FEDERAL SENTENCING - MAKING A PLACEMENT REQUEST : Federal Sentencing Expertise

FEDERAL PRISON: SENTENCING AND PLACEMENT – THE PROCESS

The Statement of Reasons (SOR), The Judges Reasons for Their Sentence

The Presentence Report (PSR),
The content was mostly provided by you for your Interview with the court’s representative, the Probation Officer. They will use the information developed from the Presentence Interview and do their Investigation, finally drafting the official Presentence Report – The Inmates Bible. If everything is perfect, it will include your Personal Narrative along with all of your biographical background, and be submitted to the court by your Probation Officer.

The Judgment and Commitment Order (J&C)

Before your hearing, your Narrative was read by your Judge.
This prompted your Allocution with the Judge – which you ‘were’ prepared for.
The result: possibly a Departure from the Guidelines. At this point,
Your attorney now requests placement in a facility that has “programs” that would meet your needs, for example, RDAP. The judge could agree.
- Now is the time for your attorney to make the request for just ‘1’ BOP Facility that meets your needs (Example Packet–Alderson), and again the Judge may agree.
- Finally, “Your Honor, if it is ok with the court if the BOP cannot make that placement, would it be possible for them to write the court as to why they were unable to do so, your honor?” Thank you.
Finally, The BOP determines the Caveat, how and where you are finally placed – This Is Their Domain.
- Bed availability,
- Faith-based needs,
- Security designation,
- Programmatic (FSA) needs,
- Mental and medical health needs,
- Recommendations of the sentencing court (They do make a conscious effort (75%) to do this),
- Other security concerns of the Bureau of Prisons,
- Placing the inmate in a facility as close as practicable to their primary residence, and to the extent practicable, within 500 driving miles of that residence.

If You Suspect You’re The Target of a Federal Investigation | Before The Presentence Interview (PSI) | After The PSI – But Before The Sentencing Hearing | After Sentencing or You’re Already Incarcerated | There Are Still Things We Can Do

For a personal, one-on-one call with me to discuss your current issue, or that of a loved one, give me a call (240.888.7778). If I am unable to answer, please leave me your name, number, and a brief message, as I personally make every effort to return all of my calls – that same day. Marc

We are not Attorneys, you need legal representation.

PREPARATION

I) Your Presentence Interview provided the content for the comprehensive Presentence Report – which is now in front of the Judge. Your Personal Narrative is now “on the record,” as it is part of The Presentence Report.

II) Your Biographical Identification Data – provided in your Presentence Interview Investigation, will influence your placement and sentence length. Additional components include;

1. Comprehensive Medical, Mental, and Psychiatric Histories including all hospitalizations.

Should a Medical, Psychiatric, or Psychological consult result in a diagnosis that impacts 18 U.S. Code § 3553, a request that those physicians appear at your sentencing hearing is a must, as the judge will more than likely want to question them.

2. Your First Step Act Programming needs are based on your history,

RISK ASSESSMENT TOOL (PATTERN), has 17 Risk Factors
CRIMMINOGENIC RISK ASSESSMENT TOOL, (SPARK-13), which has 13 Risk Factors
Together yield programs that will be suggested for you to take – so take them. Every program or class gets you that one step closer to home.

2a. Medication Needs, – The BOP has 3 Tiers:

On Formulary (Medications that are available),
Non-Formulary (Medications that are available – but whose usage is discouraged by the BOP, and therefore have a lengthy pre-authorization process.
- Obtaining the current treating physician’s input is helpful in reviewing the BOP list before the Presentence Interview and Sentencing Hearing, then
- getting a prescription and physician note specifying its requirement to maintain your current treatment plan, and standard of care in the community.
The Medication Is Just Not Available: Here it is critical that the current treating physician be given enough time to review the entire BOP formulary list. Should there be no similar equivalent medications, requesting that the treating physician attend the sentencing hearing to answer questions from the court, is almost a must, as this concerns the patient’s life and “standard and continuity of care.”

3. Personal and biographical history, also includes copies of: Education – the highest level achieved.
4. Military Service: Branch / Discharge Type / Highest Rank / Decorations – Awards
5. Married / Single / Widowed / Divorced, children
6. Employment: Are you or were you working? Describe
7. Then, questions regarding extended family…
8. Drug Abuse: 1st) within the last 12 months prior to arrest, 2nd) Over-the-counter (OTC) and alcohol does count – all must be included (with applicable documentation) in your Presentence Report
9. Criminal History Score or Previous Criminal History: The attorney will have determined if this is applicable.
10. Existing detainer?

