Sentencing and Penalty Guidelines for White Collar Crimes

Guidelines

What is the maximum punishment allowed by state or local sentencing guidelines? Judges use these federal guidelines and state laws to determine an appropriate penalty for any given crime. Most defendants can receive a lesser sentence when properly represented by an experienced white collar defense attorney.

History

Does the defendant have a prior criminal record, or are they a first-time offender? Being a repeat offender – whether the past crime relates to the current charge or not – often results in harsher penalties from a judge. First-time offenders, on the other hand, may be able to negotiate for a lighter sentence.

Severity

Was the white collar crime in question a misdemeanor or felony? Certain state and local guidelines regulate what penalties judges can give based on the seriousness of the offense. For instance, a violent crime like homicide or aggravated assault will earn a much more severe punishment than a non-violent or minor offences like shoplifting.

Circumstances

Did any mitigating circumstances play a role? Certain contributing factors may make a judge more lenient during sentencing, such as if the defendant recently experienced a major life crisis like losing a loved one or their job. The role the defendant played in the crime (whether they were the central figure or an accomplice) as well as if another person was injured due to their actions may also be taken into account.

Society

Is the crime attracting attention from the public or media? Although the American justice system is supposed to uphold the law fairly, societal pressure often plays a role in criminal cases. For example, judges, law enforcement and elected officials want to appear harsh on certain crimes (like child pornagraphy or drug offenses), therefore they may apply stricter punishments to these offenders than is necessary.

Each year, the United States Sentencing Commission collects data regarding federal sentencing decisions. Here are a few interesting white-collar sentencing statistics from their “Overview of Federal Criminal Cases, Fiscal Year 2015”:

• Fraud cases made up 10.5% of all cases, the third largest portion of total federal criminal convictions (after drug and immigration offenses).
• The average loss amount for white collar cases was $2,909,541, but ranged anywhere from $0 to over $7 billion.
• The average sentence given to those convicted of fraud in 2015 was 27 months.
• The number of sentences imposed on organizations in 2015 increased by 10.5% from the year before. Organizational offenders pleaded guilty in almost every case, and penalties included fines, restitution, or both. The most common types of offenses committed by organizations were environmental offenses (33%), fraud (21%) and food, drugs, agricultural and consumer products (12%).

*This chart shows the average sentence length for the most common white collar crimes in 2015 according to data from the USSC’s annual report.