Update:
My friend went for his interview, and disclosed that he had been arrested in NY in 1985 for smoking pot on the street and that the case was dismissed. He was called the next day and told he would have to get some paperwork proving that it was dismissed. He almost paid someone to go get it but they wanted more money than he wanted to spend.
Yesterday, 10 days after the interview, he got an email from GE that he was approved! I guess they decided it wasn't that important.