If you’re facing criminal charges, then you’re probably stressed, and for good reason. The effects of allegations of wrongdoing can be far-reaching, and the damage that can be caused to your life by a criminal conviction can be devastating. Here are just some of the ways that a criminal conviction could affect your life outside of threatening you with incarceration and fines:

• Employment issues: A criminal record can make it difficult to secure employment. Most employers ask if you’ve been convicted of a crime and run background checks to confirm. While individuals who have been convicted of a crime can certainly find employment, those jobs are typically harder to come by and less desirable.
• Housing problems: Most housing applications ask similar questions pertaining to criminal history. So, if you’ve been convicted of an offense, especially a felony offense, then your lease application may be denied, leaving you few and less favorable housing options.
• Professional licenses: A lot of professionals have to maintain a license in order to work in their profession. When they fail to do so, they can be let go from their position and find it difficult to work their way back into that area of practice. A criminal conviction can quickly lead to license suspension or revocation that can serve as a major detriment to your career.
• Educational opportunities: A criminal conviction might also limit your ability to obtain a higher education or get into a graduate program. Applications for these institutions are usually pretty thorough and may require you to disclose if you’ve ever been convicted of a crime.
• Reputational harm: This may seem small compared to everything else, but the damage caused to your reputation can be extensive. You may find that friends and family members treat you differently, and that you’re not taken as seriously as you once were.
• Family law matters: A criminal conviction can also have a tremendous impact on any pending family law issues that you may be facing, especially child custody. Family law courts often look at the character of each parent when determining what sort of child custody arrangement supports the child’s best interests, so a criminal conviction can paint you in a bad light that can be hard to recover from.
• Driving privileges: Depending on the type of conviction, your driving privileges may be suspended or revoked. This, in turn, can affect your employment, education, and even your familial relationships when you’re unable to travel to visit.
• Immigration: If you have legal immigrant status, then a criminal conviction could threaten you with removal proceedings and even deportation. In other words, life as you know it in the U.S. could come to an end unless you know how to aggressively defend yourself.

Protect your future with a strong criminal defense

As scary as those potential outcomes sound, you should take comfort knowing that you might be able to avoid them by building a strong criminal defense. Depending on the circumstances of your case, this may mean attacking witness credibility, suppressing the prosecution’s evidence, or arguing that the prosecution has failed to prove the requisite intent. You might also be able to escape the harshest of penalties by negotiating a plea deal, but you’ll want to be careful here to ensure that you’re getting an outcome that is right for you.

Don’t let aggressive prosecutors push you around. Instead, stand firm and fight to build the strong criminal defense that you need and deserve. To learn more about what you can do to protect your interests, please continue to read our blog.