Is It OK to Send a Application for a FOID Card if You Might Have a Felony ?
Question by L: Is it OK to send a application for a FOID Card if you might have a Felony ?
My brother wants to get his FOID card , he was charged with a Felony PCS in 2004 , went to court and ordered to drug classes , after completion of drug classes the judge said his case was dismissed.
Now he is not sure if he has it on his record or not.
The FOID application says he can be charged with a Felony if he fills out the application falsely.
If he checks NO , he never been convicted of a felony , it comes up he has , will they charge him with a felony ?
Like I said the case was dismissed so the avegage joe would consider his record clean.
He called up some state offices and was told they cannot give him his record over the phone and that he has to go in person to get a rap sheet.That seems easy enough but he cannot take off of work to do that.
So would they actually arrest him and charge him with a felony if he checks NO to being convicted of a felony which he is REALLY not sure about ?
He looks at like it saves him the pay from taking off work ,gas , and the amount they charge for the rap sheet.When he can just send in $ 10.00 for a FOID card and if the felony still shows up for some reason he will only be out $ 10.00 and if it goes through he gets a FOID card.
He is 29 in Chicago Illinois.
Thanks
Best answer:
Answer by Giordano
What? Consider on his record?? Nonmetallic Arianna, who consider on his record these days?!
Answer by KCL
I would say it is still on his record. And if they thin it’s bad enough they will arrest you. When it’s something like checking no instead of yes it’s not as bad as using the wrong address or name though.
“he was charged with a Felony”
important question – was he ever actually convicted of a crime? People on this forum tend to use “charge” and “conviction” interchangably. A “charge” is an accusation – you have a charge when you are accused (by the cops) of committing a crime, but have not yet been proven guilty. Once you are proven guilty – whether by plea or verdict after trial – you are convicted. It is the conviction that gives you a record, and an employer is not supposed to be able to grill you simply about an arrest.
Next question – if he was convicted, was he convcted of a felony? Many cases start out at one grade of severity, and end up at another (the direction is typically a downward one). Regardless of whether it’s a misdemeanor or felony, he does have a record – but it’s still important that he knows what he got.
“Now he is not sure if he has it on his record or not.”
This is actually a bigger problem than you realize. There are several possibilities when it comes to these drug programs:
The case may have been dismissed, but not sealed – as a rule (formalized in a state’s criminal procedural laws and other statutes) dismissed cases are sealed. Some diversionary programs (like drug classes) provide for dismissal – but require you waive your right to seal the case. You have no conviction, but the arrest, conviction and dismissal still show up on your rapsheet.
The conviction may have been dismissed…so he could plead guilty to a lesser offense, maybe a misdmeanor
Completely dismissed and sealed.
If it was to be sealed, then he has no criminal record, and can probably put down that he has no felony record.
Another problem is that there are different kinds of rapsheets – depending on who orders the rapsheet, different levels of history may or may not be revealed. There’s no way to tell whether a record of conviction that’s missing from one conviction won’t show up on another. Even if your brother ordered his rapsheet and it cambe back clean, this doesn’t prove that another rapsheet, run for a different agency, will have the same info.
Another problem is that the term “conviction” may have different consequences, and therefore different definitions. I’m from NYS – here, a prior conviction has two different consequences.
1) If you are charged with a new felony, and have a prior felony conviction on your record – the court may be legally required to sentence you to a state prison sentence should you be convicted of the newer felony. In this sense, the prior felony is not legally a felony until you are actually sentenced on it – even if he’s already pleaded guilty. So your brother would have no felony in that sense.
2) there are a number of crimes that can be elevated in severity based on your having already been convicted of a prior cime – some charges of weapon’s possession or unauthorized use of a car that are misdemeanor offenses can be elevated to felonies based on the defendant’s having a prior conviction. This use of felony can refer to somebody who has yet to be sentenced, so it CAN (but does not have to) refer to your brother.
“If he checks NO , he never been convicted of a felony , it comes up he has , will they charge him with a felony ?”
I’d suggest a trip to the law library – find an annotated copy of your state’s laws, then search for the sections dealing w/perjury and similar crimes. The annotated ed. of these laws will include small capsules of court decisions explaining how the laws would apply. FWIW, in NYS, I’ve seen cases charged against people who had similar issues (only their older convictions were not dismissed).
They wouldn;t charge him w/a felony unless the specific laws of your state make this a felony. I believe it would constitute a felony in NY.
“the case was dismissed so the avegage joe would consider his record clean”
Too bad the average joe isn’t the one reviewing those applications.
The safest bet is to check “yes” – these applications usually let you typically explain your answers. If they are denied, you can always appeal. On the website for FOID, you are advised to contact the “ISP Firearms Services Bureau at (217) 782-7980 for further information.”