Ex-Felon Girl

Happy Second Birthday Ex-Felon Girl Blog

2012-01-17T00:00:00.002-05:00

     January 17, 2010 was the day I started this blog. I was looking back on those first few post I had made and blushed with embarrassment as to how awful the spelling and grammar was. I think it is really fun to look back and see how far you have grown in different areas of your life. When I started this blog I was full of anger, regret, sadness, and deep depression. I wanted nothing more than to just give up and throw in the towel.

     At this point in my life I feel the exact opposite. Not that I am proud of the mistakes I have made, but I would not be the person I am today if I had not made those mistakes. I am a stronger, smarter, more independent and emotionally stable person than I have ever been. I have also trained myself to stop my pessimistic thoughts and create optimistic thoughts instead. This alone has really upped my quality of life.

     I want to thank each and every person who has ever read a blog post, posted a comment, sent me an e-mail, wrote me a letter, or just told someone about my blog. You are the ones that gave me and many others hope and inspiration. This blog has saved many lives including my own. Thank you again for all of your love and support!

Success Story of an Ex-Sex Offender

2012-01-01T14:48:00.000-05:00

     When I first started this blog over two years ago. I made a firm decision that I would not help anyone charged with any kind of sex crime. I made this decision, because I personally have been a victim of rape and truly did not believe that any of these people could change. When I received e-mails or letters from people with these charges asking for advice or help. I would either delete the message or direct them to someone else. It was not until December 2011 that I changed my attitude about ex-sex offenders.

     I went to visit an old friend of mine from high school who I had not seen in at least six years. As we were catching up I told him about this blog. He shared with me that he had a good friend that spent ten years in prison for a sex crime and was a registered sex offender, but turned his life around and now made a decent living for himself. This was the first time I had ever heard of an ex-sex offender having any kind of success. I asked my friend if he would ask this person permission for me to contact them and get their story. His friend and I talked the very next day. Here is the list of questions I asked him and his answers (revised of course).

What company do you work for?

I work for a healthy fast food chain that is know for it's $5 foot long subs.

How long have you been with this company?

I have been with the company for 4 years and have had 3 sets of owners.

How long did it take you to get into management?

Only about a year.

How did you move up so quickly?

I worked longer and harder than anyone else. I never called in, came in on my days off if needed, always early, never late, did my best not to break any rules, and especially never got into any of the employee drama. Anything I talked about at work was only work related.

Are you able to hire and fire employees?

Yes, I do all the hiring and firing.

Do you give ex-felons a chance when they apply?

All of the time. I even hired a man that was charged with manslaughter. I give just about everyone a chance. If they come into the restaurant with a good attitude and well groomed I give them a chance.

How far did get you in school?

I was taking classes at a local tech school and passed my classes with A's and B's. I stopped going because I worked so much.

Do you plan on getting back in school?

I do very badly. I am trying to get back in now.

What do you plan to go back to school for?

I want to be an engineer.

What are your long term goals?

My long term goals are to finish school and start my own business.

I really enjoyed talking to this person. My views about ex-sex offenders have changed a little. I believe that this person has changed and has moved on with his life in a very positive way. I love his determination as well it inspires me. Ex-sex offenders have a much harder time finding employment than any other ex-felon. This goes to show that you really can do anything you want no matter what your current circumstances are, as long as you have the drive and desire.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T09:13:00.000-05:00

Expungments and Pardons

2011-12-11T20:52:00.000-05:00

     I have been getting lots of letters from readers and supporters stating they are getting their records either expunged or pardoned. These people are from all different states so its not like only one governor is feeling generous. For a long time it was very hard to get an expungement or pardon, but now it seems like its getting a bit easier. I did a little research on this and I found some very interesting stuff. It looks like governors nation wide are starting to realize that more and more people these days have charges of some kind and are not able to get jobs even for the smallest of charges.

     A good friend of mine who has asked to remain anonymous lives in Ohio and was charged many years ago for stealing a multimillion dollar item. He was able to get an engagement and is now finally able to get on with his life.

     A reader of mine in Florida was charged grand theft auto 5 years ago and since had finished her nursing degree at a tech school and was able to get pardon.

     I have so many stories I could go on and on all night long. The point I am trying to make is that if your off probation, your charges are a few years old, you have stayed out of trouble for a while, and are at least trying to get back on your feet. I think it would be a great idea to explore your states options for an expungement or pardon. If you would like more information about expungements and pardons check out this post of mine http://www.exfelongirl.com/2010/09/pardons-and-expungements.html.

Can a Convicted Felon Work in the Medical Field?

