A friend I met recently at a motorcycle rally was arrested there on felony drug charges. He is a real estate agent, and will lose his license permanently if he has a felony conviction on his record. I've heard that something called a “suspended imposition of sentence” might be worth checking into. Can you explain it further?











Answer: (1)
A suspended imposition of sentence is a once in a lifetime “get out of jail free card,” a suspension of the sentence, usually with some mandatory probationary time. A SIS cannot be requested; that is a disposition that only the judge can make, after reviewing your friend's case, the severity of the offense, and his background. During the probationary time, he must not commit another federal, state, or local crime. Once the the probation has been served, a Discharge Order is signed and your friend would be released from the Court's jurisdiction. His record for this felony is then sealed, and it will not appear on his record, and the “conviction” is not considered a conviction for anything other than law enforcement purposes.
Posted by Jan Hill on 22 Jan 2010