Federal Judiciary

United States v. Pender, No. 07-CR-874 (JBW), 2009 WL 1181052 (E.D.N.Y. May 1, 2009)

Pender faced an advisory Guidelines range of 135 to 168 months for his role in a crack distribution ring,but was sentenced "only" to 120 months imprisonment.  15 months might not sound like a lot of time in light of the fact that Pender is facing 10 years in prison.  But it is.  Indeed, my experience is that variances of even a month or two can be extremely important to criminal defendants -- Every day outside of prison is a good one.  And, moreover, my experience is that criminal defendants understand what they're up against when the time comes for sentencing, and are thrilled when their lawyers are even able to knock a few months off of a sentence based on the 18 U.S.C. 3553 factors.  So, use every possible opportunity to make the arguments necessary to save a little time.