Home > Research Legal Advice > Criminal Defense > In federal sentencing do they count convictions or actual charges?
Asked 3 months ago - Trenton, NJ
FlagI recently looked at the federal sentencing rules and guidelines and I do not understand where my point system where would be located.
The federal sentencing guidelines are complex and consider a variety of factors in determining what your guideline range should be. In terms of criminal history, the guidelines only score convictions, not arrests. However, the court at sentencing is free to consider your arrest record in determining the appropriate sentence.
Your criminal history category (I-VI) will be determined by the number of criminal history points (known as your criminal history score) that you are assessed pursuant to the provisions in Chapter 4 of the US Sentencing Guidelines. Most convictions are counted unless they are exempt for a particular reason or reasons, and most charges that did not result in a conviction are not counted unless there was an admission or judicial finding of guilt as a component of a deferred prosecution or pretrial intervention program. While your effort to participate in your defense is laudable, you should seek assistance from an experienced federal criminal defense attorney in determining your advisory Guidelines range: Chapters 1 through 5 must be considered together, and the Guidelines cannot be mastered overnight.
Joshua Sabert Lowther, Esq.
NATIONAL FEDERAL DEFENSE GROUP
jlowther@nationalfederaldefense.com
http://www.NationalFederalDefense.com
866.380.1782
To determine criminal history convictions are counted. The more difficult question is, "What is a conviction?" The Sentencing guidelines provide the answer. Only an experienced federal criminal defense lawyer is able to render an opinion in this regard. Disagreement with the Probation Officers interpretation is not unusual.
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