The United States Sentencing Commission is responsible for compiling sentencing statistics for certain federal crimes. This post reviews this report for criminal tax cases in 2017.
The state system provides for more lenient sentences on child pornography cases when compared to the federal system. However, state prosecutors are removing this edge through the use of motions to stack sentences. This blog discusses the use of stacking motions in the state system for child pornography prosecutions.
The child pornography statute requires the government to prove the defendant was in knowing possession. This element is crucial in defending clients who accidentally download contraband through the use of unregulated peer to peer networks. This blog looks at the knowledge requirement, and the forensics needed to effectively negate the knowledge element.
The criminal tax loss takes center stage in any federal tax sentencing. This post goes through the ways tax losses are calculated in federal court, and the need for a tax loss calculation in any criminal tax defense.
The guideline range is the starting point for sentencing a criminal defendant. However, there are multiple avenues at a defense attorneys disposal to argue for a sentence below the recommended range. This article examines the commonly used tactics to get the least severe sentence for a federal client.
In 1987, the United States Congress passed the first sentencing guidelines to end the sentencing disparity seen throughout the federal system. These guidelines stripped the district court of most of their discretion in sentencing federal criminal defendants. This post looks at the 2016 Sentencing Guidelines with a focus on criminal tax and child pornography cases.