Federal Sentencing

Most federal cases end at sentencing. It’s the hearing that decides how much of your life the government takes — and it’s not a formality.

Federal sentences are driven by the United States Sentencing Guidelines, a complex system of offense levels, enhancements, and criminal-history calculations. Every point matters. A single enhancement can add years. A single successful objection can take them away. We know the Guidelines the way prosecutors know them — and we know where they bend.

But the Guidelines are only the starting point. Judges have the discretion to vary from a Guideline sentence. And persuading a court to use that discretion is its own craft. We build the case for a lower sentence the same way we build a case for trial: with evidence. Who our client is. What our client did (and didn’t) do. Why the government’s number is wrong. We challenge the calculation, contest the enhancements, and present the full picture of a life — not just the worst moment of it.

Our sentencing work has been featured in the Federal Sentencing Reporter, and we teach these strategies to other defense lawyers at continuing legal education seminars. When we walk into a sentencing hearing, we have already fought the sentence on paper—in objections to the presentence report, in sentencing memoranda, and in the record. 

The difference between the sentence the government wants and the sentence the court gives is measured in years. The government fights for every one of them. So do we.