The system used to determine the nature and length of sentences imposed on defendants convicted in U.S. federal trial courts is guided by the United States Sentencing Commission’s Guidelines Manual. In 2023, the U.S. Sentencing Commission adopted several significant proposed amendments to the sentencing guidelines. These changes may affect thousands of defendants currently facing federal trials or awaiting sentencing. They may also affect inmates already serving their sentences in federal prisons.
The sentencing guidelines serve as a framework for judges to determine the appropriate sentence based on the severity of the crime and the offender’s criminal history. In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the need to reform these guidelines to address issues of mass incarceration, racial disparities, and punitive sentencing practices.
Stechschulte Nell, Attorney at Law are among the few Florida criminal defense lawyers who obtained board certification to demonstrate their proficiency and experience representing defendants charged with crimes in both state and federal court. In our many years of experience, we know that only by staying fully informed about recent changes in the law can a skilled criminal trial lawyer provide the very best service to their clients. Stechschulte Nell, Attorneys at Law is here in Tampa to help you when you need experienced, knowledgeable, skilled federal or state criminal defense.
2023 Amendments to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines
The 2023 amendments to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines included a wide range of changes including some that will have a substantial impact on the lives of many defendants and federal inmates. The Sentencing Commission also implemented many technical adjustments that are beyond the scope of this brief article. For our purposes, we want to highlight the amended rules that are of primary interest to our clients.
Acquitted Conduct Not to Be Considered for Sentencing
One of the most significant changes adopted in the 2023 amendments of the Sentencing Guidelines is the provision that prohibits the federal sentencing judge from considering prior “acquitted conduct” when imposing a sentence for the current offense unless the conduct was admitted by the defendant during a plea colloquy or was found to be established beyond a reasonable doubt by a judge in the prior case.
The significance of this new provision is difficult to overstate because the use of acquitted conduct to enhance sentences has been a source of great debate and protest by the defense bar for many years. Now, if a federal judge wishes to use acquitted conduct as a factor in a new sentence decision, the judge must state on the record what permissible grounds entitle them to deviate from the recommendation not to use such information in sentencing.
Expansion of the Safety Valve Provision
Included in the sentencing guidelines is a provision that is referred to as the “safety valve.” The safety valve provision empowers a federal trial judge to depart downward from a minimum mandatory sentence for convicted defendants of certain nonviolent drug offenses and who fit five criteria.
The amended safety valve is now expanded to include not only defendants convicted in maritime offenses, but now includes defendants who do not have more than 4 criminal history points. Notably, the criminal history offenses that will be counted exclude those for what are known as 1-point criminal history offenses.
(1-point criminal history offenses include those for which a defendant was previously sentenced to fines, and/or less than 60 days probation, suspended sentences, or deferred sentences.)
The amended safety valve also includes those who do not have either a prior 3-point offense or a 2-point offense in their criminal history. A 3-point offense is one for which a sentence of more than 13 months was imposed, and a 2-point offense includes those for which a sentence of greater than 60 days, but less than 13 months was imposed.
Enhanced Sentences for Fentanyl-Laced Fake Drug Convictions
Fentanyl-related deaths have increased at such a rapid pace and throughout the entire country over the past several years. Many of these deaths were the result of fentanyl being added to a pill that the user believed to be conventionally manufactured pharmaceutical. These fake pills pretending to be other drugs are made by pill factories in such a way that they mimic the appearance of the familiar pill.
The new amendment to the sentencing guidelines provides a 2-level enhancement for any defendant convicted of an offense in which they represented or marketed as a “legitimately manufactured drug” a mixture or substance containing fentanyl or a chemically similar compound, and it is proven that they “acted with willful blindness or conscious avoidance of that fact.
Straw Purchasers of Firearms
The federal law prohibits the sale of firearms through “straw purchasers.” These are sales of firearms to a person who is legally permitted to purchase a gun but who is buying the gun on behalf of someone who is legally barred from purchasing or possessing the gun. While many of these straw purchases are carried out by people who do so regularly for the purpose of obtaining firearms for those to whom the sale is illegal, other straw purchasers are less culpable due to their lack of prior criminal history.
The new sentencing guidelines in 2023 include a 2-level reduction for straw purchasers with only 1 criminal prior point, that is someone whose prior criminal history involves only a less than 60-day sentence.
Ghost Guns
As technology advances faster than the law can, the recent development of 3-D printed guns and gun parts as well as other forms of firearm production created a population of illegal guns which bear no serial number. Because they are unnumbered, their place of manufacture and their movement throughout the country is impossible to trace.
In the past, serial numbers on firearms were sometimes obliterated to prevent tracing. Now, they can be manufactured without serial numbers.
The new amendment to the sentencing guideline provides a 4-level enhancement for a convicted defendant if they knew that the offense involved a gun that was not marked with a serial number or when they were willfully blind or consciously avoided knowing about the absence of a gun’s serial number.
Contact Our Attorneys
Understanding federal sentencing guidelines and their application to your case requires the expertise of a skilled federal criminal defense lawyer with many years of practice working with these provisions.
When facing the complexities of federal trials or sentencing, trust in our expertise to safeguard your future. Contact us today for knowledgeable legal support at 813-280-1244.
