Mike Anderson was an 18-year-old freshman at Texas State University when he was busted with less than a gram of weed. Police arrested him, took his mugshot and he spent the night in jail.
The legal consequences for being caught with such a small amount of marijuana - just enough for a joint or two - were minimal, but expensive. Prosecutors offered to drop the charges if he attended a drug program and did community service, and he could later get the record of his arrest expunged for about $500, wiping the history of his arrest from public view.
"After I got it expunged, I thought it was pretty much a done deal," he said of the order granted earlier this year.
But the next time he Googled his name, he realized the ordeal was far from over. His arrest photo was posted on Mugshots.com. The page was one of the top results for anyone who might be looking for him. And as Anderson applied for internships - a graduation requirement for mechanical engineering majors - recruiters who initially seemed interested would offer the spot to someone else.
"It wasn't right," said Anderson, a junior, who asked that his real name not be used for fear of drawing further attention to his mugshot.
"I called (Mugshots.com) on the phone, and they told me basically the only way I could get the mugshot to come down was to pay a certain fine. Proof of expunction wasn't valid."