2011-11-12T12:45:00.000-05:00

     I have been out of work since August 8, 2011 because of some serious medical problems. I have had plenty of time to think about what I want to do with myself once I am well and while I finish working on my B.S. in Business Administration. I have never had any desire to work in the medical field until my younger sister started attending our local community college for for nursing. She was telling me about how he was going to take a short program on the side so that she can become a phlebotomist and do that while she goes to school for nursing.
   That conversation got me to thinking about doing the same thing. I do not want to become a nurse and want to stay in my Business Administration program, but being a phlebotomist while finishing my degree would be great. It was be good hours and good money. Then the reality of my felony kicked, but of course I did not let those thoughts bother and decided to so some research.
   I found that there are many people that work in the medical field such as doctors, nurses, patient techs, and so many others that have felony records. I read that some of these people have a harder time than others being excepted by in to some programs and then jobs, but they made it though. In some states people with felonies had to wait seven to ten years before they were able to get a license in their field of study. Some nurses had to take their state boards in other states, but they managed to get through it. Of course the best thing you can do is get an pardon or expungement and you will have a much easier time.
     This gives me a lot of hope as soon as I am well enough I am going to enroll myself in the phlebotomy program and take it form there. If you are interested in a career in the medical field I advice you to contact your local community collage and make an appointment to speak to an enrollment counselor. The enrollment counselor will be able to answer any and all questions you might have.

Voiting Rights

2011-10-28T16:01:00.000-04:00

     Since my felony conviction in November 2005, I was under the impression that I would never have the right to vote again in the state of South Carolina. I believed this to be a fact because not only did my family and friends tell me this, but my own lawyers and probation officers told me this as well. It was not until yesterday after listening to my favorite radio station National Public Radio (NPR). That I found out I had been misinformed this whole time.

     In state of South Carolina, you are eligible to vote as long as you are off probation and are not currently carrying out a jail or prison sentence. This means if you are sitting in jail waiting for your trial or court date and are not currently on probation or parole you are indeed eligible to vote. If you are in prison or jail carrying out a sentence unfortunate you are not able to vote, but you will have your right to vote back, once you are finished with your sentence and are not on probation or parole.

    Voting is a privilege of being a United States citizen and should not be taken lightly. I can not tell you how many people I speak to daily though face to face conversations, e-mails, blogs, conference calls, chat rooms and social networks that sit and complain about the president, vice president, governors, mayors, and other elected officials. After listening to what these people have to say. My first questions is always the same, "did you vote?". If they say "no", I will always reply back, "well then I do not think you have the right complain now do you?". I do not believe it is fair for someone to complain about who is in what office and what they are doing if they themselves did not use their right to vote.

    Early next week I will be going to get registered and I hope the rest of my South Carolina followers will follow me and do the same. For my readers that are not in South Carolina call your Voting Registration office and ask. If you have trouble finding out if you can vote or not in your state do not be shy and write me and I will find out for you. You can write me by leaving a comment or you can e-mail me at exfelongirl@gmail.com.

US Government Grant Scams

2011-10-25T17:09:00.001-04:00

     For the last three weeks I have been receiving strange phone calls from different people claiming to be part of the US Government. These people state I have been carefully selected by the US Government to receive a Government Grant to do whatever I wish with. Of course I knew all of these calls were nothing more than scams, but today I decided to play along and see what I could find out about this scam and how it worked.

   Normally the person on the phone has an accent that I recognized as middle eastern, but this time it was a robotic voice. I told the person right away that I could not understand them clearly and that they sounded like a robot. I told the person this and they told me not to worry as long as I could understand what they had to say. I thought to myself "Yeah, I am sure this is something that someone from the US Government would say".

     The person verified my name, address, and phone number, but not any real personal information such as my social or birth date. This was another sign to me that this was a scam. I did not bring this to their attention and continued to let them lead the call. I was then told that I was being granted $7,000. I acted shocked and excited. I was then asked what would I do with the money. I told them I would use it to pay off my student loans. The person got excited and asked if I was still in school. Of course I said yes, because I am. They told me that I was eligible to get even more money because I was a student. I acted excited this time and asked how do I go about accepting the money and getting it to me.

   They said all that was needed was my checking account information. I told them I was not comfortable giving that information away and asked if it was at all possible to just get it by check. They told me no, the only way to get it to me was by electronic transfer. I asked them why this was so. Their reply was that it was the safest way.

   After that I let he person know that I knew for a fact that this was a scam and during our whole conversation I was blogging about my experiences with these non-stop phone calls. Of course the hung up right away without another word. I did some more research about these scams and found out that these people call and claim to be awarding grants of all kind to try to get your bank information and then they drain your bank account. So please be aware of this. I am not sure how I got on their calling list, but I did.

