Our client was charged in federal court with conspiracy to distribute over 12 kg of cocaine.
Our client had admitted guilt, but the federal government wanted them to cooperate against other people involved in drug trafficking. To avoid the client having to cooperate, we pled open before the judge rather than pleading pursuant to a plea agreement which would have forced them to cooperate with the federal authorities and or DEA.
When we went in front of the judge, the US attorney’s office asked for the maximum allowed under the advisory federal sentencing guideline calculation.
We successfully argued that our client shouldn’t be punished because he did not cooperate with the US attorney’s office and the DEA’s office, and that another defendant in the case received a lenient sentence because of their cooperation. We argued that our client should receive something similar because the client’s actions were similar to that of the cooperating co-defendant.
The judge agreed and our client received a reduced sentence from what the US attorney’s office was asking for.
