When it comes to federal sentencing, certain non-violent drug offenders have an opportunity to receive a more lenient sentence through the application of the “Federal Safety Valve.” This provision allows eligible defendants to bypass mandatory minimum sentences and provides them with a
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The FIRST STEP Act (“Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act”) was signed into law by President Trump on December 21, 2018. As with any new legislation, there are many questions federal criminal defendants have about First Step and
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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
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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
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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.”