Advice For A Lost Soul, With A Recent Record....

hey everyone i have been browsing this site for a while now and i have always, love the views and things you all talk about. recently while working in a convenience store, i was working nights, but anyway i was working when the atf flipped a decoy at me( me being in a small town i had the same 12 customers every single day. so i was in a habit) well i was looking at a chore list for me to do that night, and i never noticed the girl putting a beer on my counter, well i asked her her birth date and i put it in( i must have put a typo in because the date went through no problem) and i sold her the beer and she left. (i know its my fault for getting too comfy) but either way a few minutes later and i was confronted by two agents telling me i was being charged with selling alcohol to a minor.....

so now i am here awaiting things to get finished( basically i am sure i will get fines and probation along with it being a class "a" misdemeanor....with the rare chance of a year in jail.)

but the advice i am needing is with this coming up.... is there any chance at me becoming a truck driver... because here in texas, at least in my area their is only, mcdonalds, convenience stores, oilfield jobs. and with the drop in oil half of my job market is gone out the window, and with the alcohol related offence.... i cannot work in another store selling alcohol for a long time. i dont want to have to work at mc'd. basically i was already studying for my tests, or school depending on what i decided....

so will this bother me too bad considering its not a driving related offence, or something concerning violent offences and such?

sorry i am just out of ideas, and my path just seems harder to plan with probation about to be over my head.

Welcome aboard Stormy!

You're going to run into a couple of problems unfortunately.

One thing you'll have to look out for is most companies have a policy against hiring anyone that has been charged with "drug or alcohol related crimes." What that would normally entail is DUI's, getting caught with drugs on you, failing a drug test, open alcohol container in a car, etc. Normally the alcohol part pertains to a driving infraction of some sort. So you will likely have to explain the details to people so they know the situation.

Another problem is probation. You're not likely going to be able to leave the state while you're on probation. I would plead with them to keep you off probation. I mean, you obviously didn't intend to do what you did and it isn't like society needs to keep an eye on you (assuming the rest of your record is clean). So I don't see why they would need any sort of probation for you. Let them know that putting you on probation is going to kill your career chances and keep you from making a living.

Finally, do all you can to make sure you don't get a felony out of this. A misdemeanor is no big deal. A felony is a very big deal and would likely put your trucking career on hold for about five years. So try to avoid that.

Wait until this is all finished to see where you stand before making any attempts at truck driving school.