Felony And Federal Criminal Record Pardons

A felony offense is a serious matter. A federal felony offense is even more serious. If you have a federal felony on your criminal record, you may find yourself serving a significant amount of prison time. You may also find it difficult to secure a job, place to live, or education loan after you are released from prison, even once your probationary period is over.

Federal Pardons

If you are in this situation, you may hope for a pardon. If you receive a pardon, the felony on your federal criminal record is forgiven. The felony will still appear on your federal criminal record, but any penalty you may be serving, including prison time, will immediately come to an end, and any mandated restrictions on ex-convicts will not apply to you. Receiving a pardon is definitely preferable to just serving one's time. Unfortunately, unless you are an extremely well-connected and powerful person or your case has received great public attention, you are probably out of luck. Federal pardons can only be granted by the President, and he doesn't give out very many, relative to the number of felony convictions on federal criminal records that come down each year. Luckily, there are alternatives for those with federal felonies, such as the Criminal Background Check Removal service, or CBCR, which are discussed in the alternatives section below.

Benefits of Federal Pardons

However, the reality is that if you have already served your punishment, there's a lot that a federal felony pardon won't do for you. It won't seal or erase your criminal record, so anyone can examine the public record and see your criminal history. It won't allow you to deny your record either, so if you are applying for a job, for example, and are asked if you have a conviction on your record, you will have to disclose that you do.

Federal Expungement

What you will really want, if you can get it, is record expungement. Felony expungement is much preferable to a pardon in most cases because when your record is expunged, it is as if the conviction never existed in the first place. Your criminal record is essentially thrown away. Unfortunately, expunging federal felony records is not possible in most cases. Under 18 U.S.C. 3607(c) only a person who is guilty of a minor drug offense under the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C 844) may have their record expunged. Other than that narrow category of offenses, federal convictions are not able to be expunged pursuant to any statute. If your federal felony conviction was not a minor drug offense, you may still be able to limit people's ability to view your record online with a service such as CBCR which is discussed more below.

Obtaining Expungement for Federal Felony Records

If you think you might be eligible for Federal felony criminal record expungement, you can find out by clicking here and taking the free eligibility check. It is recommended to use an attorney when dealing with federal cases. If a judge determines that expungement is merited, he will grant it. From then on, you can go forth with a clean record and do not have to even acknowledge ever having had a criminal record, even to potential employers or lenders.

Alternatives to Pardons and Expungements for Those with a Federal Felony

If you are looking for some quick results, a service like CBCR can provide some instant relief and even works if you have a federal felony. It takes about 40 days, but CBCR can remove all of your information from popular background check sites like BeenVerified, PeopleSearch and others. It is also the cheapest option of those mentioned here. You can read more about it at http://www.recordgone.com/criminal-background-check-removal.htm.