I had a public defender in the UK once for a non violant crime i did when i was younger, the ******* moron advised me to plead guilty and that i would probably get between 18 months and 3 years in prison. Even with the idiot still defending me i managed to plead not guilty and get found not guilty. I did all the talking it was so embarassing! So yeah if you can get a loan and get a decent lawyer, get one.