Do Federal Cases Have Mandatory Minimum Sentences? Chris Combs and Andrew Russek, lawyers at top criminal defense firm Combs Waterkotte, discuss the mandatory minimums for federal crimes, and the sentencing guidelines that influence them.
Interview Transcript
Scott Michael Dunn: And you talked about mandatory minimums, but Andrew, what is a mandatory minimum? And do these federal penalties and these convictions– what does it carry? What is the mandatory minimum?
Andrew Russek: A mandatory minimum is what a statute can allow for the least punishment. So a lot of federal crimes will say “no less than five years, no more than 40 years.” That’s a very common one we see on drug cases. But depending on what kind of drug you have and what percent, or what amount and what purity, you can get up to “no less than 10, no more than 40.”
A lot of sex crimes will have high mandatory minimums, and you don’t always see that in state court. And as Chris said a little bit earlier, you have to think in federal, unless you have one of these safety valves that an attorney can work out for you, you’re doing 85% of your time.
So in state court, when we’re talking seven years, maybe you do well in prison, you’re gonna do two. Federal court, we’re talking 10 years, you’re doing eight and a half on good behavior, if you’re lucky. And sometimes with a lot of these meth or fentanyl cases, if you go up for 10, that’s the minimum, unless your attorney can work out a way to get you a downward departure, first step, safety valve, things of that nature. So it’s more percentage of your time, and it’s higher time.
Chris Combs: And it’s just very rigid, right? I mean, there’s not– the room for negotiations in state court are infinite, whereas in federal court, they are not.
You’re bound by the sentencing guidelines, and there’s a point system, and you really have to know those sentencing guidelines and that point system. That’s why I said you better be good at math if you’re a federal lawyer, because you have to be able to calculate.
And we’ve had cases where the government’s gotten wrong: “Hey, we see your guy’s a level five, and that puts them in this range of how many months,” (they do months instead of years in federal court).
But you have to be able to really know that sensing guideline handbook, front and back, to be able to calculate where our clients may land, and make sure that the government has gotten it correct too, based upon criminal history and how you get these different points to end up on this chart of sentencing guidelines.
If you’re facing federal charges and need an expert criminal defense lawyer, contact Combs Waterkotte today at (314) 900-HELP or reach out online for a free, confidential case review. We will fight for your rights and freedom.