A Great Way to Lose Your Job

2011-10-06T20:01:00.001-04:00

     On Saturday October 1, 2011 my mother and I drove up to our favorite gas station and noticed a swarm of people standing outside of the gas station, but no one going in. My mother had no need to go in since she was using her debit card to pay for gas, but we were still curious as to why no one was going in. A women at the pump beside shared with my mother that the gas station attendant left and locked up the store behind him, because his shift was over and he wanted to go to the college football game. The second shift attendant was late and he was not sure if the second shift was even going to show up.
   This gas station is the only gas station in front of the college or near the college for at least three miles. This was a college football game day you can only imagine the money that was lost by the store being closed. Why on earth would you risk your job for a football game. In this economy it is extremely hard to find employment as it is and he chose a football game over his job. I know some people might say well, his shift was over so he had the right to leave. My answer to those individuals would be yes, his shift was over and have plans. However, it is completely irresponsible to just leave like that. He made the company lose major money! Who knows, if he would have stayed he might have gotten a bonus, raise, or even a promotion.
     There are so many people that would be so grateful for that job and would stay all day if they had to with a big smile on their face. It makes me so mad that this person left just to go to a game. I mean I could understand a bit more if he had to leave, because he had children to attend to or some other real obligation, but for a game, no.
     My point is, when you have a job you should do everything in your power to keep it and prove yourself. It is times like these when you can turn the situation around and work it to your advantage.

Trading Street Life for Family Life

2011-09-07T19:53:00.000-04:00

Trading Street Life for Family Life

    As I have stated many times before I am a huge fan of National Public Radio (NPR). I find so many interesting stories that inspire, educate, as well as shock me. I was looking on NPR’s website today and found an interesting story about a women named “Cindy Martinez who happened to be a former member of the L.A. gang called the Playboys” (Barco, 2011). After her reading her story my beliefs that everyone can change for the better have only become stronger.
    Cindy was only twelve years old when she joined the gang the Playboys. The gang gave her the the nickname BooBoo, because she reminded them of the cartoon character Yogie Bear’s sidekick BooBoo. At the age of nineteen years old she had over thirty tattoos many of them gang signs. She had been stabbed, shot, beaten, and busted. She continued to be a part of this gang until she was in her late twenty’s.
    She said what changed her was having children and starting a family. Once she became a mother it totally changed her outlook on life. She feels like a mother bear protecting her cubs. She now enjoys the the total opposite life as to what she was living as a gangster. She stated if someone had told her years ago that she would one day be a mother she would have laughed in their face and beat them up, but now she does not even think about going back to her old ways. She was so sure that she would never return to her old life that she had almost all of her tattoos removed.
    When she was asked if she still kept in touch with some of the old members, she said only on Facebook. Some members changed their life around by getting an education and are now medical assistants, secretaries, and nurses. Some are in prison, some are dead, and some have large happy families. Cindy is now thirty-six years old has health problems and depends on government assistants and her boyfriend to help support her right now. She was working by selling Avon products, factory work, and cared for an elderly women. She really wants to go back to school and get a better job, “but she has a few criminal cases such as: drug sales, assault and battery, and petty theft” (Barco, 2011) that are holding her back at the moment from reaching her overall goals.
    Cindy Martinez has done a complete and total turn around with her life. Even though she struggles financially she refuses to go back to her old ways. She is determined to go back to school and get a better job after all of her criminal cases are shorted out and she can get the finical aid needed to make her dreams come true. I believe every single one of us can take something away from her story. No matter where you come from, no matter what your past, you have the ability to turn your life around and do whatever it is you want to do.


References:

National Public Radio. (Mandolin Del Barco). Retrieved September 7,2011 , from http://www.npr.org/2011/09/06/140111199/ex-l-a-gang-member-trades-streets-for-family-life

Ban the Box Essay

2011-08-26T10:58:00.003-04:00

Last weeks assignment for my ENG-106 class was to write an Argument Essay. I choose of course to write about "Ban the Box" I made an A on it and wanted to share it with you all.

Ban the Box

Kayla Sansom

Grand Canyon University

Connie Sherwood

08/14/2011

Ban the Box

If you have to be eighteen years or older, chances are you have filled out a job application at least once in life. What does a job application ask for? It will typically ask for information such as, name, address, birthdate, social security number, highest level of education completed, work history, and more than likely if you have any criminal history or any criminal charges pending. Employers should not be allowed to ask an applicant about their criminal history until after their qualifications have been looked over. Asking if the applicant has any pending chargers should not even be relevant since they are just that “pending charges” not convictions.

