Felon vs Convicted Felon: Everything You Need to Know
If you’re learning about criminal records or notice a felony comes up on someone’s background check, you may be wondering if they’re a convicted felon or a felon. You may also be curious about whether or not a felon and a convicted felon are the same thing, or if there is something else going on there.
The good news is that we can help you with this guide. We help you learn more about a felon vs convicted felon, and help you understand why the distinction can be more important than you think. Read on to learn everything you need to know below.
What Is a Felony?
First and foremost, it’s important to know what a felony is. After all, a felon and a convicted felon both stem from felony charges, so knowing what these crimes are can help with the discussion. Felonies, simply put, are reserved for the most serious crimes.
Unlike a misdemeanor, which only has a penalty of a few hundred dollars and up to one year in jail, felonies can cost someone hundreds of thousands of dollars and result in several years of jail time. Ultimately, it comes down to the nature of the crime.
Some examples of crimes that are classified as felonies tend to include:
- Murder
- Rape
- Sexual assault
- Aggravated assault
- Grand larceny
- Arson
- Robbery
- Kidnapping
- Trafficking
- Drug trafficking
- Burglary
- Forgery
- Driving under the influence (DUI)
- Embezzlement
- Tax fraud
These are only a few examples of crimes that result in a felony conviction, and you’ll find that some misdemeanor crimes can be charged as felonies if serious enough.
What Is a Felon?
A felon is someone who is convicted of a felony crime. Once they go through the judicial process and serve their sentence and then they become a felon, or a convicted felon.
This has some impacts once a punishment is over because some felony charges remain on a criminal record for life. However, if someone has their felony charges expunged or sealed, they won’t be a felon anymore.
Felon vs Convicted Felon: What’s the Difference?
You’ll hear both terms thrown around often, so what’s the difference between a convicted felon and a felon? The short answer is that there is no difference, or at least not usually. Felons are people who have been convicted of a felony crime, which makes them a convicted felon.
In fact, felon is just the loose term for someone who is actually a convicted felon. In other words, a felon is really just a convicted felon. We know this may sound confusing at first, so you can think of the term convicted felon as the appropriate legal designation for someone who was convicted of a felony crime.
On the other hand, a felon is more of a slang term that people will use to quickly refer to someone’s background.
How to Find Information About Felons and Convicted Felons
Since we’ve established that felons and convicted felons are the same thing, that means that you can find the information you’re searching for in the same place. The best tool for the job is CheckPeople. You’ll find an arrest records search tool that helps you find all available public records associated with a felon.
All you need to get started is someone’s first and last name, address, or even their phone number. Then, CheckPeople will comb through millions of public records across the United States to compile a comprehensive full report.
Within this report, you can view the crimes that someone was convicted of, along with additional public records, social media accounts, address information, and much more.
Felon vs Convicted Felon: Our Final Verdict
So, at the end of the day, there is no felon vs convicted felon. Instead, a convicted felon is the appropriate legal term for a felon, and the term felon is a way to state that someone has been convicted of a felony quickly. In fact, you’ll find that the two terms are interchangeable in most settings.
The only time that there may be a difference is if someone was charged with a felony crime but not convicted. In these cases, they’re not considered a felon or convicted felon until a guilty verdict is reached.
