How long should a person wait before filing for a pardon?
At the federal level, the Office of the Pardon Attorney requires a minimum waiting period of five years from the date the sentence is completed. The date of sentence completion is the date the person is released from federal confinement. If the sentence was only probation or a fine, the date of sentence completion is the date the person was sentenced. People can apply for a pardon before the five-year waiting period has passed, but they must include a letter with their application that describes the “exceptional circumstances” in their case that justify a waiver of the five-year waiting period requirement. The Office of the Pardon Attorney will waive the five- year waiting period only in the most exceptional of cases. At the state level, every state has different rules for how long someone must wait before filing for a pardon. Typically, a person cannot request a pardon until some time after he has finished serving his sentence, been released from confinement in prison, or successfully
