Federal Sentence Reductions for Substantial Cooperation.

The Possibility of Federal Sentence Reductions for Substantial Assistance

The federal court recognizes that knowledge has value. In cases that involve organized crime, they will use information from lower-level offenders to prosecute defendants further up the chain. In return for their cooperation, these defendants may see a reduction in their sentences. If you are facing federal charges, providing substantial assistance to federal prosecutors may be a wise strategy.

Substantial Assistance in Federal Law

Leniency for substantial assistance has been part of the criminal code since the publication of the Rules for Criminal Procedure in 1946. In its earliest form, the law allowed the court to offer leniency for several reasons include defendant cooperation.

The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 brought greater specificity to the idea of substantial assistance. This document created a quid pro quo arrangement where defendants could exchange information for lower sentences.

A further revision came from the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act. This law instructed prosecutors to use sentence reduction as an incentive to encourage the sharing of information. The substantial assistance motion became a weapon in the fight against the organized drug trade.

What is Substantial Assistance?