When employers are going through piles of applications one of the first things they look at is if the criminal history box has been checked. If the criminal box has been checked the application ends up in the trash without any further review. These applicants could have the best training and skills for the job, but the employer will never know that since they did not take the time to read the rest of the application. Employers should look at the qualifications before looking into criminal backgrounds. Once the employer has narrowed down their best candidates, only then should they do an criminal background check.

Another thing to consider is asking applications if they have any pending criminal charges. People are charged with crimes all of the time. Until they are proven guilty, those charges should not be held against them. In North Carolina, the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office website describes a warning “Be careful not to confuse criminal charges with criminal convictions”. Of course, some employers and companies might say that removing the criminal history box from applications is only a waste of time. Since they will end up conducting a criminal background check on each candidate that makes it past the application and interview processes any way. My argument to that concern is, employers and companies are weeding out great candidates that could really benefit their company by not removing the criminal history questions from the applications. For example: a man applies for a construction job. He has 10 plus years experience, has all kinds of certifications, but he 6 years ago he was arrested for public intoxication during a nasty divorce. So he marked “yes” on the criminal history box. When the employer reviews his application and looks at the criminal history area, the application goes straight into the trash and the applicant never gets his qualifications reviewed. In this case the company and the applicant lose out on what could have been a great asset.

Some companies might feel that taking away the criminal history box off of applications might put the company and its employees at risk of dangerous situations. My answer to this concern is, if the employer asked their potential candidates about any criminal history they might have had in the past and were up front and honest about it chances are they are of little risk if any. Companies will know who is being honest and who is not honest in their interviews once they have conducted the background checks.
Companies also might argue and say when ti comes to pending charges if the accused is proven guilty in the court of law after they have been hired, depending on the crime that candidate might no longer be eligible to work that particular position or for the company at all. Worst case scenario would be hired, found guilty of his pending charges and ordered to serve time in incarceration. The money and the rescues used to train a new employee for a new job or position is costly and the possibility of losing that employee soon after he is employed could cause a big loss. My answer to this concern is, who are employers to judge who might be guilty and how might not be guilty. Companies have turnover of employees all of the time and it has little if nothing at all to do with criminal history or pending charges. Taking losses is part of doing business. If a company is not willing to take a risk then they might as well close the company.

No matter how it is looked at, there is no need to keep the criminal history box on job applications. It not only hurts well qualified people searching for employment, it hurts the company by potentially casting out good quality employees. There are many cites and states that have passes laws that have made it so that employers can no longer have the criminal history box on their applications. “These places are; Detroit, Cincinnati, New Haven, Boston, Jacksonville, Memphis, San Francisco, and Kalamazoo. Alameda County, California and Multnomah County, Oregon, have banned the box. Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, and Hawaii have passed laws prohibiting the box on applications for state jobs.” (Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office) I can only hope that in the near future these laws will be passed nation wide in every city, county, and state.

References

Criminal Defense Lawyer. Retrieved August 14, 2011, from http://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/criminal-defense/criminal-records/pending-criminal-charges.htm

Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office. Retrieved August 14, 2011, from http://www.charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/MCSO/InmateInformation/Pages/InmateLookup.aspx

North Carolina Justice Center. Retrieved August 14, 2011, from http://www.ncjustice.org/?q=node/719

I Made the Dean's List!

2011-08-05T15:46:00.002-04:00

I received a call last week from my finical advisor telling that I had made the Dean's list with Grand Canyon University with a 3.60 GPA! I have never ever received any kind of academic awards what so ever. In high school I skated by with D's and C's the only class I got an A in was Computer class and Art. I could not even get a B in Gym class. That being said you can only imagine how excited I was to hear I was on the Dean's list. My next goal is to get on the President's list!

He also brought up a very good point as well, he told me I needed to add this to my resume. By adding this accomplishment to my resume, employees can see that I am hard working and willing to stretch myself that extra mile. This will separate me big time in the stack of resumes and applications I am competing against.

Writing for SnagAJob.com

2011-08-03T11:56:00.002-04:00

I have some amazing news to share will all of you. Almost 2 months account Amy White from SnagAJob.com contacted me via email and asked me if I would share some of my tips for finding employment with a felony. She said she was impressed with my work ethic and how far I have come with the difficulties I have such as a felony on my record. Of course I said yes and immediately sent and email back full of my very best tips and advice.

A few days later she wrote me back and asked if her and her company SnagAJob.com could use my tips and advice on their website. We worked out some details and before I knew it she had the them posted. You can check out the articles here.

I personally have been a member of SnagAJob.com for a few years before I even started this blog. In my opinion they are the best place to find employment. The also have other helpful services such as; job search tips, job descriptions, interview tips, profile/ resume tips, and so much more. I could go on forever.

