I am being charged with forgery, I have a back ground from 12 years ago which is mob action and battery what are the chances of me avoiding jail time

The good news is that your background is somewhat dated and appears to be for misdemeanor conduct (most mob actions are misdemeanors).  However, there's still not enough information here to answer your question. One factor will be the amount of loss in question based on the forgery. The higher the amount of loss, the greater one's chances of being locked up.   Another issue here is who the judge is. One truth about the justice system is that one can find different results and therefore different justice in front of different judges.  A really good criminal defense lawyer who has a handle on the law, good sentencing advocacy, and the judge is a must.    I hope this helps.