Federal Career Offender Designation Can Be Challenged
Federal Career Offender Sentencing Laws
“I am deeply impressed with the gravity and wisdom with which most federal judges approach the responsibility of sentencing. It is a difficult, soul-searching task at best.”
What is Career Offender Designation?
A federal career offender designation operates to enhance an individual’s federal sentencing guidelines if they have certain prior convictions. Basically, if a federal defendant has been convicted for either a crime of violence or a drug crime, and that person has two prior conviction for certain crimes of violence or controlled substance charges, they are considered a career offender. Many federal defendants fear a career offender designation because their guidelines are dramatically increased..
An Example of a Career Offender Enhancement
Federal criminal defense attorney Jim Amberg recently had a case where his client was charged with possessing 28 grams or more of crack cocaine. The client had multiple prior state marijuana dealing convictions. Because of the prior convictions, his guidelines went from 57-71 months without the career offender designation, to a range of 188-235 months. This increase was all because of prior marijuana dealing, something that is now legal in Michigan!!! More on this client later.
The Career Offender Law
§4B1.1 of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines is where the career offender law can be found. Looking to the next statute, §4B1.2 defines the terms. Important, a crime of violence is defined as any offense under federal or state law, punishable by imprisonment of more than one year, that has an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of force against another. Crimes of violence also include murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault, forcible sex offenses, and other specific federal offenses. The term controlled substance offense is defined as an offense under either state or federal law which is punishable of a year or more in prison that prohibits the manufacture, import, export, distribution, or dispensing of a controlled substance. What is scary about these two definitions is that a person’s prior felonies may not have been very serious at the time, but become extremely serious with this federal career offender enhancement.
What Does Career Offender Do to the Guidelines
The sentencing guidelines are essentially scored with a simple number system. The higher the number, the higher the sentencing range. A career offender designation greatly increases this level. Additionally, a person’s prior criminal history is automatically moved to the highest category, level VI, which calls for a longer prison sentence.
Fighting Career Offender Designation
Just because the law makes somebody a career offender, doesn’t mean there isn’t a way to argue against it. The key argument that we have been successful with when dealing with federal career offender designation in the Eastern District of Michigan is that somebody with non-violent prior crimes is not a career offender. This argument holds a great deal of weight and comes directly from the Federal Sentencing Commission, who have found that the career offender enhancement is not necessary in light of the purposes of sentencing set forth in §3553(a), at least insofar as it applies to criminal defendants whose ‘career’ offenses do not include a crime of violence. And because the 3553(a) factors include 3553(a)(5) allows courts to consider sentencing policies from the Sentencing Commission, this argument is a legally powerful tool. That is if your lawyer actually spends the time to adequately brief the issue.
What Happened To Jim’s Career Offender Client?
After filing a lengthy and detailed sentencing memorandum discussing how the Career Offender guidelines was not permitted in the client’s situation, the Court agreed and sentenced the client to the mandatory minimum five years rather than the nearly twenty years in prison the career offender guidelines called for. If you or somebody you love is facing a federal case where career offender is on the table, call us today and let’s talk.