A felony is defined as a crime that is considered to be more serious in nature. In criminal law, a felony is a category of crimes that are often classified as the most serious type of offenses. Felonies can be either violent or nonviolent.

Each state has their own, different punishments for these crimes, but felonies are generally punishable by imprisonment for more than one year, in a federal facility as opposed to a local or county jail. There is such a thing as a felony expungement.