So, if you are in the market for a job do yourself a favor and check out SnagAJob.com and let me know what you think.

Moving onto Greener Pastures

2011-07-16T20:31:00.000-04:00

Hello Readers,

     I wanted to share with everyone that I have left my last position, because I was offered an even better position with another company. I was working at a very high end retailer working off complete commission. The job was tons of fun and I grew so much personally and professionally, but I could not let this offer go.
     I now work for a small fundraising company and am loving every minute of it. This company does a lot for its community as well. We just spend our whole Saturday out in the hot sun raising funds for a local shelter that houses women and children of domestic violence. They help out a different organization every month.
   If you happen to have an organization that is in need of a fundraiser please contact me and I will send you some information. We are unlike any other fundraising company. We have an exclusive product that we have legal rights to.

Hello!

2011-06-27T10:34:00.003-04:00

Hello Everyone,

     I want to apologize for being gone for so long. I saw that my last post was in April. I was shocked it had been that long. Since I moved to a different state and started a whole new job my depression and anxiety are almost gone completely. This move was the best thing I have ever done for myself. I really feel as though I have started over.
   My mother come up to see me last week she stayed for 2 days. I took her all over the place. She is now talking about finding a teaching job here and moving. I would love for her to do that. I miss her very much. That is one thing I struggle with living here. I never thought I could handle living in a different state than my own mother. Even though it is just one state away and it only takes 2 and half hours to get to each other. It still feels like a huge distance between us.
   Working at my new job is going really well. I have not even been there 2 whole months and I am the top seller in my department every week. I had my 45 day review with my manager and she told me I had been doing great and that I have made all of my goals and beyond. She told me if I hang in for at least 6 months I could apply to be assistant manager of our department. That was exciting to hear.
     School is going ok. I am taking an Algebra class right now that is much less than fun and exciting. Math and I do not see eye to eye at all. I knew this day was going to come at some point. Just 2 more months and I can say I have made it through my first year. Once I get all of the basic courses out of the way, I think I might start to double up on some classes so that I can be done with my BS sooner. I am considering entering a Masters program right after my BS. I am sure at that point I am going to want nothing to do with school, but I would really like to have my Masters before I am 30 years old. I guess we will just see.
     Again, I am so sorry for taking so long to post. My life has done a complete 180, but in a good way this time not a bad way. I promise I will be posting more now that I am settled in.

Officially Starting Over

2011-04-21T18:01:00.002-04:00

As of Monday March 18th, 2011 when my DUS chargers were dismissed I became officially free! Since 2005 I have always had something over my head such as probation or some kind of court case. This is the first time in over six years I have been 100% free.

     To be perfectly honest it feels very weird and I am having a hard time adjusting. My best friend who I have been living with for nearly four years has noticed my struggle with adjusting. He brought it to my attention yesterday that it seemed as though I was trying to find things to be stressed out about, because I am so used to being stressed out about something. He pointed out that for the past two days I had been finding just about anything I could to grip or stress about. He said I was even getting upset and stressing about my friends problems that had noting to do with me. My first reaction was to argue with him and tell him he had no idea what he was talking about. Whoever, just as I as about to lash back with my argument, I realized that he might be right.
     Right after my chargers were dropped, I felt like the weight of the world was lifted off of my shoulders, but this did not last. As soon as I got back in my car and was driving back home, I started thinking about tons of other issues some of them were not even my own issues they were my friends. I started to think about my new upcoming job, getting my new apartment fully furnished and decorated, my health, money, and some of my family and friends problems that really had nothing to do with me. Most of these things had not really crossed my mind until after I realized I had no more stress in my life.
   I felt both embarrassed and confused as to how and why I have let myself become so conditioned to being stressed out all of the time. It is as though I do not feel alive or I feel as though I do not exist without something dramatic going on in my life. One thing that I cannot stand and try to hard to stay away from is drama and people that tend to contently have it in their lives. We all have a family member or friend that we refer to as the "DRAMA QUEEN". I fear as though this is where I am heading if I do not get this under control.
   In order to work on changing my mind set, I am going to monitor my thinking and my stress more than I have ever before. I need to realize that I am no longer on probation, I no longer have any court cases, I am starting a great new job, and best of all I am getting brand new start. There is no need to stress and there is no need to find things to be stressed out about.

