STEP 1

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
PROBATION AND PRETRIAL SERVICES

How well you are prepared for your Presentence Interview, may affect your sentence and eligibility for specific Bureau of Prison programs. Biographical Background – Identification Data,

• Mental/Emotional Health, and Physical Health
• Substance Abuse
• Education, Vocational and Other Skills and Military Career
• Employment
• Acceptance of Responsibility
• Criminal History

For each client, we create an individual client profile or history.

Once you’ve realized you are the target of an FBI Investigation, you need an attorney.  First start interviewing (Look for 12/23/2022, Take Ownership of Your Defense –), and ask questions, until you are comfortable. This is a must because you two are figuratively going to war, and you need to work as a team – as such if you have an idea, your attorneys should give it consideration, and You Too NEED To Be Honest with them regarding the events as they occurred. Believe me, I thought I was, but years later in hindsight, I wasn’t.

STEP
2

STEP 3

I can say this (although I didn’t believe it at the time), Your Time in Prison Is TEMPORARY…

It doesn’t matter how long (stay with me) because, there is the ability for you to Self-Advocate, in essence, shorten your sentence through The First Step Act, The Second Chance Act, and Cares Act (albeit this is a bit harder as it was tied to COVID by Presidential Order, and it may be cut short in 6/10/2023), but my go-to point here is that prisons are large confined spaces, and they do not proactively test for COVID frequently. 

COVID CARES [as of 6/10/2023, this will end]. Fatigue after COVID can remain after testing negative. It will keep a person from participating in Programming or Prison Activities of Daily Living (PADL) or even Activities of Daily Living (ADL), putting them in the position of getting multiple Infractions. Why the BOP does not appear to have options in place for this eventuality I cannot say, but what I can say is that if the medical and scientific community on the “outside” is mostly prescribing rest (with a plethora of other treatments that the BOP cannot afford), this likely will not be allowed, as there is no BOP policy. Here is an opening for your council. 1) Fatigue After COVID-19 Infection – Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), 2) UC Davis Health – Chronic Fatigue. 

RDAP Eligibility should be included in your presentence interview if you are eligible. There is a minimal downside. You are also entitled to Good Time Credit, just don’t get any infractions – no calls on any cell phones, they can trace cell numbers back to you.

STILL, THESE ACTS ARE WORKING

KEEP IN MIND, NOTHING IS GUARANTEED – BUT THIS IS MORE THAN POSSIBLE

Summary:

Good Time Credit (GTC) = 15% or 54 days off sentence/year (No Infractions)

RDAP = Allows up to 1 year off your sentence, and there is no lifelong negative downside.

First Step Act (FSA) = Up to 1 year off the sentence max, then it is applied to Halfway House Time

Second Chance Act = Can lead to an earlier time in Halfway House and or Home confinement.

CARES Act = A Presidential Order, COVID Dependant, set to end 6/10/2023

STEP 4

The Probation Officer, who represents the court, will conduct your interview, and then draft the Presentence Report. As they present it to the court, they can sway the Judge regarding your sentence length and placement.

This process does take work, and there is not much time, at a minimum of 3 months, and you’ll need every hour.

What you will be doing,

1^st Is getting copies of all of your medical records – everything: Labs, Diagnostic Tests (MRI, CT, X-Rays, PET Scans, Ultrasounds, both in paper and CD format), Prescriptions for medications and medical devices/glasses/prosthetics, etc., Surgery and Pathology reports plus any other specialized documentation that is required.

If your medications are either on Non-Formulary, or not available [Therapeutic Drug Substitution Program (Page 44, 5/2022)], I suggest first getting your physician to review the BOP Formulary, and then persuade them to appear at your sentencing hearing should there be an issue with ‘continuity of care?’

Next, you’ll need copies of your Highest education level completed, Professional Diplomas, Military Rank and Level at discharge (along with special training), and any Trade or Occupational Certification(s). Don’t forget copies of your Social Security Card, Drivers’ License, and Birth Certificate.

For those, you want to email or call, or have a visit: have their names, email, addresses, and phone numbers written on the back of something from your legal case, in an envelope titled: Legal Mail to bring in with you. At the same time have it mailed to you, 2 days before you get there?

2nd Your NARRATIVE. You will need every inch of 90 days to write your story.

WHEN YOU ENTER YOUR JUDGE’S COURTROOM FOR THE 1ST TIME, HOW ARE YOU DIFFERENT FROM ANY OTHER PERSON WHO THE JUDGE HAS EVER MET – WHY DO YOU DESERVE LENIENCY?

The DOJ Indictment/Narrative of you was read by your Judge.

Not a great 1st impression.

Are you happy with the DOJ’s Narrative that they released to the public via your indictment?

