In a continued effort to refine the federal sentencing process, the United States Sentencing Commission has recently introduced a notable adjustment for zero-point offenders under a newly created Section 4C1.1 of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. This adjustment recognizes that certain offenders with
Read More
If you are facing federal criminal charges, understanding the federal sentencing guidelines is essential. The sentencing guidelines help determine both the range of punishments and the level of severity that a judge can impose when convicting a defendant. In this blog post,
Read More
If you have been charged with a federal crime, understanding the federal sentencing laws is essential. Sentencing laws are designed to punish and deter criminal behavior, and there are several important factors that determine the severity of your sentence if you are
Read More
With acquittal rates at historic lows in the federal system, sentencing has become the most crucial stage of the federal criminal justice process. In most cases, the pre-sentence investigation report (PSI) prepared by the probation officer and the sentencing hearing conducted by
Read More
Substantial Assistance Cooperation agreements are usually embodied in the text of a plea agreement and require the defendant to perform some act of “substantial assistance” to the government. Substantial assistance can involve providing information that will lead to the investigation and arrest
Read More
In a recent publication, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) found, “There is ample evidence that federal criminal defendants are being coerced to plead guilty because the penalty for exercising their constitutional rights is simply too high to risk.”
Eric Granitur, a former Vero Beach real estate and probate attorney, was sentenced yesterday in the Southern District of Florida (West Palm Beach Division) to twelve months and a day in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release.
One of the most important parts of a federal criminal case is the sentencing phase when lawyers argue how the Federal Sentencing Guidelines apply. Case in point: Marcelo Reyes Lopez, a former in-house lawyer for PetroEcuador, who was sentenced to 53 months
Read More
Michael R. Casey, 71, a fugitive for over four years, wanted on federal charges related to an alleged $20 million investment fraud scheme, had his initial appearance yesterday before United States Magistrate Judge Lauren F. Louis in the Southern District of Florida,
Read More
Last week the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the sentence of Geovanys Guevara, remanding the case to the Southern District of Florida (Miami Division) for resentencing. Guevara, of Hialeah, was convicted by a federal jury in 2015 of three counts of
Read More