Crimes by College Students

Pennsylvania Criminal Defense Lawyers

No parent wants his or her child to have a criminal record. Parents may be angry with their children, but they do not want to jeopardize their futures. When a college student gets into trouble, it is important to have a lawyer who is experienced with state criminal laws and the local criminal system.

At Loughran, Mlakar & Bilik, we help college students throughout southwestern Pennsylvania, including the Penn State campuses, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, the University of Pittsburgh, Seton Hill College, Saint Vincent College, and more. Our attorneys offer free initial consultations to anyone who questions criminal charges. Contact us right away.

We take all types of cases, including those involving:

• Underage drinking
• DUI / DAI,
• Drug possession / trafficking: marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, heroin, etc.
• Assault

Our primary goal in all cases involving college students is to keep their criminal records clean. This can be done in three main ways: obtaining an acquittal, participating in a pretrial diversionary program to avoid conviction, or negotiating some other resolution with the Commonwealth short of a conviction.

A majority of cases involve enrolling in programs in lieu of conviction. For example, Pennsylvania has an Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) program for first-time offenders in non-violent crimes. The program allows for expungement after successful completion, which would remove all traces of the conviction from his or her criminal record.

It is important to understand the concept of "expungement" in these cases. An expungement erases existing offenses from view of potential employers, banks, etc.

Experienced Lawyers

We have assisted parents with everything from minor underage drinking arrests to large-scale drug trafficking cases, including a large ecstasy ring on a local college campus that was prosecuted by the federal authorities.

Contact Us

To learn more about Pennsylvania laws as they pertain to college students, contact the attorneys of Loughran, Mlakar & Bilik to set up a free, confidential consultation.