Other OVI Consequences in Youngstown

Your friendly neighborhood Youngstown OVI lawyer will tell you, if you ask, that an OVI conviction hurts in more ways than just jail time and fines. It will be a long time before it stops haunting you, if it ever does. And, it won’t just be your driving privileges that will change.

You could find yourself without employment, especially if you serve a lengthy jail term. Your employer might not be willing to hold your job for you when he can hire someone else, especially if a new hire is lower on the pay scale than you are.

You could have a hard time finding a new job because you have a OVI conviction on your criminal record. Many employers do background checks before they hire new people, and won’t hire anyone in who has an OVI conviction, especially if the job involves a company vehicle.

Changing careers may be off the table for you, as well, if you are convicted of OVI. Similar to employers, many apprenticeship programs run background checks on applicants. The same is true for colleges and graduate schools. If you’re able to keep your job but need grad school to advance, an OVI conviction can close that door for you.

Speaking of advancing in your career, if your job requires a professional license, such as a physician’s, pharmacist’s, or teacher’s license, being convicted of OVI can make it difficult for you to renew that license. In some professions, it can cause you to be ineligible for a license and the one you currently hold can be revoked.

If you are a student, you may find yourself unable to get financial aid from private sources to pay for your schooling.

Likewise, getting a personal loan to pay for a vacation because you had to use that money to pay your OVI fines and court costs could be hard to manage. If that vacation involves travelling to other countries, you could discover yourself having a hard time getting into the foreign nations. If you happen to have kept your job and are travelling for work, you face a double-whammy. You won’t be able to enter the other country, which means you won’t be able to do your job, and might lose the position.

If you are not a US citizen, you face consequences specific to that situation. You could find yourself forced to return to your home country with your permanent residency or naturalization application denied, or your visa revoked.

Other difficulties you could face as a result of a OVI conviction include being denied housing in the area in which you wish to live. Many property management companies and private owners do background checks on potential renters and purchasers. A criminal conviction, which is what a OVI is, will exclude you from certain properties.

You may also find yourself dealing with changes to your visitation or child custody schedule as a result of a OVI. No one wants to risk a child’s life because they’re not sure you can remain sober behind the wheel while you have your kids with you.

Finally, a felony OVI conviction can mean you are forced to give up any guns you own and take away your right to own any in the future.

There are significant consequences to a OVI beyond just the jail time, fines, and party plates. A OVI conviction can drastically alter your life and send you down a path you never intended to go. It can make climbing the mountain of your success far more arduous than it would otherwise be, and you could lose the things that are most precious to you.

Don’t go through an OVI arrest alone. Call an attorney who knows OVI law inside and out, and who has successfully defended hundreds of cases over the course of the last decade.