Category: Blog

Facts: Moore pleads to a drug case but challenged the method of finding of drug weight. Moore plead guilty to crimes involving 21 U.S.C. 841.  One of those counts involved meth in his home. Before sentencing, the probation officer consulted a lab report from the DEA. The DEA report had an amount of the weight […]

Facts:  West was sentenced as if "Death Resulted" When he was Not Charged with Death Resulting West was charged with conspiracy to use interstate commerce in the commission of a murder for hire under 18 U.S.C. 1958. The base statutory maximum there is up to 10 years. If personal injury results, the statutory maximum goes […]

A now whole sentencing commission begins to consider changes to the federal sentencing guidelines. We will place all of our updates about the 2022-2023 cycle here for easy review. September 29 Update: Sentencing Commission Puts out Initial List of Priorities Long-time readers will know that the Sentencing Commission has been deeply broken for a number […]

Facts:  Repeat Offender Challenges Enhancement due to Overbroad State Statute. Owen was enhanced at sentencing under the Armed Career Criminal Act, or ACCA.  In the past he pled guilty to committing the third-degree offense of selling cocaine twice in Minnesota.  These were used in his ACCA enhancement. (Note: The Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) sets […]

Government’s Breach of Plea Leads to Vacatur of Sentence on Plain Error: Malone Facts:  Malone Plead Guilty to Charges After Alleged Bond Violations Malone was charged with charges of Fraud, transportation and sale of a stolen motor vehicle.  He was arrested and placed on bond with a condition that he not violate the law again. […]

On October 6, 2022, President Biden indicated that he was pardoning all individuals that were convicted of Federal Marijuana Possession cases. Here is everything that we know so far about Biden's Proclamation and how it will work. Biden Proclaims that Federal Marijuana Possession Offenses are Pardoned The news came out earlier today that all federal […]

In this episode of the Mailbag, we discuss the pending legislation that is before congress that can assist federal inmates and how much of it is stuck in the senate. We also cover what to do if an incarcerated person is denied the CARES Act and whether all of the incarcerated persons are going to […]

Less than six months ago, the U.S. Supreme Court changed long-standing law related to how courts should evaluate restrictions on Second Amendment rights to have firearms. That case was New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen, 142 S. Ct. 2111 (2022). In the wake of that case, defendants across the country are now […]

Cases involving Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Ineffective Assistance for Failure to Challenge Career Offender Issue on Remand: Cannady United States v. Cannady, No. 20-6906 (4th Cir. 2023) In 2015, Cannady was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and one count of attempt to distribute […]

The U.S. Sentencing Commission published the latest report concerning how well the guidelines’ criminal history computation predicts recidivism. About the Study (Published June 27, 2022)  In 2005, the Commission examined status points (addressed in §4A1.1(d)) as part of a broader analysis of how well the guidelines’ criminal history computation predicts recidivism. This report revisits the examination of status […]