Desperate Law Student Broke into School, Stole Transcript to Improve Grades
Most law students get desperate during exam time. They go to great lengths to fit large amounts of information into their heads just long enough to pass the test and hope some of it will stick.
Joshua Gomes took a different route to deal with his desperation. He stole his transcript so he could improve his grades.
Gomes was charged in December with breaking and entering and armed robbery when he was caught on camera stealing from the school registrar's office. Now he's pled guilty in order to avoid some harsh penalties.
Back in December 2011, Gomes broke into the registrar's office on three occasions to get a hold of his transcript. He had lied about his GPA when he got the job and he didn't want his real grades to ruin things, reports The Virginia-Pilot. So he planned to intercept the transcript request and send out a fake.
This 'genius' plan probably wasn't his best bet. If he'd owned up to it Gomes might have been able to find a different legal job.
Instead Gomes has pled guilty to one count of robbery in exchange for the prosecutor dropping the charges for breaking and entering and the second robbery charge. The crime was also dropped from armed robbery to unarmed robbery which reduces the penalty significantly, according to WTOP.
In his defense, Gomes's attorney said his client was under academic as well as personal pressure when the crime occurred.
Maybe we're heartless, but it's hard to feel too bad for Gomes. Aren't all law students under academic and personal pressure all the time? All he needed were some good study aids.
Also, if that's what he did for his grades, what lengths would Gomes have gone to for his job?
Looks like we'll never know. This desperate law student is now understandably an ex-student and he never did that internship. Instead of winter break all Joshua Gomes can look forward to in December is his sentencing.
Related Resources:
- Mercer Law Student's Murder: Classmate Charged (FindLaw's Blotter)
- 14 Things I Wish I Had Known When Graduating From Law School (FindLaw's Greedy Associates)
- How Law School Exams Are Graded, Kind Of (FindLaw's Greedy Associates)