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Im sorry to be a dick, but in my experience, anybody who gets a federal indictment slapped on them is pretty damned guilty.

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Christ! I hope you never are asked to serve on a jury. Wake up.

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I clerked on a federal appeals court and reviewed dozens of criminal appeals. I currently work as a white collar defense attorney. I know tons of AUSAs in various offices. I know what Im talking about.

When I say that "most indicted people are guilty", Im not talking about ignoring the presumption of innocence or the government's burden of proof. Im talking about the fact that federal prosecutors, in my experience, dont charge people unless they have overwhelmingly strong evidence. Borderline cases dont get charged. State prosecutors are different--they tend to overcharge crimes, even if they know the proof is thin or absent.

This guy really needs the 5K1 letter, and the longer he waits to get it, the less likely he will be able to. He needs to get himself a good lawyer, and stop worrying about whether he will be able to get a job selling insurance.

By the way, for all of you know-it-alls speculating about what a background check can/will reveal, it's pretty simple. For industries like the securities industry where a Form U4 is required by federal/state statute, the employment check will include a fingerprint card. The employer will submit for a check against NCIC, and if the OP has been through booking at any point in his life, he'll come back with a hit--arrested for X, under indictment, pending trial. Simple as that. This is not a "call your neighbor" type of background investigation.

Finally, for those of you who seem to have strong opinions about what employes "can do", let me clarify a common misconception. Employers hire or fire whoever they want, provided they are not basing their decision on an impermissible reason. The class of impermissible reasons is very narrow, and includes only traditional 14th Am. equal protection classes and/or statutorily created classes. So race, religion, martial status, physical disability, age, etc. all are prohibited criteria.

On the other hand, an employer can get rid of you for whatever reason he likes, including reasons like, "I dont hire Democrats." Or "I think you're ugly." Or "You have bad breath."

Deal with it.