Is there any way to get a Federal record sealed 18 Answers as of June 10, 2013

A conviction is on your record forever unless you got Youthful Offender Treatment or the record was sealed originally.

No.

Consult an attorney who practices "federal criminal defense" in the state where your record is.

Unfortunately because there is no funding for this, the only option is a Presidential Pardon.

I answered a similar question previously. The answer is below. In sum, you cannot seal a federal criminal record by writing to the sentencing judge, or any other method for that matter. There is no legal mechanism to expunge a federal felony conviction. However, there is a federal law (18 U.S.C. Section 3607) that authorizes expungement of certain offenses under the Federal Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 844). Expungement is available only to persons who were placed on pre-judgment probation under 18 U.S.C. Section 3607(a). Pre-judgment probation is when the judge finds you guilty but does not enter a judgment of conviction. If you do everything you are supposed to do on probation, the drug charge is dismissed and the record can be expunged. Representative Steven Cohen (D-TN) introduced a bill called The Fresh Start Act of 2010 (H.R. 5492) that would permit engagement of certain non-violent federal criminal offenses. Unfortunately, this is not currently the law.

Youll hear a lot of such false info in your life. Writing a Judge is not part of court procedure, his clerk will simply note in your file that you sent a letter, but the judge will not read it nor consider your request. No, there is no effective provision for expungement or sealing in the federal system. If you persist, be prepared to spend enormous amounts of money just at the chance to seal your record. The odds are against you because the federal courts have ruled that only in rare situations will the court seal a record-and I mean rare. You could write a personal letter to the President of the United States asking for a presidential pardon. Good luck on that if you arent a big campaign donor. If you have a federal criminal record, do your best to explain the circumstances in a light favorable to you when an employer asks. Write a summary of the incident explaining it from your point of view and attach it to your job application.

You can expunge and seal federal convictions under certain circumstances. We need to speak in order to better determine whether you would or would not be eligible for relief under the statute.

There is no way that I know of that a record of a federal conviction can be expunged or sealed.

Not sure about your question: whether you mean sealed or expunged. Generally, it is very difficult to seal criminal records, as there are a matter of public record. Depending upon the criminal conviction, you may be able to have your criminal record expunged; however, there are some conditions: there must be a minimum of 5 years passage of time AFTER your were released from probation, and during that time, you can not have committed any other crime (even a simple misdemeanor) any where.. Even in another state. The crime that you are trying to expunge also cannot be a crime of violence. ie, felony assault, domestic violence, rape, etc.

I'm not familiar with Federal Law in this area but I would imagine that the Federal Law provides for some kind of expungement. That would be a good question for the Federal Public Defender. You could also look at the United States Code. I'll do the same if you want to send me a reminder message.

There is no such procedure in the federal court system other than to retain a law firm to attempt to obtain a federal pardon.

There are no federal expungement laws, but it may be a remedy available in equity. There are some pretty strict requirements, and you would have to petition the court that sentenced you (more than writing a letter). You may want to consider consulting with a lawyer.

Expungement of a criminal record in Federal Court happens one of two ways: The court has discretion in special cases to expunge and applications made to the court. But they are not granted as a general rule but reserved for special circumstances. The second way is by a Pardon or clemency. There is an entire special process for a pardon and it takes a number of years. Years ago, there was discussion that a case could be open and the matter sealed. But it was my understanding that such is an expensive process and time consuming and thee needs a special reason such as job or career implications. Good luck!