The first thing to know about a federal plea bargain is that it is very different from a plea bargain you would encounter in a state court in California. In state court, most plea bargains are negotiated between the prosecutor and the defense attorney. In some cases, a judge might give an indicated sentence, which involves the judge offering a potential sentence in exchange for the accused pleading guilty.
For example, if a person is charged with a drug crime like possession of cocaine in state court, the person entering into a plea deal will have a good idea of what sentence to expect before pleading guilty. This is not at all the case in federal court.
Most of the time in federal court, if you negotiate a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, you both sign a 20+ page agreement with many terms and provisions. It is signed by both the defendant and their attorney. What makes it so different from state court is that you do not know what sentence you will get.
In the agreement itself, the U.S. Attorney and the defense attorney will agree to the offense level and will typically also agree on the defendant’s criminal history score. They will then plug into the federal sentencing guidelines table to draft up the agreement that says that the expected sentence, based on the guidelines, will be somewhere between a certain number of months or years.
There is no guarantee that the judge will go along with the sentencing guidelines
Because federal judges can issue sentences in excess of the sentencing guidelines, there is no guarantee that a plea deal will result in a specific sentence. This can be very nerve-racking for the defendant as they agree to plead guilty but do not know what the judge will do.
What happens after the guilty plea
After a defendant pleads guilty and signs the federal plea agreement, they then have to go before a federal judge for sentencing. It is likely that the judge is going to follow the sentencing guidelines for the agreed upon charges but there is no guarantee.
In the event that the judge gives a substantially higher sentence than expected, the defendant has already bargained away their right to a plea. For this reason, you need a federal defense attorney who knows what they are doing – even in a plea deal. They must know how to argue for the lowest possible sentence.
If you are facing a federal charge and are thinking of entering into a plea bargain, contact Chambers Law Firm at 714-760-4088 first so we can walk you through the rights you might be giving away and the uncertainties that could come with your guilty plea.
