In our last post, we discussed how federal courts have been reluctant to consider a defendant’s age when assigning sentences. Americans over the age of 50 comprise a large portion of defendants in white collar prosecutions. However, courts have been very reluctant to consider a defendant’s advanced age when making sentencing determinations and defendants like […]

Mauricio Cohen Assor was convicted on October 7 of hiding a $33 million hotel sale from taxation authorities. He is facing up to 11 years in prison at his December sentencing by U.S. District Judge William Zloch. An 11 year sentence is a long time for anyone to spend in a federal prison, but for […]

A federal judge vacated a man’s life sentence for a drug conviction. U.S. District Judge James H. Payne yesterday threw out the life sentence being served by Demario T. Harris, 30. An investigation into police corruption put Harris’s conviction in doubt. Demario Harris was convicted of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, and being […]

The 11th Circuit recently held that, for federal sentencing purposes, it is a separate offense to be a career offender under U.S.S.C. §4B1.1. In Gilbert v. United States, the defendant, Gilbert, had been convicted of a crack cocaine offense in 1997. Because he had previous convictions for possession of crack with intent to sell and carrying a concealed firearm, Gilbert was […]

A 2010 survey of federal district court judges conducted by the U.S. Sentencing Commission yielded some results that are very interesting to Atlanta criminal defense attorneys. The survey covered five broad areas: Statutory and structural sentencing issues Sentencing hearings Guideline application issues Departures General assessments 67.8 percent of the judges surveyed responded. The judges who responded presided over […]

Recent Supreme Court cases that affect issues of criminal sentencing: United States v. Comstock – The Supreme Court upheld a law passed by Congress that allows civil commitment of mentally ill federal prisoners who are sex offenders. The commitment may continue beyond the date of the prisoner’s scheduled release under their sentence. Carr v. United […]

Atlanta criminal defense attorney Marcia G. Shein recently spoke to fellow criminal defense lawyers on the topic of waiver language issues in plea agreements. When a criminal defendant makes a plea agreement, they typically waive some of their rights, such as the right to appeal the sentence imposed. Marcia Shein pointed out the recent decision […]

Attorney Marcia G. Shein spoke recently to defense attorneys at a continuing legal education seminar sponsored by the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (“TACDL”) concerning updates to federal pleas and sentencing issues. TACDL was formed and chartered in 1973 as a non-profit organization providing education, training and support to attorneys representing persons charged with […]