Pardons for Federal Offenses

Recently, a client wanted to have a serious discussion about having a pardon.  Many times the answer is unless you know the President personally, you don’t have a chance.  However, that is not necessarily the case.  Each year the average President receives XX applications for pardon.  Technically, a presidential pardon is a right granted to…

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Sentencing Advocacy

What makes a good sentencing memorandum? The defense sentencing memorandum is the cornerstone of advocacy for a rigorous defense at sentencing.  This is because, admittedly many Judges already have an idea of the sentence they will impose by the time the hearing arrives.  By the time of the hearing, the Judge has already read the…

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Why hire an attorney for a federal sentencing?

Years ago, I had a client place me on retainer (as he knew he was being investigated and wanted to have me lined up in case he was arrested).  He thought the case would be a state case, but it turns out federal law enforcement had been following him for a while and the case…

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