Federal Sentencing Guidelines

Los Angeles Federal Defense Attorneys

The creation of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines and the increased use of statutory mandatory minimums for sentencing in Federal criminal court have dramatically affected what it means to be accused of a crime in Federal Court.

Federal Judges no longer have significant discretion in sentencing of criminal cases, but instead are bound by a set of rules that attempt to reduce sentencing in criminal cases to a mathematical formula.

In broad terms, here is how it works:

Each Federal Crime is given a base "offense level" according to a determination of its seriousness. The lower the "offense level", the less serious the crime.

Once you have determined the "base" offense level, a wide variety of other guidelines serve to add or subtract to the offense level. For example, the greater the quantity of drugs involved in a controlled substance case, the greater the increase from the base offense level, and the greater the amount of money involved in a fraud, the greater the increase from the base level. On the other hand, certain factors may serve to decrease the offense level. This is called a downward departure.

Once you have determined the offense level, you must then determine the criminal history category of the person in question. A number of categories exist from no criminal history to an extensive criminal history.

Once you have determined the offense level and criminal history category, you-cross reference the two on a chart provided with the Guidelines. At the intersection of the offense level and criminal history category you will find a range of months from which the judge may not normally deviate. (One major exception to this occurs when there is cooperation by the defendant.)

Regardless of what the Guidelines say, there are also statutory mandatory minimums that might apply in any given case. For example, in certain drug cases, the Guidelines might suggest a relatively minimal sentence possibility, but there might be a mandatory minimum of five or ten years. As a general rule, but not in all cases, when there is a conflict between the Guidelines and a statutory minimum, the statutory minimum will apply.

In many cases, the Guidelines and mandatory minimums create results which appear extremely harsh. Federal Judges have complained bitterly that they are forced to impose sentences that sometimes seem patently unfair and inappropriate.

In Federal Law, there is an enormous body of broad crimes. The same criminal act or acts can often be charged a variety of ways under a variety of criminal statutes. By simply charging one crime as opposed to another for the same act, the prosecutors can change the Guidelines range of potential sentence enormously. A good Federal Criminal Defense Attorney can often times work out with the Assistant U.S. Attorney a creative method for minimizing the sentence for his client based on getting the right crime charged.

The Federal Sentencing Guidelines are an extremely complex group of rules, and, given the stakes, one can imagine the legal battles that occur over interpretations of the individual guidelines and how they apply or do not apply to a given case. Creative, legally supportable Guideline arguments can save you years and years in prison.

To read the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, go to www.ussc.gov.

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

Toll free (800) 458-1488.