troubleintampa
New Member
I need a little advice. I lived in Brandon, FL (suburb of Tampa) for a couple of years in the mid nineties. I was a partner in a small retail computer shop that went under. My partner wasn't the most honest guy around, and wound up in some tax trouble. I assisted the Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement by providing financial information from another company he owned and had stored on an office computer that I owned. So to "get even" with me, he convinced a former roommate to file a police report stating that I took a bunch of his stereo equipment when I moved out. I still have the original receipts for all of the equipment including serial numbers with my name and "paid in full" printed on them.
Apparently, the Hillsborough County sheriff sent a letter (or something) to my last known address (which wasn't a good address) saying I had to appear to talk about the stereo equipment. Because I never received whatever it was they sent and didn't go in, they issued a warrant for felony grand theft and dealing stolen property with a bond of $25,000 since I no longer live in the state and am considered a "flight risk". I think failure to appear is also a charge. This all happened in November of 1997 - almost 10 years ago.
I no longer live in Florida, and haven't since 12/97. I have no criminal record at all. I've held the same job for 6 years, and haven't been unemployed since I got out of the military in 1992. This should be as simple as getting the prosecutor to listen to the story and look at the proof. I just can't see someone pushing this to trial because there's really no way they can win.
I spoke to an attorney in Tampa and was told it would cost about $5000.00 to take care of this. The biggest problem I have with paying to take care of it is that I did nothing wrong. I've tried to talk to the sheriffs dept., but they won't discuss it with me.
Here are my questions:
Is there any way I can get this taken care of without hiring an attorney?
Is $5000.00 a reasonable fee to handle something like this?
Will this ever just "go away" so to speak?
I live far enough away that they won't extradite, but the one time I was stopped for speeding in the last 10 years it took a couple of hours to straighten out. It also almost prevented me from a job offer, but they understood the situation and I got the job anyway. But it was very embarrassing to have to explain something like that to a potential employer, or anyone else for that matter.
Any advice?
Thanks!
Apparently, the Hillsborough County sheriff sent a letter (or something) to my last known address (which wasn't a good address) saying I had to appear to talk about the stereo equipment. Because I never received whatever it was they sent and didn't go in, they issued a warrant for felony grand theft and dealing stolen property with a bond of $25,000 since I no longer live in the state and am considered a "flight risk". I think failure to appear is also a charge. This all happened in November of 1997 - almost 10 years ago.
I no longer live in Florida, and haven't since 12/97. I have no criminal record at all. I've held the same job for 6 years, and haven't been unemployed since I got out of the military in 1992. This should be as simple as getting the prosecutor to listen to the story and look at the proof. I just can't see someone pushing this to trial because there's really no way they can win.
I spoke to an attorney in Tampa and was told it would cost about $5000.00 to take care of this. The biggest problem I have with paying to take care of it is that I did nothing wrong. I've tried to talk to the sheriffs dept., but they won't discuss it with me.
Here are my questions:
Is there any way I can get this taken care of without hiring an attorney?
Is $5000.00 a reasonable fee to handle something like this?
Will this ever just "go away" so to speak?
I live far enough away that they won't extradite, but the one time I was stopped for speeding in the last 10 years it took a couple of hours to straighten out. It also almost prevented me from a job offer, but they understood the situation and I got the job anyway. But it was very embarrassing to have to explain something like that to a potential employer, or anyone else for that matter.
Any advice?
Thanks!
