Category Archives: Sentencing
Federal Sentencing Guidelines Explained: How They Determine Prison Time
Understanding how federal sentencing guidelines work can mean the difference between years in prison or a reduced sentence. If you’re facing federal criminal charges in Dallas or anywhere in Texas, knowing how these guidelines affect your case is critical to building a strong defense strategy. For how these guidelines translate into real outcomes, our plea…
Less Time for Federal Drug Crimes: When Safety Valve Defense Circumvents Mandatory Minimum Sentences Under Federal Law
For how a plea and a trial compare on real outcomes, by district and charge, see our plea deal versus trial calculator. Congress has passed mandatory minimum sentences for certain federal drug crime convictions, but it is possible to serve less time with the Safety Valve defense. Here’s how that works. What is a crime…
Plea Bargaining and Making Deals in Federal Felony Cases: Criminal Defense Overview
In both Texas prosecutions and federal criminal matters, many – if not most – arrests do not end up as a criminal conviction with formal sentencing after a full trial before a judge or jury, but instead are resolved out of the courtroom in what is called “plea bargaining.” This involves attorneys representing both the…
Punishing Defendants for Exercising Their Right to Trial
Criminal defense attorneys practicing here in Texas, both in state and federal court, know all too well that it is a common practice for the government to punish defendants for exercising their rights – especially their right to a trial. This is true despite the clear constitutional right to trial found in the Sixth Amendment…
5K1.1 Motions and Substantial Assistance: Reducing a Federal Sentence by Cooperating
In the federal system, cooperation is the most common way a defendant earns a sentence below the advisory guideline range, and in some cases below a mandatory minimum. That reduction comes through a substantial assistance motion. The single most important thing to understand at the outset is this: the government controls the motion. A federal…
Plea Deal vs. Trial in Federal Court: Odds, Sentences, and the Trial Penalty by District
How often do federal defendants actually go to trial, how often do they win, and how much longer is the sentence after a trial than after a plea? This tool draws on the federal courts’ own case records to show the plea, dismissal, trial, and acquittal rates and the median prison sentences for every U.S….
The Top Federal Felony Charges That Come With Mandatory Minimum Sentences: New USSC Report
The United States Sentencing Commission (“USSC”) recently published new information regarding mandatory minimum sentences in federal felony charges. Read, United States Sentencing Commission Quick Facts Mandatory Minimum Penalties (FY 2024). What does this mean for criminal defense lawyers as well as federal prosecutors? And, importantly, how does this impact those who are being investigated, charged, convicted,…
Defense Mitigating Factors: Reducing Sentences in Federal Cases
Mitigation in Sentencing: October 2024 USSC Primer for Federal Criminal Defense Our previous article focuses upon the importance of sentencing considerations in any federal criminal defense matter. Particularly, how it is critical for defendants and their loved ones to know that the prosecution will have a number of “aggravating factors” to argue as reasons to…
How Prosecutors Try to Maximize Punishment: Aggravating Factors in Federal Sentencing
October 2024 USSC Primer Provides Guidance on Application of USSG §3B1.1 It’s all about the trial if you watch movies, TV shows, or YouTube true crime podcasts. But that’s not reality for those facing federal felony charges. Evidentiary sentencing hearings are a huge battleground for most federal defendants. Criminal lawyers defending people who are being…
USSC Limits (But Does Not End) Use of Acquitted Conduct in Federal Sentencing
On April 17, 2024, the United States Sentencing Commission (“USSC”) announced that after an unanimous vote of the bipartisan group, the United States Sentencing Guidelines (“USSG”) will change regarding how a past acquittal in federal court can be used in a subsequent federal matter to calculate a sentence under the USSG. For details on acquitted…
