LEE COUNTY, Fla. - A man said he was wrongfully arrested and it has haunted him the past nine years.

Even though a judge dropped the charges right away, the man said his arrest is keeping him from getting a job.

Charles Lamy was arrested in 2001 and charged with grand theft. He was working for a trucking company in North Fort Myers at the time, and said his boss wasn't paying him, so he kept his work phone as collateral - that is why he was charged with grand theft.

"She looked at the paperwork and said, 'you're free to go' so I figured that's the end of it. I didn't know that the first time I go to have a background check, grand theft is going to keep coming up and keep coming up. I was never convicted, but I was charged, so 'that's good enough for us. We don't want him.' and I'm just getting sick of it."

One lawyer told us even if his arrest is erased, it might still show up on background checks.

WINK News was unable to get into contact with Lamy's former employer who had him arrested.