Especially if it's a white-collar crime like the one described. Then you just know it comes from a place of inherent dishonesty.
I'd rather hire the guy who got locked up for some raging violence in his younger years and has since mellowed with age, as one does, than some financial crook who will try some dishonest sneakery to fuck me over at the first available opportunity.
A better rule of thumb is how much sympathy can be garnered from a prisoner's class, race, and general appearance.
Take your average white American, for example, and how they regard people in prison.
Upper-middle class, white, looks a bit like them? "What a crying shame, all that wasted potential!" they'll say adoringly, ignoring the fact he killed two kids.
Poverty class, black, looks a bit scary to your average racist white? "That thug got what it deserved, glad it's locked up!" they'll snarl instead, about some guy banged up for the rest of his life for selling a few bags of weed.
I'd rather hire the guy who got locked up for some raging violence in his younger years and has since mellowed with age, as one does, than some financial crook who will try some dishonest sneakery to fuck me over at the first available opportunity.