Short answer - no (but it depends on when you entered your plea and a couple of other things... keep reading). Under Penal Code section 1000, the "deferred entry of judgment" or "drug diversion" program, a person with no previous drug convictions can take advantage of a way to get the drug charges against them dismissed and wiped off their record. Currently, you must plead guilty before entering the program. After the plea, criminal proceedings are suspended. Provided you show proof of enrolling in the drug program within a month of the plea, then completion of the program within 6 months of the plea and finally, staying free from any new law violations (other than minor traffic offenses) for 18 months from the time of the plea, then after the 18 month period, the charges will be dismissed. By law, the entire event is wiped out. If you look at the Penal Code section itself, you will see that if you get a dismissal of the charge under this program, you are legally entitled to act as though it never happened. You can then say you do not have any convictions... and you can even say you were not arrested for the crime at all. It truly is a huge break for first-time, low level drug offenders. Getting back to your question, is it "with the DOJ" (Department of Justice)? It may be - at least some entries. The entry on your DOJ "rap sheet", at least as far as the arrest and possibly an entry of "deferred entry of judgment" may be there. But because of the way the section works, it is NOT a conviction unless you screw up the program and are sentenced on the case. A conviction is not final until after the sentence is imposed. In your case, you plead guilty, but the case was put "on hold" after that, so no conviction was entered. You do not have a "conviction" on your record. Your criminal rap sheet includes entries for arrests, convictions and even dismissals under the PC 1000 section. That way, law enforcement (particularly the Court and prosecution) will know if you've had a previous drug case, making you ineligible for the PC 1000 program a second time. To the best of my knowledge, there is no way to remove that entry during the pendency of a drug diversion program.

What is DOJ?