Federal Sentencing

Skilled Representation in Federal Sentencing

The most effective defense attorneys consistently achieve negotiated pleas to offenses far less severe than those originally charged. Lawyers committed to the best standards of client service will continue to advocate for the lightest sentences available under the federal guidelines and the judge's discretion. In other words, your lawyer's skill can be measured by how much punishment you will have avoided due to effective representation in the plea negotiation and sentencing phases of your case.

Please contact the Houston-based defense team of Stan Schneider and Ned Barnett to learn how highly skilled advocacy in the federal sentencing process can benefit you. Our experience with the federal sentencing guidelines and understanding of the presentence investigation process can help ensure that you will be in position to take advantage of every opportunity to reduce your potential sentence.

Especially in Texas, where the state courts do not use a sentencing guideline system, it is important to retain the services of an attorney who is familiar with the general concept of matching a particular category of offense to an individual offender's criminal history. In theory at least, nearly all federal offenses will line up across a grid to match with a given criminal history score. The box on the grid will indicate a fairly narrow range of months, 19 to 33 months for example, and the sentencing judge's decision to sentence the offender to a term of imprisonment anywhere within that range will be presumed correct. Nonviolent or first-time offenders can expect a realistic chance for a presumptive sentence of no prison time at all under the guidelines, depending upon the specific offense charged.

Frequently, we can go beyond reading the grids in order to minimize your exposure to incarceration. We can argue for a lower criminal history score on the basis of the precise elements of an offense underlying a prior conviction or we can take criminal history into account in negotiating a plea to a given offense to make sure that your presumptive sentencing range falls on the low side of a dividing line. Our defense team also develops a strong presentation for the sentencing hearing that will give the judge as many reasons as possible to resist the prosecution's call for an "enhanced" sentence and stick to the low end of the range, or even choose a downward departure.

In the event of a sentencing mistake, our experience with the complexities of federal sentencing decisions indicates that the errors of the sentencing judge can often be reversed on appeal. We can present your appeal of sentencing errors to the U.S. Court of Appeals for any circuit in the country.

For highly skilled advice and representation on any sentencing issue in the federal courts in Texas or across the United States, please contact Stan Schneider and Ned Barnett in Houston.