There’s a lot on the line in your criminal case. So, if you put forth a haphazard defense, you’re putting yourself at risk of facing not only serious immediate penalties but also severe long-term consequences that can wreak havoc on your life for years, perhaps even decades, to come.
The long-term consequences of criminal conviction
The consequences of criminal conviction are broad and far-reaching. The ramifications can include each of the following:
- Prison or jail time that may rip you away from your family and friends for a significant period of time. Even if you escape immediate incarceration, you may have the threat of being behind bars hanging over you as you navigate your probation.
- Costs levied against you for anything from restitution to court fees, probation fees, and expenses related to additional programming ordered by the court. These fees can quickly mount and leave you in a financial predicament even after you feel like you’ve already paid your debt to society.
- Driver’s license suspension or revocation, which can make it difficult for you to get to work or school, as well as visit your children and other loved ones. This may force you to rely on friends and family members for transportation, which can strain relationships.
- Loss of employment, which can have an immediate financial impact on your life, making it difficult to pay your rent or mortgage, cover your utilities, and keep food on the table. You may be threatened with eviction, repossession, and foreclosure as a result of these financial difficulties.
- Difficulty securing new employment because of your criminal record, which, in turn, can lead to financial difficulties. It can also quickly derail any upward trajectory that your career may have had.
- Professional license suspension or revocation that can upend even a well-established career, leaving you uncertain about your future and what your employment prospects are going to look like moving forward.
- Trouble securing housing due to a criminal record that leaves landlords feeling uneasy about leasing to you. As a result, you might end up with reduced housing options, and those that you can choose from may be less favorable.
- Negative implications for your family law case, including impacting any existing child custody arrangement. Your criminal conviction could leave you with reduced time with your child, which can negatively impact your relationship with them.
- Damage to your reputation among your family and friends, as well as harm to your standing in the community.
There may be other implications tied to your criminal conviction. So, it’s easy to see that there’s a lot on the line with your criminal case. With that in mind, you need to be prepared to fight to. Protect your future.
What can you do?
We know that this list of penalties is extensive and frightening. But we want you to take your case seriously, as that’s the only way that you’re going to be able to minimize or eliminate the penalties that are levied against you. The good news is that you may have strong criminal defense options at your disposal. You just have to educate yourself about them and aggressively act on them.
When you’re ready, you can work closely with a competent criminal defense attorney to build your case to try to avoid conviction. Hopefully, you can quickly close this chapter of your life and get back to your normal life as quickly as possible.