Hello; my name is Joseph. I was charged in the Military and Court Martialed on 1 count of Carnal Knowledge under the UCMJ Art 120. I ended up being 6 hrs late to my having to register cause I live 20 miles away and could not get a ride in 48 hours after moving into my new house. I got charged with failure to register.
My prior crime was non-violent, and we went to court several times over the next couple years, and I went to jail 2 times because of it (the city tried me first, and it was thrown out by the judge after 3 weeks in jail; then the state picked it up, and I spent another month and was released on bail). The charges were then Nol Prossed-nolle prosequi (no-lay pro-say-kwee) n. Latin for “we shall no longer prosecute,” which is a declaration made to the judge by a prosecutor in a criminal case (or by a plaintiff in a civil lawsuit) either before or during trial, meaning the case against the defendant is being dropped. The statement is an admission that the charges cannot be proved, that evidence has demonstrated either innocence or a fatal flaw in the prosecution’s claim, or the district attorney has become convinced the accused is innocent.
Because there was (is?) no equivalent charge in the state of PA, I was told by my public defender that I would have to see a civilian lawyer to get me taken off the registry. I called around, and I either ran into lawyers that would not take the case or charged too much. I am a disabled Vet and do not make enough money for them.
When I first was put on the registry, I was told I was a 10 yr person; then all the sudden I was a lifer before this law even came out! I was only registering 1 time a year unless I moved, but now thanks to this new law I have to go 4 times a year. It may not seem like much, but I can’t afford to pay to go out there 4 times a year. I shouldn’t even have to be on the damn thing. I have lost 2 jobs because of it. My sons are getting their names changed so as not to be associated with me by my ex wife. My current wife has been harassed several times. I have had my life threatened once due to this. I have contacted Harrisburg several times to try to get it all straightened out, and they keep saying that they will call me back at the end of the week because they have to get the physical copy of my records. I have not received one call back yet. Not to mention that they had the wrong charge on my page for over 3 years. I provided paperwork several times to get them to change it, but it didn’t get changed till the other charges went to court. They have me as a tier 3 and there is no way I could be on that one. I don’t know what to do; I need help please.
Also from the military I was sentenced to 6 months in prison and loss of rank and pay and a dishonorable discharge. It said nowhere I had to register. I was told that I did from the jail right before I left.
s/
Update—- I am now a tier II offender. I called and pretty much told them that they were wrong. They talked to there supervisor and found that they had me on tier III when at most I should have been on tier II. Also they did confirm that I never should have been made to register. But now because the law is retroactive I am forced to be on it. So for almost 7 years they were wrong and I was on it and my life was destroyed, and now I have to be on it cause of an unlawful retroactive clause that in no way can be constitutional and destroys basic human rights!