Criminal Convictions Behind Them, Few Have Had Their Records Sealed

After his release, he said he had trouble finding steady work and many employers fired him after learning of his conviction. He worked odd, usually low-paying jobs as a tow-truck driver, a messenger, a plumber, a mover and as an unlicensed security guard before joining the now-struggling yellow taxi industry.

Now 40, Carlos, with help from the Legal Aid Society’s Conviction Sealing Project, has filed an application in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn to have his conviction sealed under a new state law.

He said he hopes the court will grant him the second chance he has dreamed of: “I want to do better for my children and myself.”