What is considered worse in Virginia: felony or misdemeanor?

All states in America have certain regulations and rules that need to be followed regarding misdemeanor and felony. If the citizens do not abide by the rules, the state charges a penalty and a fine. The state of Virginia has its own punishments and penalties on misdemeanor and felony charges.

What is the difference between Felony and Misdemeanor?

Each of the states in America have their own system on how they are going to categorize the crimes, based on how serious of an offend it is. Based on that, the court deals with it and decides the punishment for the crime. The easiest way to differentiate between the crimes is how much time in prison the offender has to serve.

Misdemeanor Charges

Virginia takes cases of misdemeanor very seriously and follows its punishment accordingly. In the state of Virginia, four classes fall under misdemeanors. The most severe one is Class 1. The least is Class 4. If the offender is convicted with the misdemeanor charges for Class 1, he will have to serve about a year in prison and pay a heavy price of $2,500. If the offender receives the charge of serving jail time, they will be serving it in their city jail, not the state high security prison. If misdemeanor charges fall under Class 3, fine will be placed of $500. Those offenders that fall under Class 4 will have to pay up to $250.

Felony charges

Felonies are taken as a grave type of crime in the state of Virginia. The punishment for this crime can be to serve more than a year in prison. Felonies are viewed to be very harsh by the general public. Felonies can comprise of crimes such as burglary, murder, kidnapping or rape. The punishment in the state of Virginia can be as lenient as serving a year in jail or as harsh as being sentenced to life imprisonment. It can also be as extreme as being sentenced for a death penalty. If the offender is sentenced to jail time, he will be serving it in the state correctional facility.

The state of Virginia classifies felonies into six classes. Class 1 is considered to be the most severe. The punishment is being imprisoned for life and pay a charge of $100,000. If the offender is above the age of 18, the court can even sentence a death penalty to the offender. Murder falls under Class 1.

The punishment for Class 2 felony can lead up to serving 20 years of jail time and a fee of $100,000. The examples of crimes in Virginia that fall under this class can be causing physical impairment and brutally wounding someone.

Class 3 felonies may result in the offender serving five to 20 years in jail and pay around $100,000.  The example of a Class 3 felony would be to cruelly wound someone with the intention of killing them.

Class 4 felony crimes can lead to serving around two up till ten years of jail time and pay up to $100,000.  One of the crimes that fall under this class is pimping.

Class 5 felonies can also be classified as a misdemeanor. The judge decides the sentence and punishment based on the crime. It can be to serve one till ten years of jail time or pay a fee of $2,500. The crime for this class is battery or causing harm to someone.

A Class 6 felony is punishable by up to five years in prison or a fee of $2,500. The offender will serve from one to five years as jail time or pay $2,500.