You don't want the felony dropped. Dropped means they drop the charge. You want your record expunged. In Indiana, the following are eligible for expungement:
1. A person whose criminal charges were not filed or dropped because of no probable cause, mistaken identity, offense not committed. Inidiana Code 35-38-5.
2. A person whose DNA profile has been included in the Indiana DNA data base and whose conviction on which the authority for inclusion in the Indiana DNA data base was founded has been reversed and the case has been dismissed. Indiana Code 10-13-6-18.
3. A person pardoned by the governor. See, STATE v. BERGMAN, 558 N.E.2d 1111 (Ind. App. 1990).
4. Persons charged with juvenile delinquency. Indiana Code 31-39-8.
Unless this business occurred when you were a minor, and that doesn't appear to apply, your only option is "3." So, you can apply to the governor and ask him to pardon you.
Otherwise, you'll live with the stain of conviction until the day you die. That, of course, is why felonies are regarded as infamous crimes. Ohh, and I'll tell you what I've told every one of the criminal defendants I've represented on appeal regarding pardons:
Unless you live an absolutely crime-free life, help feed the poor, do volunteer work, and become a shining saint, don't count on a pardon. And you shouldn't count on the pardon in 2007. I'd think you wouldn't even be looking at the possibility of parole until 2012. You robbed someone. That not just stealing, thats utilizing/threatening to utilize force to obtain their property. That is a crime that, had the person you robbed actually died, you'd likely be facing the death penalty for under the felony murder rule. You want to move on, but the debt to society is more than your probation. It is also the fact that you now must wear the stain of conviction until you prove to someone, namely the governor/parole board, that you really are now a decent human being, and thats not going to be an overnight process to prove.