My DUS Charges Were Dropped

2011-04-18T15:08:00.000-04:00

     I have been up for over 48 hours since yesterday morning. I had to drive two and half hours to traffic court today. I met my lawyer at my home town's traffic court at 9:00 am. It took a good two hours before we were called. I was suppose to be getting ready for a jury trial, but my lawyer had a good defense up his sleeve. He had found a few statutes in his law books and online that conquered what we knew all along. When the DMV suspense your license they must notify you by certified mail with a return receipt. Not just regular mail. I had never signed for any letter and the DMV had no record of me signing a letter. I had never even received a letter at all stating I was again under suspension. Only a letter stating I as able to drive again once I purchased SR22 and paid a reinstatement fee.
     When my lawyer brought this statute up the prosecutor "who was just a cop" tried so hard to fight it. After a 30 minute game of arguing the judge excused us for a recess. He wanted to check a few things out for himself. After about 15 minutes the judge came back and told us that he called the DMV of South Carolina and confirmed that they the DMV is suppose to send out certified letters to everyone who is having their license suspended.
     That being said he granted the motion to have have the charges dismissed. The prosecutor was extremely unhappy and asked for an appeal. The appeal is really just a waste of time and tax dollars. The law is the law!

Freind in Trouble Scam

2011-04-16T19:26:00.001-04:00

     Yesterday morning I received an e-mail from a journalist Mansfield Frazier whom I have been working with ever since I started blogger over 2 years ago. The e-mail stated this:

Mansfield Frazier to me
show details Apr 15 (2 days ago)

Apologies for having to reach out to you like this, I made a trip this past weekend to London, England and had my bag stolen from me with my passport and credit cards in it. The embassy is willing to help by letting me fly without my passport, I just have to pay for a ticket and settle Hotel bills. Unfortunately for me, I can't have access to funds without my credit card, I've made contact with my bank but they need more time to come up with a new one. I was thinking of asking you to lend me some quick funds that I can give back as soon as I get in. I really need to be on the next available flight

I can forward you details on how you can get the funds to me. You can reach me via email or Park Lane hotels desk phone +447024078324

I await your response.

Mansfield Frazier

     While reading this my first response was to help him. As I was writing back my response to him to let him know help was on the way. I was reading through the e-mail again and saw a few mistakes that stood out. The main one was the fact that the word "Hotel" was capitalized. Mansfield Frazier has been a journalist, I even have a signed book of his. There was no way he would let such a careless mistake pass him by. He is very particular about his grammar.
   I stopped writing my e-mail and tried to call him on the cell phone number I have for him in my phone not the phone number listed in the e-mail. He answered write away and I ask him about the e-mail. He told me that he was perfectly fine and was sitting at home. He had been getting calls for the last two days about this e-mail from many other people. Some were worried about him and some were just plain mad at the fact that they thought he was trying to pull a fast one.
     When he tired to log into his Gmail account which is Google's e-mail, he soon found out he was locked out. It had been hacked! He tried to call Google, but Google does not have a phone number so he has to be patient and e-mail them. Google/Gmail told him his account was hacked by foreign scammers and he was a chosen victim, because he is a well know journalist and has over 4,000 contacts in his Gmail account. Hacking an account with so many contacts is like hitting the jackpot for these scammers.
     Because these hackers contacted so very high profile contacts of his that do not necessarily believe that he did not do this scamming himself they are making him get a written and certified letter from Google/ Gmail stating he did not have anything to do with this before they will work with him any further.

If you come across something like this yourself please report it here http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx.

Here are some other post I have come across pertaining to this issue:

http://www.thevillagenews.com/story/49138/
http://towercoda.blogspot.com/2008/09/friend-in-trouble-scam.html
http://www.consumertraveler.com/today/the-old-friend-in-trouble-scam-%E2%80%94-this-just-arrived-this-morning/
http://www.ethiopianreview.com/articles/27815
This list goes on and on!

Another DUS Update

2011-04-15T11:57:00.000-04:00

     I had a meeting with my lawyer again yesterday. It was our last meeting before we go to court on the 18th of this month which is this coming Monday. He shared with me that he believes he has found a motion in the law book that he will be able to use to have the charges dismissed. The law that he had found states that the DMV must send a certified letter to you stating you are under suspension and are unable to drive. Well, I never received such a letter. The only letters I received were one stating I was able to drive and one stating the consequences if I were to be found driving under suspension yet again. Certified mail means that you must sign for the letter upon receiving it.
   Monday we are going to ask that the charges be dropped because of this error. If the judge refuses to take this into consideration and grant it my lawyer is going to ask for an appeal. Meaning we would have to wait for another court date and have the motion viewed by another judge. If then motion is still not granted I have to make the extremely hard decision as to if I want to plead guilty or not to the charges. I plead no guilty we will have a jury trial. If the jury is to find me guilty I will be sentenced to jail for up to 6 moths. Meaning I will loose my financial aid, license, new job, new apartment, and freedom of course. If I am to plead guilty I will loose my license for 2 years.
     I must say this is one of the roughest decisions I have ever had to make. I would love to hear from my readers as to what you think I should do.

