I think the guy made a couple serious missteps here that created a bad situation and then made it a lot worse: 1. He got into the car carrying narcotics that h

I think the guy made a couple serious missteps here that created a bad situation and then made it a lot worse: 1. He got into the car carrying narcotics that he wasn't legally allowed to use. 2. He accepted legal advice without doing his homework: "After being assured that the penalty would be light," James told Reason in an email, "it turned into a bigger ordeal than I could ever imagine." The article makes it sound like the judge at the bond hearing advised him to plead no contest, assuring him that the penalty would be light, and he accepted that advice without any further thought. It doesn't sound like he even hired an attorney: "The judge who heard James' case accepted the no-contest plea. Then he began stacking on penalties." Were I in this guy's situation, I would not gone to my court date without a lawyer, a plan for getting everything dropped or sealed, and an idea of the worst-case scenario. 3. He was ignorant of the licensing requirements of his profession: Having worked in finance for the last 2.5 years (admittedly, on the development rather than business side), it seems very unlikely to me that this fellow would have gotten his Series 7 license and started employment as a stock broker without being forced to learn the requirements for reporting legal problems like this. The moral of the story is: 1. Do your homework, especially on criminal legal matters. 2. Do not blindly accept legal advice (or narcotics!) from strangers. 3. Mount an aggressive defense to any criminal matters.