criminal behavior felonious criminal behavior https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felony https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q178844 In the United States, where the felony/misdemeanor distinction is still widely applied, the federal government defines a felony as a crime punishable by death or imprisonment in excess of one year. If punishable by exactly one year or less, it is classified as a misdemeanor. The classification is based upon a crime's potential sentence, so a crime remains classified as a felony even if a defendant receives a sentence of less than a year of incarceration. Individual states may classify crimes by other factors, such as seriousness or context. Traditionally, a criminal behavior of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. felonious criminal behaviors felony