a former boss of mine (from the UK= visa waiver) checked a few times in the visa form that he had not been convicted of anything

fast forward a couple of years, when he applied for permanent residence in the US...they went back to his visa waiver forms and discovered that there was an inconsistency between "I havent been convincted" and the new paperwork he was presenting

at that point everything went to hell

therefore I won't lie about anything to an immigration officer (Even if my answers can trigger even worse questioning, at least I can always say I have been truthful)