GETTING A REDUCTION OF SENTENCE AFTER IMPOSITION OF SENTENCE BASED ON SUBSTANTIAL ASSISTANCE

Many times clients and their families call our office seeking to get a sentence reduced after a sentence has already been imposed. In both federal and state court, it is very difficult to do unless the judge made a mistake in imposing the sentence, which is rare.

In federal court, a defendant may be able to get a sentence, that has already been imposed, reduced under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 35.  Rule 35 allows for the correction of any error in the imposition of sentence within 14 days, and if the defendant cooperates with the prosecutors, and also allows the prosecutors to file a motion to reduce a sentence based on the defendant’s substantial assistance within 1 year, or under certain circumstances, more than 1 year.

In order to take advantage of either Federal Rule 35 or State Statute 921.186, a defendant seeking to reduce a sentence based on substantial assistance will have to work with the prosecutors, and should have experienced legal representation to make sure the sentence reduction is properly presented to the court and in fact given. Both the prosecutors and the court have broad discretion under these provisions to seek any reduction in the case of the prosecutors, or to grant a reduction in the case of the court, and a defendant may not get a second chance if the request is unsuccessful.