( CNN ) -- An undocumented student from Mexico who was arrested and held in a deportation facility after she was stopped for a minor traffic violation in Georgia was found guilty on Thursday of driving without a license . A jury in Cobb County , Georgia also found 22-year-old Jessica Colotl not guilty of impeding traffic , the reason police gave for pulling her over on the campus of Kennesaw State University . Conviction on the misdemeanor charge of driving without a license is punishable by up to a year in jail , said her lawyer , Jerome Lee . The conviction includes a mandatory minimum of 48 hours in jail , of which Colotl has already served around 45 1/2 , Lee said . Lee said that Colotl plans to appeal the verdict . Colotl became a lightning rod in the immigration debate last spring , when advocates for immigration reform said her case was a symbol of a broken system . On Thursday , Lee said that she had recently obtained a learner 's permit , which he said was grounds to dismiss the misdemeanor charge under Georgia law . `` The jury essentially refused to properly read the statute , as juries often do , '' he said . Colotl 's legal problems started in late March when her car was stopped on the campus of Kennesaw State . Born in Mexico but living in the United States since she was 11 , she could not produce a driver 's license , so she handed over as identification an expired passport from Mexico . She was arrested the next day and turned over to immigration officials . She spent more than a month in the Etowah Detention Center in Alabama . Friends came out in force and marched on campus in her defense . In May , she was released , and her deportation was deferred for a year , which will allow her to finish her studies . But she was quickly arrested on a warrant for the Cobb County Sheriff 's Office and released on $ 2,500 bail . `` I 'm just trying to live the American dream and finish my education , '' she said at the time . On Thursday , Lee said that other than completing college , his client 's plans for the future are unclear . `` There are so many variables in terms of what 's going to happen , '' he said , `` that it 's a little too early to say . ''
22-year-old Jessica Colotl became a lighting rod in immigration debate this year . The conviction carries maximum of 12 months in jail . Her lawyer says Colotl will appeal the decision .