Massachusetts Criminal Lawyer Blog
MT, is a building and roofing contractor. He is now (April of 2021) age 57.
- In 1994 he took a $5,350.00 deposit from a customer in Andover, MA but did not do the work. He was charged by the police with Grand Larceny. In 1994 he went to Lawrence District Court, was found guilty, and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $5,350.00. He failed to make the payment and a default warrant issued for his arrest.
- In 2015 he took a $4,000.00 deposit from a couple in Chelmsford, MA but did not do the work. The police charged him with Grand Larceny and a straight warrant for his arrest was issued by Lowell District Court. (A straight warrant simply means the court did not summons him; rather than a summons the court issued a “straight” warrant.)
- In 2015 he took a $5,000.00 deposit from another customer in Dracut, MA but did not do the work. The police charged him with Grand Larceny and another straight warrant for his arrest was issued by Lowell District Court.
MT resides in NH. In 2020 MT went to renew his NH license and was told that his right to drive in Massachusetts was suspended because of the outstanding warrants in Massachusetts. MT contacted Attorney Robert Lewin from Andover, MA. After a lengthy initial consult MT retained Attorney Lewin to handle the cases in Lawrence District Court and Lowell District Court. Attorney Lewin explained to MT that “paying the money that is owed – right away” can help make these cases go away. It turns out that MT was totally unaware of the two warrants in Lowell District Court. It also turns out that MT had actually paid back the two customers from Chelmsford and Dracut their money.
Attorney Lewin immediately contacted both courts and got all the paperwork from both courts.
- With reference to Lawrence District Court MT paid to Lawrence District Court the $5,350.00 restitution that had been outstanding since 1994!! Attorney Lewin immediately met with the probation department in Lawrence to show them that the outstanding restitution had been paid. At Attorney Lewin’s request the Probation Department agreed to administratively (that is, without MT or Attorney Lewin having to go to court or even appear virtually) close he case. On March 11, 2021 the Probation Department had the warrant cancelled, the probation violation cancelled, and terminated MT’s probation, and that case was closed.
- With reference to the two cases in Lowell District Court, Attorney Lewin met with the Supervising Assistant District Attorney in Lowell. Attorney Lewin showed the DA that the homeowners of the two cases in Lowell had been paid back their deposit moneys in full back in early 2016. At Attorney Lewin’s request the Assistant District Attorney agreed to DISMISS both of the cases in Lowell District Court (a) without MT or Attorney Lewin appearing in person at the Court (b) and without MT being arraigned. On April 9, 2021 MT and Attorney Lewin appeared via zoom before the Judge in Lowell. At that time the Assistant District Attorney requested that the cases be dismissed without MT being arraigned. The Judge agreed. The two warrants were cancelled and both criminal complaints were dismissed without MT being arraigned.
The significance of a case being dismissed prior to arraignment is that the case does NOT go on the person’s criminal record (CORI = Criminal Offender Record Information).
Needless to say MT was thrilled with the results. He got the very best results possible.