What is a Felony

Felony are criminal offenses which a person may have committed where the punishment is for a year or more, or the person has been sentenced to death. A person who has been convicted is called a felon. The term 'felony' has its origin in the English common law. In the past, felonies were crimes wherein the goods and land of a convicted person is confiscated. It's quite common for people to confuse between misdemeanor vs. felony, but there's a difference. If the court punishes a person for exactly a year or less, it's called misdemeanor, and in case the prison term exceeds a year, it's called felony. The charges under which a person can be declared a felon are possession of heroin or cocaine, grand larceny, armed robbery, rape and murder. Once you have got an idea of what is a felony, let's move on to the classification of felony. Classification depends on the duration of sentence and that depends on the severity of crime.

Felony Classifications

There are different felony types, and depending on the gravity of the crime committed, a person is punished accordingly. Felony can be classified into different classes - Class A to Class I felony charges. As per the Class A felony, a person may be imprisoned for life, depending on the severity of the crime. Crimes like murder and first degree intentional homicide come under this class.

Crimes like kidnapping, first degree sexual assault, conspiracy, first degree reckless homicide and second degree intentional homicide come under Class B felony charges. If convicted, a person may be imprisoned for a maximum period of 60 years.

If a person has been convicted of Class C felony, he or she has to pay a fine of a maximum of US $100,000 or imprisoned for maximum of 40 years, or both. Crimes like vehicular homicide while intoxicated, robbery, arson, kidnapping and second degree sexual assault comes under this class.

What is a felony classification for Class D felony charges? Crimes such as solicitation of a child, child enticement, vehicular homicide while intoxicated, felony vehicular homicide and felony drunk driving comes under this category. Class D charges carry a maximum imprisonment term of 25 years or a fine of US $100,000 or both.

Class E felony charges carry a fine or US $50,000 or imprisonment term of maximum 15 years or both. Burglary and bodily harm comes under this class.

Crimes like theft, stalking, sexual exploitation and failure to prevent sexual exploitation of a child comes under Class F felony charge. Under this category, a person may be imprisoned for a maximum of 12½ years or a fine of US $25,000 or both.

Class G felony charges include theft, embezzlement, negligent vehicular homicide and negligent homicide. As per the law, a person convicted of these crimes may be imprisoned for maximum of 10 years or a fine of US $25,000 or both.

As per the law, Class H and I felony charges carry maximum imprisonment term of 6 and 3½ years or a fine of US $10,000 or both respectively. Crimes like stalking, embezzlement, etc. fall under Class H felony, while substantial bodily harm and child pornography comes under Class I felony charges.

So these were felony examples along with the classification of the crimes committed. You can get in touch with a felony lawyer in your locality, so that you know more about the charges in each class of charges. There may be slight changes in the rules of different states, but the basic classification is the same. Some states may include some other crimes within these categories while others may enhance the punishment under each class.