Cooperation in Federal Cases

California Federal Criminal Defense Lawyers

"Cooperation" with the Government happens much more often in Federal cases than in State cases. The arrest of a defendant may be made as a result of someone else's cooperation. A co-defendant may cooperate against a fellow defendant. The Government may be interested in a defendant's cooperation so that they can get a �bigger fish.� However it happens, the Federal Government makes extensive use of �cooperation� in bringing criminal charges against people.

Since Federal Court sentencing is governed by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines and mandatory minimum sentences, many defendants believe that trial is too risky and therefore cooperation is the only means by which they can avoid serving lengthy sentences in Federal prison. With cooperation, it is possible to achieve a substantial reduction of sentences .

However, it is not risk free, and the defendant should be aware of the following before cooperating:

• First, the Government must believe that the cooperator has abided by the terms of the cooperation agreement, including always speaking the truth. The first risk then, is that the Government will choose to believe that the cooperator has not always spoken the truth and therefore the Government's support for the cooperator at the time of sentence will be either neutral or negative.



• Second, cooperating with the Government means discussing your life, and your activities, with the Government lawyers. In these discussions, it is possible that the cooperator will reveal criminal acts as yet unknown to the Government. These criminal acts may well be taken into account when determining the Guidelines sentence from which the departure for cooperation will be calculated. In other words, it is possible to gain the benefit of cooperation in form of a downward departure from the guidelines, but, nevertheless, end up with more prison time than if there were no cooperation.



• In addition, if the cooperator actually testifies at trial, he will be thoroughly cross-examined by an experienced criminal defense attorney who will try to make the cooperator appear to be a liar. This lawyer and his co-defendant client may also know of criminal acts committed by the cooperator that the Government does not know about. If these come out at trial and the Government gets angry about the lies and hiding of information, the cooperation deal could be destroyed.



• Finally, cooperating with the Government against other people raises serious moral and physical issues. Morally, the Government may be asking you to cooperate against friends, family members, and business associates. Physically, cooperating with the Government against some people may be physically dangerous if those people are dangerous criminals that do not want you to testify against them.

Cooperation is an extremely difficult decision for most people. As with most things in life, there are no perfect answers that fit every case- cooperation may be helpful in some cases and hurtful in others. Each case is different. Each client is different. We understand this.

Contact a California Federal Criminal Defense Attorney at Lewin & Associates for a FREE CONSULTATION.

Toll free (800) 458-1488.