To date, their Narrative of you has been read by your colleagues, family, and friends. It has also been read by your STAKEHOLDERS; your Attorney (and that may be all they know about you), The Prosecutor, The Probation Officer, and most importantly, your JUDGE.  Once you enter prison, they will be your Case Manager and Unit Team.

Satisfied? ⇨ No, Let’s rewrite Your Story – Your Narrative.

Learn how powerful your Narrative can be from this Ted Talk. As you write it, this is ‘your story’ in a letter format, 1st person, describing your life from childhood to the present. Include everything – Omit Nothing (Too Long is Best), including parents, siblings, work, jobs, school, and everything until today.

You can then decide if it also gets revised into a < 10-minute video.

Then as it is reviewed and rewritten it will undergo a dozen or so rewrites until it is distilled into its final version of you, where you accepted responsibility for your actions and why you did what you did. It’s your story, a Unique and Honest version of the events that resulted in your arrest.

Your Allocution is the Only time to speak directly with your Judge, and your Narrative has piqued their interest to have this conversation with you – so let’s make it a Great First Impression.

STAKEHOLDERS – are Responsible for Your Growth Into A Law Abiding Citizen, Ask Yourself…

• LEARN WHAT THEY KNOW AND DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU.
• DO THEY KNOW WHY YOU COMMITTED YOUR CRIME?
• WHAT WAS YOUR MOTIVATION OR INVOLVEMENT IN YOUR CRIME?
• WHAT CAN YOU DO TO CHANGE THEIR PRECONCEIVED BIASES, ABOUT WHAT YOU DID?

From Judges Across The Country

JUDGES WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU, NOT YOUR ATTORNEY

YOUR PERSONAL NARRATIVE HAS BEEN PROVIDED TO YOUR JUDGE

YOUR JUDGE NOW WANTS TO SPEAK TO YOU

YOUR ALLOCUTION

• Express remorse, while still understanding the victim’s pain, suffering, and how it has impacted them.
• Agree with the court as to the seriousness of the crime, without minimizing it. Expand on this topic
• What in your life brought you to this moment, what happened that caused you to do this?
• What has this experience taught you – what have you learned?
• Did it bring up moments from your past?
• What you have learned,
• Why you’re asking for leniency and
• Why you’ll never be back to this or any courtroom.

What your attorneys may be doing,

9 Steps – Before the Presentence Interview (PSI), as I see it.

Starting early, reaching out to meet your Probation Officer, provides the opportunity to get your ‘message’ to the officer before they speak with the prosecutor or read the voluminous amount of information supplied by The DOJ online, which is biased against you. That makes sense, right?

Together you will be Role-Playing (Practicing) Your Allocution, and The Sentencing Memorandum.

STEP
5

The Allocution is the first time you and the Judge will meet – a very big moment. This gives the Judge the opportunity to have a conversation with you, most likely because of your Narrative. Make this a sincere 1st impression.

As a side note, 35%+ of the Federal Presentence Interview Report, conducted by the Probation Officer, is Dedicated to what you have written, in your Narrative. It Is That Important.

For some Judges like Mark Bennett, a discussion might be more useful, but his basic principles of allocution include:

• A sincere demeanor
• A discussion of what “taking full responsibility” means to you.
• An acknowledgment that there are victims,
• A more impressive allocution details how your criminal conduct affected the victims.
• An expression of genuine remorse.
• A plan to use prison or probation time in a productive manner.
• A discussion of why you want to change your criminal behavior; and, perhaps most importantly, information that helps humanize your role in the crime.
• Tell your story, but don’t minimize the seriousness of what you did.
• Judges will sometimes ask a defendant what he/she will do upon release to reduce their need to re-offend.
• Show your strengths and weaknesses.
• If you can show that you are on the same page with the court regarding the seriousness of the offense, the chances of accepting your other statements will increase.
• Judges would rather hear from you during the sentencing hearing unless your attorney has new information not contained in your sentencing memorandum and/or other submissions.”

By Now You’ve taken your 1^st step towards Shortening Your Time In Prison

By Matching all your needs and requirements, we are able to provide you and the court with a BOP Placement Request that, 

• Supports your reasons regarding “Why” the request is being made,
• Provides examples from the BOPs’ own Guidelines and Programs Statements.
• Is done with a personalized court-ready BOP placement packet, PPRS Prison Match™ (Example – Alderson.)

Security Level Requirements

Medical and Mental Healthcare Needs

Psychology Programs – Limited Availability

FSA Programming, and Criminogenic Needs, Risk Assessment

Other factors used in our calculations:

CARE LEVEL I-IV

Public Safety Factors

Management Variable

Mental Health Questioner

Pattern Risk Scoring_Urban Institute

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