Charlotte Criminal Lawyer Blog
Charlotte DWI Lawyer Brad Smith answers the question: A past conviction is keeping me from finding work what can I do?
The State of Georgia has employed a woman to protect its most vulnerable children despite her convictions for forgery and on charges stemming from a 2011 road-rage incident.
The woman—Paige Newsome—was employed last May in Cherokee County by the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services as a child-protection investigator. Applicants for employment by the State of Georgia are required to report any convictions or pending criminal charges on their employment applications. Newsome reported four traffic convictions, and she noted that charges were pending against her related to defrauding her father out of more than $1,700 by forging his name on checks.
Newsome failed to report that she pled guilty to charges in Louisiana stemming from a 2011 Interstate 20 road-rage incident in which Newsome allegedly pointed a revolver at another driver after cutting in front of him. The State of Georgia discovered the road-rage conviction but hired Newsome anyway.
A month after Newsome began working for the Division of Family and Children Services, she pleaded guilty to two counts of forgery for signing her father’s name to checks without his permission. She was fined $250 and placed on probation for a year.