III) REENTRY PLANNING, To reduce Your Time Incarcerated,

Your 1st Unit Team Meeting may start off as we prepare you, but if they are short with you, the two salient points I’d jump into:

Financial Responsibility Plan: here, “I would like to participate”, is this $0.00, OK per month?
- As of 2/2023, it is possible that the BOP may now be expecting a significantly larger contribution, so our recommendation is not to keep a large amount of money in your commissary account.

Request to take the Risk Assessment Survey as you have read it would be helpful for me to learn more about myself and improve.

IV) BEFORE THE SENTENCING HEARING, APPARENTLY, YOUR NARRATIVE WAS READ BY THE JUDGE
This prompted (as expected and hoped for) your Allocution between you and your Judge – which you were ‘prepared’ for.
The result: a Departure Below the Guidelines.
Next: your attorney requested placement in a facility that had “programming” to meet your needs. The judge agreed!
As a follow-up; your attorney requested just ‘1’ BOP Facility that met those needs (Example Packet–Alderson), your Security Level, and History Score, and again the Judge Agreed.
Finally, “your honor, if it is ok with the court if the BOP cannot make that placement, would it be possible for them to write the court as to why they were unable to do so, your honor?” And thank you.

Now starts the habit of writing down everything that you do in an organized softback journal or daily logs from Amazon, this is an important habit you need to master. Why? This is an example of why You Need To Document Your FSA Credits. In this law case, the petitioner may have had inaccurate/incomplete records, The BOP may deny his chance of getting FSA credit for his 365 days of ETC. This is why I encourage the habit of “daily journaling”everything, including FSA Programs, Books Read, and meetings with Case Managers.

- FSA classes, books read (non-fiction), exercise, everything, as this will begin to develop into something that shows Incremental Improvement.
- All meetings with staff, and case managers: day-date-time-topic.
- “Incremental Progress“, which is what the BOP Case Managers measure, and
  - Each FSA class will have a review of what you learned that day/week and the effort that the teacher put into that session.
  - *As you have scheduled books to read coming in, you’re writing includes: why you choose ‘that author’, a brief book report, and if there were LIFE TAKEAWAYS – what were they.
  - Your Case Manager considers it a success if you provide it! They may get a promotion – you may gain their respect.

For your next meeting with your Unit Team/Case Manager discuss that you have a reentry plan – you have been working on, and at your next meeting you would like to show them, and leave them with a copy from your paperback. You’re smart, offer to teach a class, but have a course schedule curriculum ready to be reviewed. Then if it is accepted, it will look good for you, but also Great For Your Case Manager and Unit Team. FSA Class: On each Follow-up visit: relate that teacher Mr/Mrs was a Real Help! I learned a lot, such as:__________________________

*Start a book reading project, and after each one, write a short report answering these questions:

Why did I read the book?
What did I learn from reading the book?
How will the book contribute to my success upon release?
Then – keep updating your records (and Reentry Plan) for subsequent Case Manager meetings.
Remember: As you are improving (on paper), in the eyes of your Case Manager and their employer (BOP) – they look good, and if they Look and Feel Good => You May Too, and in the end – have your Unit Team Advocate for your early release!

IV) To reduce your time, stay away from disciplinary hearings and infractions. Read your facility’s “Admissions and Orientations” Handbook Section on Discipline.

V) How and where you are placed is determined by the BOP – This Is Their House

The final factors that determine your placement – are based on their “Policies and Procedures“:
• bed availability,
• faith-based needs,
• security designation,
• programmatic (FSA) needs,
• mental and medical health needs,
• recommendations of the sentencing court,
• other security concerns of the Bureau of Prisons,
• placing the inmate in a facility as close as practicable to their primary residence, and to the extent practicable, within 500 driving miles of that residence.

VI) Five security levels: MINIMUM, LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH, and ADMINISTRATIVE

• Those in Minimum or Low, for the most part, do not want to cause trouble as that could: 1st) increase their time in prison, and 2nd) put them back into a higher security level facility.

• Part of the Administrative is The BOP Federal Medical Centers.