Prior drug conviction could get Milwaukee man deported

Prior drug conviction could get Milwaukee man deported

The fallout from a drug arrest in Waukesha can be difficult to deal with, and often continues long after one has paid any criminal penalty that he or she was subjected to. Not only is the perpetrator affected, but so are his or her family and friends. Rebuilding and repairing one’s personal and family image may take years. And yet sometimes, even after investing all of the hard work required to move past such an event, the consequences of one’s arrest can once again rear its ugly head.

Such is the case for a Milwaukee man who is now in his thirties who could face deportation for drug crimes he committed 14 years ago. The man admits that shortly after his family immigrated from Russia over 20 years ago, he began having drug problems that resulted in his being arrested multiple times for marijuana possession and ultimately landed him in jail. Yet since then, he has turned his life around and avoided further legal troubles. His fate now rests in the hands of a district court judge, who must decide if he can now withdraw his earlier no contest pleas due to his limited understanding of the English language at the time. Should he be deported, he’d return to country to which he has no ties, with all of his family now living in the U.S.

While such circumstances may be viewed as extraordinary, they do illustrate how difficult it can be to completely escape the consequences of drug offenses. If one is arrested on drug charges, an experienced criminal defense attorney may help to mitigate those consequences by helping him or her to obtain an acceptable ruling from the court. 

Source: Wisconsin State Journal “Russian native Alex Timofeev faces deportation years after pot crimes” Dee J. Hall, Nov. 27, 2013