gkg434

Hi
I'm hoping someone on here has a similar background to mine and can help by sharing their experience with me...
All I've ever wanted to do was fly, but after my dad died when I was a teenager I made some bad choices and got arrested a few times. I believe my background shows 3 convictions of possession of marijuana, 1 possession of alcohol, and 2 petty thefts. All of them were over 10 years ago except the last petty theft that is about 7 years ago now. (Also 2 were felonies but dropped down to misdemeanors in court). I also had a bad driving record at that time, but have only had 2 or 3 tickets in the last 10 years.

After turning my life around and getting my head on straight I've decided to live a respectable life and contribute as much back to society as I can to make up for those years when all I did was take and cause trouble. Now I have been working successfully in real estate and living an honest life and I want to pursue my dream of flying. I know the majors are most probably out of the question for me, and that's ok... If I can just be a flight instructor I would be happy to turn that into a career even if I only ever earn $45,000 a year at my peak.

So my concern is the faa medical certificate. It looks like it's going to be pretty hard even just to get my 3rd class medical certificate just because I got caught so many times... does anyone have any experience with getting a medical certificate with more than 3 convictions?

Thank you in advance.