DUS Update

2011-04-04T21:17:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone,

     Today I had a meeting with my lawyer about my driving under suspension charge. He had an idea to call the chief of police in my town and try to persuade him in lowering the charge to driving without a license instead of DUS. Being charged with driving without a license means that I was not suspended while driving, I just did not have my license/ ID psychically on me at the time of being stopped. My lawyer told me that if the chief of police was willing to drop the charges down to this I would be in the clear of losing my license for 3 to 5 years.
     I fought with this in my head for at least 5 minutes and decided if the chief of police were to agree with this deal I would take it. I do not want to plead guilty to something I did not do, but the thought of losing my license for that long makes me sick! So we called the chief of police only to be told that he was out of the office and they had no idea when to expect his return. Got to love how a small town operates!
     Since we were not able to get in touch with the chief of police to ask for a this deal, my lawyer wanted to go ahead and talk about what would be said in court and how it would be said. We did a bit of role playing. He told me when he asked me questions I was to look him straight in the eyes and when I answered them I was to look straight at the jury and give my answers. He said by doing this I was evolving the jury in the conversation more and juries tend to like that.
     I am suppose to meet with him once again on the 14th of April to discuss the jury trial in more depth if the chief of police does not want to work something out. I will keep you all posted!

Payment Processing Agent Scam

2011-03-18T12:27:00.000-04:00

     For those of you who do not know, I am in the process of moving to North Carolina. I have been putting my resume out there on many different job search websites such as, Career Builder, Monster, and so on. Unfortantly among the many ligetamit jobs there are many non-ligetamit jobs. It is truly a shame that there are people who want to take advantage of other people that are trying to to find honest jobs to support themselves and their families. I receive emails daily from different companies and it take at least and hour out of my day to check out each and everyone of them to make sure they are not scams so that I do not waste my time.

     Today I received an e-mail that from a Steven Rex. Here is what the e-mail said exactly.

Hello,

I am contacting you in regards with the job opportunity within the Company I represent.

Megatech Service Ltd is pleased to offer you the position of Payment Processing Agent for our organization. We are excited about the potential that you may bring to our company.

We are a small respected IT Outsourcing company founded and based in United States. We mainly deal with the outsourcing of IT services to various companies all over the US and help to facilitate the delivery of those services internationally.

Your initial compensation package includes a monthly salary of $2,300 plus plus 8% commission from each transaction during the training period, full medical and dental coverage through our company's employee benefit plan.

No special knowledge is required since we provide training and one month probationary period for our applicants.

Should you request more information contact me via e-mail with your phone number and best time to call so our managers could contact you as soon as possible.
We at Megatech Service Ltd hope that you'll accept this job offer and look forward to welcoming you aboard.

Yours truly,

Steven Rex
Megatech Service Ltd Company

     I was just about to fall for this scam and write the person back, when all of the sudden I started to ask myself questions such as, why does he not give a phone number, maybe I should look up the company, if he really was interested in my resume wouldn't he have called me, and maybe I should look into this a bit more and see if Google has any information about this being a scam.

     I typed in to Google "Megatech Service Ltd Company scam" and got a much of listings and articles. They all said it was a scam and that this person or persons were sending these kinds of e-mails will different company names. I have to say I was a bit disappointed, but more angry than anything else. I believe that these job searching sites need to me more aware of this and try harder to weed out these scams.

Food Critic job Scam

2011-03-14T09:09:00.004-04:00

Just letting everyone know there is a job scam going on. If you get an email offering you a "Food Critic" position, do not reply to it and do not fill out the application!

You know it really makes me mad when scammers try to make a dollar off of people who are trying to find honest work and make a living for themselves and their families. You really have to be sick in the head and have no morals what so ever to be a part of something like that.

