I Help with a criminal background issue.....PLEASE

[loo2006, BSN]

i have already posted this, but i think i posted in the wrong area.

hello everyone! i am about 5 weeks from graduation from an adn program in pa. we had to get our fbi background checks in this month and i just got mine back in the mail. little to my surprise - i have a criminal history! great!

i do not have any convictions, but there are charges on my record - drug charges to be exact. i do not do drugs, i don't even drink - but when in 2003 when i was aobut 22 years old, my boyfriend that i lived with was making a drug called ghb (the date rape drug) at his store that he owned. i did not know that any of this was going on. one day while getting out of the shower the police came to my house, made me sit in a chair with just a towel on and told me to tell them where everything was at and what was going on. needless to say i was completely traumatized. the person i thought i knew was not at all. anyway, even though they didn't find anything other than his "internet orders" at our house, i was arrested. i was released that evening and then later all charges were dropped. i did not even have to get a lawyer. i did not receive any fines, no probation, nothing. obviously i never talked to the boyfriend again, and while he was in jail got all my stuff from his house and never saw him again. i really didn't think that this would be in my record. it has never come up before, and to be completely honest, i haven't thought about it. it was something that i never wanted to remember because of how traumatized i was over it. i didn't realize that even though i was never convicted of anything or never did probation, i would still have this on my record. again, this was almost 10 years ago.

i have never even gotten a speeding ticket in my life, and when i opened that up today, my heart sank just a little. will this affect my future license? will i be denied employment? i have worked so hard in nursing school and i graduate in 5 weeks and this........i am at a loss for workds and i feel like i want to throw up.

any information or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[nurse_wannab]

You weren't convicted only arrested so that's a good thing & it happened close to ten years ago, so that is also in your favor. I would get the application in as soon as possible, since you're just weeks from graduation. Just be sure to check the appropriate boxes on your application & include a explanation letter telling them what happened & that all charges were dropped, emphasize that you were never convicted only charged & you had no knowledge of what your ex was doing. You should see about getting it expunged off your record as well if possible. I live in PA & I think you will be okay dealing with the board.

[FLmomof5]

Pay close attention to the wording on your application. If it asks for CONVICTIONS you can honestly say NO.