Many individuals facing federal criminal cases are often unaware of the pivotal role the judge plays in the sentencing process. While their attorney advocates for the lowest possible sentence and the prosecutor may push for the highest, it's crucial to understand that the judge ultimately holds the power to decide the fate of the sentence.

That's why, when someone enters a guilty plea to the charges, the judge will often specifically ask the defendant whether or not anyone has promised them anything.

Factors Considered By Federal Judge

If the answer is “No, your honor, no one's promised me anything,” then the judge is typically not going to accept the plea. Because the bottom line is the judge will decide what the sentence is after:

• they review a report from the probation department,
• receives written information from both the defense and prosecution, and
• considers everything related to the case.

Then and only then, will the judge decide what the sentence is.

Even though there are federal sentencing guidelines, the judge must review those as they relate to the case, but those are only considered advisory. The judge can go in the guideline range, below the guideline range, or above the guideline range.

Type of Charges and Enhancements

So, you start to get the idea that in a federal criminal case, judges are vested with a lot of power and authority.  The reality is that when you want to talk about what you might get in a federal criminal case, you need to look at the following:

• what are your charges, and
• what base offense level those charges give you,
• then you look to see if there are any enhancements related to your case that give you additional points.

Then, you'll get a total offense level and look at your placement in the sentencing chart.

Federal Sentencing Guidelines

The federal guidelines that the court must consider are significant as they establish a range for your sentence. Equally important is your criminal history, which can significantly impact your sentencing outcome.

Hopefully, you have a criminal history of zero, and then you'll be in the lowest possible category.

However, you have a criminal history, and now you put your attorney in a position of having to argue that maybe your criminal history should be lower because the guidelines overstate it.

Once you get there, you'll see you're in a range, and other things you have to consider are downward departures. These are circumstances that, if present in your case, can lead to a reduction in your sentence. For instance, accepting responsibility for entering an early plea gets you three levels off.

Also, if you played a minor role, that could get you levels off.  Also, if the government decides to give you a 5K departure, you can get levels off.  That's where you cooperate with them and they take points off your sentence.

Defendant's Criminal History

There's a lot that goes into the calculations of these federal sentencings. But I really think judges are going to look at you as an overall person a lot of times. They'll consider your actions, the impact of your actions on others, your remorse, and your potential for rehabilitation. These factors will influence their perception of what the appropriate sentence should be.

They'll look at what you did and who you impacted, and then they'll get an idea of what they think the sentence should be.

Then what I see is that all of these other factors are—I don't want to say manipulated; that's not the right word—but they're used to formulate the sentence.

In other words, they say, I think the guy should get this much in time — let's say it's two years.

So, then they're going to start moving things around so that your sentence is the equivalent of two years.  That's what I see happening in these cases.  It's not some magic formula.

It's your attorney making a powerful argument that you shouldn't go into custody for a long period in these sentences, looking at your criminal record, looking at what you did, and making a powerful argument on your behalf.

If you or a loved one is facing a federal criminal case, rest assured that you're in the right place.  With over 27 years of experience, I've been fighting for individuals like you to secure the best possible resolution in their federal cases.

I worked for prosecutors early in my career, and as a superior court judge for a period of time, but since 1994, I've been a federal criminal defense attorney fighting for people just like you to get you the best possible resolution in your federal case.