{"id":1233,"date":"2019-04-10T15:33:12","date_gmt":"2019-04-10T15:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/?p=1233"},"modified":"2019-04-10T15:33:12","modified_gmt":"2019-04-10T15:33:12","slug":"how-indiana-classifies-felony-offenses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/how-indiana-classifies-felony-offenses\/","title":{"rendered":"How Indiana Classifies Felony Offenses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you are facing serious criminal charges, especially ones\nthat are considered \u201cwobblers\u201d, meaning they can be a felony or misdemeanor\ndepending on your plea deal, presiding judge, defense lawyer, and more, it is important\nthat you understand just how our state classifies felony offenses. Continue reading\nto learn the Indiana classification system used for felonies, as well as, who\nto trust for aggressive criminal defense that will protect you from the maximum\npenalties for your particular charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Felony
Felony Criminal Defense 317-636-7514<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What is a Felony?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

A felony is any crime that is punishable by more than 1 year\nin jail, and up to $10,000 in fines, as well as, a long list of additional\npenalties, such as fines and community service. The least serious classification\nof felonies and are casually referred to as \u201cwobblers\u201d in the legal industry\nsince they can often times be reduced to misdemeanors with the help of an\nexperienced criminal defense attorney. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to 2014<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Back in 1977, Indiana adopted a legal classification system\nfor felony offenses using an \u201cA\u201d through \u201cD\u201d model, with \u201cMurder\u201d being its own\nclass offense. All felony offense in Indiana, then and now, are penalized with\njail time. But in addition to jail time, all classifications were also\naccompanied with the penalty of paying fines up to $10,000. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until 2014, the \u201cA-D\u201d felony classification system looked\nlike this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Murder: 45 to 65 Years in Prison
Class A Felony: 20 to 50 years in Prison
Class B Felony: 6 to 20 years in Prison
Class C Felony: 2 to 8 years in Prison
Class D Felony: 6 months to 3 years in Prison<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After July 1st<\/sup>, 2014<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

In 2014, the 2013 Criminal Code Revision went into effect in\nIndiana, thus changing the classification system for felony offenses from an alphabetic\none to a numerical one.  With \u201cMurder\u201d still\nbeing its own class offense, all felonies change from \u201cA \u2013 D\u201d to \u201c1 \u2013 6\u201d, with\na Level 6 felony being the least serious. Along with the system change, the\ntime in prison changed as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After 2014, the \u201cA-D\u201d felony classification system change to\nthis:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Murder: 45 to 65 years in Prison
Level 1 Felony: 20 to 40 years in Prison
Level 2 Felony: 10 to 30 years in Prison
Level 3 Felony: 3 to 16 years in Prison
Level 4 Felony: 2 to 12 years in Prison
Level 5 Felony: 1 to 6 years in Prison
Level 6 Felony: 6 months-2.5 years in Prison<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why the Change?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

The primary purpose of the 2013 Criminal Code Revision was to help separate the more violent crimes from offenses known as “victimless crimes”, such as drug and paraphernalia possession. In fact, these changes significantly reduced the penalties for possession of drugs and controlled substances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, if a person was caught with 3 or more grams of cocaine on them prior to the changes, they would have been charged with a Class B Felony, which at the time, was punishable by 6 to 20 years in prison. But after the changes to the criminal code, they would likely be charged with a Level 5 Felony, which is punishable by 1 to 6 years in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who to Trust for Felony Criminal Defense in Indiana<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Call Attorney David E. Lewis at 317-636-7514<\/strong> for aggressive criminal defense in Indianapolis, Indiana for your felony crimes<\/a>. Our law firm offers free initial consultations to discuss the best strategies of defense for your case. Avoid the maximum penalties for your misdemeanor or felony criminal charges by calling David E. Lewis, Attorney at Law, today!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Schedule a Free Initial Consultation, Today!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you are facing serious criminal charges, especially ones that are considered \u201cwobblers\u201d, meaning they can be a felony or misdemeanor depending on your plea deal, presiding judge, defense lawyer, and more, it is important that you understand just how … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1234,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[719,714,716,717,715,718],"class_list":["post-1233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-criminal-law","tag-felony-attorney-indianapolis","tag-felony-crime-lawyer-indianapolis","tag-felony-crimes-classification-indiana","tag-felony-levels-of-punishment","tag-indiana-felony-offenses","tag-jail-time-felony-indiana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1233"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1237,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1233\/revisions\/1237"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}