Sentence Reductions Made Retroactive
If you have a loved one serving a federal prison sentence for crack cocaine, a new law can significantly reduce their sentence!
On June 30, 2011 the United States Sentencing Commission made the sentencing reductions from the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 retroactive to over 12,000 federal inmates currently serving sentences for Crack Cocaine charges. The average sentence reduction is just over three years!
Find out if your incarcerated loved one is eligible for these reductions using PCR Consultants’ new and free guidebook on eligibility. Written for inmates, and now available online for all, check out The Inmate’s Guide to 2011 Retroactive Crack Cocaine Sentence Reduction Eligibility.
How to get Your Sentence Reduced
The reductions under this new policy aren’t made automatically. To get a sentence reduced for an incarcerated loved-one, a motion must be submitted to the court system and a new sentence can be handed down once the applicant is considered to be eligible. There are three ways to accomplish this.
- Request a public defender. One must hope that the overworked Federal Defender’s office will represent these cases again like they did with the two-point reduction in 2007-2008 (it is currently unclear if they will). If they do, you must wait in the long line of people who are receiving help from the Federal Defender’s office and further hope that they receive the attention each case deserves from the overworked, underpaid servants who represent the defendant’s who can’t afford private counsel.
- Hire an attorney to create this motion and represent the inmate. A private lawyer can be hired and paid for this service, but this can be very expensive for a relatively simple service.
- The inmate files for the reduction without a lawyer. Let PCR Consultants deal with the technical aspects of this pleading for a fraction of the cost of an attorney and help your loved-one file this motion for his or herself!
Let Us Help You!
Call us at (480) 382-9287 for a free consultation to find out how we can help you and your incarcerated loved one get sentences reduced.
For more ways to contact us, visit our contact us page for contact form and e-mail addresses.
Learn about us and how our services work on our about page.
Further Information Sources:
United States Sentencing Commission’s Press Release
United States Sentencing Commission’s “Reader Friendly” version of the amendment
FAMM’s Myth v. Fact Page on FSA 2010 retroactivity
FAMM’s FAQ document on retroactivity
I woud like information to see if my fiance qualifies for a sentence rduction and if so how much it would cost to have him represented.
Wanda -
The answer to your questions aren’t always easy. Whomever you choose to review your fiance’s case will be limited by the court papers which document the structure of his sentencing. Even organizations like Families Against Mandatory Minimums will not and cannot create a template motion because each case is unique.
If your fiance had 27 grams of Crack Cocaine in a simple possession case or conspiracy case, the decrease can be dramatic. However, many cases are not this simple.
PCR Consultants is currently developing our document service for these cases and can guide each client through this procedure. For more specific information, please give us a call at the phone number located at the top of each page on this site.
Hey i have a boyfriend incarated in USP Atlanta in Atlanta Ga,he has been locked up since April 1.2008 on this drug case its saying his time is August 2017.I want to know how do i go about getting his time reduced that law that goes in affect Nov 1,2011, thats the law that he were waiting on for relief will u please head me in the right direction .Thanking u in advance n may God bless you .God gets the glory
is there a new law coming out in August stating that time being served is going to be cut less? my boyfriend just got sentenced to 10 years in misprision on July 11th 2011, however he is saying that there is a new law coming out in August 2011 stating that the time being served can be less than what they are serving.. He will be serving 4 1/2 years.. is this true?
There is a new policy being adopted by the United States Sentencing commission which will reduce the sentences of Crack Cocaine offenders by an average of 23%. This policy is adopted and will become active on November 1, 2011. The time to act on this, however, is now. The sooner we can get your boyfriend filed in court for this reduction, the sooner his sentence can be reduced.
Hi,
a friend was sentenced for 2 years for a smidge of crack, and 3 years for probation violation.
He has served his time for the crack…any possiblility he can get a reduction?
Thanks
Will those that are on supervised release see a reduction in there time time on paper. I had a mandatory 120 months for over 50 grams of crack and I served 96 months and I am currently on supervised release for 60 months. I’ve never missed any meeting’s or U/A’s, no contact with any law inforcement since I’ve been home not even a parking ticket.
Unfortunately the policy is written that hinders you in two ways. First, these reductions don’t necessarily help those with mandatory minimum sentences under the old law. Second, the policy doesn’t directly change time on supervised release.
If, however, you:
(1) would have been eligible for a significant sentence reductions if you were still inside the BOP; and
(2) that reduction would have made you eligible for a shorter term of supervised release;
You can be considered more seriously for early release from supervision.
hi my fiance was arrested and is being charged with a conspiracy charge and is looking at 10 to 15 yrs he was part of a year long investigation if he gets out on bail is there a chance he could beat his case .
Sabrina -
Thank you for your question. We would need quite a bit more information about the case in order to better answer your question.
Unfortunately, however, 97% of everyone even charged by the federal government are convicted (by either guilty plea or trial conviction).
kEEP PRAYING YOUR LOVE ONES WILL SOON BE HOME .
If my husband was charge with 24 grms and get his timereduce ,how much will he get . he has until 4/28 20014 . I know he will get all of that reduced. he said that hi couselor called him in the office and asd him If you go home today will you beable to get a job ,and his answer was yes.
my husband got sentenced to 12 1/2 yrs in federal prison for cocaine how can help to reduce his sentence he is helping the DEA
my husband got sentenced to 12 1/2 yrs in federal prison for cocaine how can help to reduce his sentence he is helping the DEA BUT I know it can take time.. for my understanding in federal you only do 85 percent of the time is there any laws that are going to pass that its going to change that percentage my husband said its going down to 65%. what can i do to help him reduce his time
My mom was incarcerated in 1998. She had a 36 mth sentence reduction in 2007. Will she still be eligible for the new sentence reduction?
My two nephews was sentence under the old crack law since that got mandatory sentence,will they be able to get a reduction. I think the sentence they received was too harsh and juvenile records shouldn’t had nothing to do with this case.
to whom it may concern I need to ask a question about my son in prison he been in since 2000 11years please at 717-2363241 thanks
Does this law only apply to people sentenced to federal prison? I have a loved one sentenced to 25 years but he is incarcerated @ The Broad River Correctional Institution in S.C.
hi my son is facing a sentence of 7 to 15 year for a gun charge, the gun was unloaded it was also found in a car where he was a passenager there was no fingerprints on the weapon and there were other people in the car,also the police had no grounds to search the car but said its was in plain veiw (in the pocket of the back of the car seat ) investergating office also refused to get dna off the weapon “to costly” he stated in court the gun belong to my son because of where he was sitting i know he was convicted on piors no one even consider the eveident my question to u is can we get him some type of alternate to incareration while we appeal the case and how do i go about doing this and to add to the misery we have a public defender that the judge & public defender supervisor refuse to remove from the case my son is in the law library everyday requesting info presenting to the lawyer to bring forth we cant seem to get the laywer to do his job and the judge is getting po with the case and we are getting the run around plzzzzz help!!!
my fiancee has a sentence of 10 years. he already has 5 in jail (conspiracy case) can we summited a motion in order to reduce his sentence?