and put him back on probation or sentence him to a drug treatment or education program rather than send him to jail.

The judge will look at the whole picture.  Has your son done positive things while on probation?  Was he working or did he pay his fines?  Was he in any type of program to help him?  Did he do any community service?  Was he in school?  Does he have a wife or any kids and has he been supporting them? How long after he was put on probation did he get convicted of possession of marijuana?  Was it right away or had he been on probation for a while?  If he had been on probation for a while before getting in trouble, that is much better than getting in trouble shortly after getting probation.

All of these kinds of things will affect what happens to him in court.  The more of positive things he has done, the better off he will be.

I hope this information is helpful.  Good luck to you and your son.