Whatever the criminal charges against you, you may eventually be asked to consider a plea agreement. While the vast majority of criminal cases in this country are settled through some form of plea deal, you need to think long and hard about it before you accept one.
A plea deal – despite what you may have thought or heard – is the same as a conviction, and the collateral damage on your life can be significant.
A criminal record can haunt you
Most people who are charged with a crime are worried about going to jail and paying hefty fines. However, even once your “debt to society” is paid, the price tag of a plea deal can be prohibitively high. You may experience long-term consequences from your conviction like:
- Trouble obtaining employment: A felony record (and even some misdemeanors, especially if they involve theft, financial crimes or violence) can make employers hesitate to hire you.
- Difficulty securing housing: Landlords today usually run background checks on potential tenants, and you may struggle to find a place to live that’s both safe and affordable with a criminal record. In some cases, a conviction can even bar you from public housing, which makes your life even harder.
- Inability to get a professional license: Even if you never make another mistake again, you may find yourself shut out of your preferred career forever. Whether you want to go into real estate, the medical field or anything else that requires a professional license, you could be denied a license to practice because of an old conviction.
- Child custody issues: If you ever end up in a custody dispute, you can 100% bet that your prior criminal history will be dragged up by your co-parent – and it can affect your rights, especially if the charge was related to drug or alcohol use or an act of violence.
Finally, the courts tend to be hard on repeat offenders. If you take a plea deal today just to get your case over, you could end up facing enhanced penalties for another crime if you’re ever charged again in the future.
Plea deals are beneficial for a lot of people – but they are not right for everyone. This underscores the need for experienced legal guidance as you evaluate your options.