Felony And Misdemeanor Penalties Can Be Steep With Lifelong Consequences

The Dickerson & Smith Law Group regularly represents clients charged with criminal offenses. There are two main categories of criminal offenses: felonies and misdemeanors. Each carries with it a different level of severity in the punishment you could receive if convicted. A felony is any crime which is punishable by incarceration over one year and/ or a fine of over $2,500. There is no statute of limitations on any felony offense, so, if you are charged with a felony, you could be convicted at any time after the commission of the felony offense. Moreover, a felony conviction carries with it other repercussions such as loss of voting and firearm ownership rights. Felony convictions cannot be removed from your record and may lead to lifelong hardship in seeking employment and other privileges, so it is extremely important to retain an attorney to represent you if you are charged with a felony. A misdemeanor is a less serious crime with shorter incarceration and/or a lower fine than the felony threshold above. Under Virginia law, there is a one-year statute of limitations for misdemeanor offenses (with several exceptions), and thus, in most cases, one cannot be charged with a misdemeanor offense more than one year after its alleged commission. Felonies and misdemeanors are further broken up into “classes” or “degrees,” which denote their own lengths of incarceration and fines. Felonies are broken up into six classes and have an additional class of “undefined felonies.” The individual penalties and punishments are defined as follows:

Class 1 felony	Max fine = $100,000 Max incarceration = incarceration for life/death penalty Example(s) = murder
Class 2 felony	Max fine = $100,000 Max Incarceration = 20 years up to incarceration for life Example(s) = intentional crimes such as aggravated assault, arson, robbery and kidnapping
Class 3 felony	Max fine = $100,000 Max incarceration = five to 20 years incarceration Example(s) = malicious wounding, white collar crimes, drug crimes, tax crimes
Class 4 felony	Max fine = $100,000 Max incarceration = two to 10 years’ incarceration Example(s) = contributing to the delinquency of a minor, kidnapping, drug crimes and manslaughter
Class 5 felony	Max fine = $2,500 Max Incarceration = one to 10 years’ incarceration Example(s) = possession of cocaine
Class 6 felony	Max fine = $2,500 Max incarceration = one to five years’ incarceration Example(s) = reckless endangerment, violation of a court order

“Undefined felonies” – simply denote a crime not defined within the Virginia code, thus penalties and fines vary. Misdemeanors are divided into four (4) classes. The individual penalties and punishments are defined as follows:

Class 1 misdemeanor	Max fine = $2,500 Max incarceration = one year Example(s) = DUI, reckless driving, assault and battery, underage possession of alcohol, domestic violence, possession of marijuana (technically unclassified)
Class 2 misdemeanor	Max fine = $1,000 Max incarceration = six months Example(s) = driving on suspended license
Class 3 misdemeanor	Max fine = $500 Max incarceration = N/A Example(s) = possession of a Schedule V drug/narcotic and various types of property destruction
Class 4 misdemeanor	Max fine = $250 Max incarceration = N/A Example(s) = possession of a Schedule VI drug/narcotic and drunk in public

Do You Qualify For Record Expungement?

Many people do not realize that, despite defending themselves against a criminal charge and being found not guilty, the record of the charge remains public. Such a record can haunt you for years and make it difficult to obtain a security clearance, employment or certain licenses or privileges. This is true if you are acquitted or pardoned, the charges are dropped or dismissed, nolle prosequi is taken, or the state admits that you were wrongly convicted.

Do Not Wait Another Day To Get Experienced Defense In Your Corner

For further information on how we may assist if you are charged with a criminal offense, please email or call The Dickerson & Smith Law Group at 757-828-0031 to schedule a consultation today. View our frequently asked questions page.