You should be fine, my daughter went through this a few years ago. We went and talked with the states attorney. Was told its a process, that no court wants to damage someone so young's record over a simple lack of judgment.

He said, she would be given community service, attend a substance abuse program, pay for court costs and probation for X amount of time. She did all that and the charges were dropped.

Total cost was less then 500 dollars. An attorney will cost much more with no guarantee of a better outcome.

Don't forget the court doesn't want to harm and punish you for a simple mistake at a young age. But, they want you to learn from your experience.

Wrong... Not just felony but Misdemeanor also. I've seen first hand. This is taken from The Canadian Immigration site. Google misdemeanor and Canada entry, if you still think It's just felonies that you will have issues with.

otherwise, even a single alcohol related driving conviction such as DWI, DUI, DWAI, OVI, or OWI can render you excluded from Canada. Even drunk driving plead down to a wet reckless driving or careless driving charge can result in a denial of entry at the border.


Other misdemeanor convictions that can get you barred from crossing the border include assault, burglary, resisting arrest, possession of a controlled substance, theft, and unlawful possession of a weapon.

The problem I see is, the OP said he was 19 and mentioned that it was a misdemeanor. So who knows, IMO Customs people in Canada may not catch it the first few times, however if he keeps going to Canada it might be an issue at some point.

You'll be fine, try to get it off your record. And most importantly never try to hide it or lie about it in an interview. I got in trouble when I was 18, but I always owned up to my mistakes and explained what I learned from it. I've never been turned down from a job because of it. However, I did get it expunged, but still shows up on background checks.