DUS Update

2011-03-11T23:54:00.000-05:00

     I met with my lawyer this past Wednesday to do the jury selection over the phone. I was giving a piece of paper with a long list of people's names, addresses, birthdays, sex, and race. I was instructed to go down this list of names and pick out up to six that I did not want to be in the jury and why. After examining the list carefully I only found three that could cause a conflict. My lawyer then took the paper and went down it and struck off 3 names that he did not want on the list. His reason was only age he did said the more young people the better.
     Right at 1:30 PM we called my counties police station and put them on speaker phone. My lawyer instructed the police officer that they would go in turns striking out one by one of who they both did not want in the jury until they reach 6 each. Right off the bat I noticed that the police officer was striking out all black people. Of course I found this strange and wondered what might be his motive for doing such a thing. At the end of the striking the police officer had stuck out five black people both males and females with different ages and only one white male who was the youngest person on the paper.
     After we got off of the phone I asked my lawyer why he did not saying anything about this. He told me that what the officer did was illegal and he was not going to do anything until the day of court. He said by waiting until the day of court he will make the officer look stupid infront of his peers and hopefully they will back down and let me go. His answer did not really answer my question much, so I had to sit back and think about it myself and I still have yet to come up with a good reason. The one thing I do know is that this little town I currently live in is a very raciest one. That is one of the main reasons I am trying to hard to move out of it. There is not growth here just ignorance and I am so above that.
     I am going to meet with my lawyer again on the 4th of April and then again on the 14th of April which is 4 days before my jury trial date. The way it looks right now it will be postponed again. I am ready for this to be over so I am go on with my life! This is not my mistake this is all the DMV's fault!

My Probation is Over

2011-03-04T15:20:00.001-05:00

     As of March 2, 2010 my probation was over and done with. I cannot express to you how good it truly feels to be 100% FREE! I am sure those of your who are and have been on probation know what I am talking about. I was one of the lucky ones. I was only required to show my face once every three months, but it was still a pain.
     I wish I could say that all my legal battles are over, but they are not. I am still waiting for my court date in April for driving under suspension. I have very positive feelings about this court date because we have so much evidence pointing to the DMV and police making the error. Of course, I still fear the worst and try hard to block those bad thoughts out of my mind.
     On Wednesday, Mach 9, 2010 I will see my lawyer one last time before the court date to do the jury selection and discuss anything that needs to be discussed before the trial. I am hoping to hear some very good news from him. I will also talk to him about working on a pardon.
     If everything goes according to plan at this trial in April, I have decided to move to Charlotte, NC and get away from this small town and start my life over. I am doing very well in school, my good is almost finished, and I can transfer with my current job to a location there. I believe getting of here will only inspire me more.

Last Quarterly Probation Visit

2011-02-09T21:45:00.001-05:00

     Today was my last quarterly visit to my probation officer. I have to go back on the 3rd of Mach which is next month to do all of the paper work and what ever else is expected of me. My probation officer was wanting to take care of all of this stuff today and make today my last day ever stepping foot in there again, but I was suffering from a severe migraine and got sick in her office. So, needless to say she wanted me out of her office as soon as possible.
     She asked me while helping me out of the building and into my friends care, why I chose to come report today if I was feeling so badly. I told her that I was eager to get this last visit over with after being on probation for over five years. She laughed at me and told me I was one of the best cases she had ever had and that it has been a pleasure watching me grow into the women I am today. These words meant the world to me.
   My probation officer and I have been butting heads for years now. I knew my place as a convicted felon, but I also knew her place as a probation officer. When I first met her she was very short and straight to the point with me. After a few visits she got to know me and started to warm up a bit. However, there were times when I needed assistants and she was not very eager to help me. A perfect example was when I was unemployed for a few months she did not rush to help me find employment. I had to literally tell her what her job description was before she even tried to help me. This of course made me lose a few brownie points for a while, but she soon came back around and I got them back. I believe in the long run she found a great respect for me and realized I was truly turning my life around. I was assured of this when she told me I was her of her best cases.
     I am so excited about being finished with probation next month. I know that once this chapter of my life is over the sky is the limit. I will know be able to work on a pardon and go on with my life. Many people have asked me if I will stop writing blogs and working on my book if I do get a pardon. Of course I will not. This part of my life will always be a part of my life. I used to look at felony as a road block, but without experiencing what I have over the last 6 years I would not be the person I am today and I love the person I am today.

Volunteering

2011-02-04T16:51:00.002-05:00

     I just got off the phone with a very good friend of mine from a Vocational Rehabilitation center in another state and he was telling me about how successful many men and women in his area have been at finding jobs while volunteering. Many of these individuals have felony convictions, but that did not seem to bother the employers that offered full time employment to their volunteers. Some of the employers even offered to pay for skill building classes in many different fields to make these individuals even more valuable.
    Volunteering really does seem to pay off. By showing organizations, companies, and employers that you are willing to give your time for free shows them that you are truly trying to change your life around and want to give back. Volunteering is not only a way to get a job, but also to build a network full of positive relationships and resources.
     My suggestion to you if you are out of work and are having trouble finding work. Get out there and offer your time for free. You will be amazed at how many doors will fly open. The best places to look for volunteer work would be local organizations, churches, colleges, libraries, retirement homes, and of course your local Vocational Rehabilitation center.