Hello XXXXXXXX,
There are a complicated set of sentencing guidelines with lots of situations to consider. Did your son get a statement of how, exactly, the judge figured that particular sentence of 33 months?
Are you saying that none of that was explained to him by his attorney?
Hello!
Thank you so much for replying! I mistakenly put down "brother" which should have been "my husband." We are having issues with my brother at this time and it has been on my mind constantly! Sorry! The crime took place in NC in early 2007, but the attorney he hired was able to transfer the case to GA. He was assigned a public defender there who never called me or told me what was going on. My husband then realized that he probably would go seriously up the creek if we used him. The public defender wanted him to plead not guilty by reason of temporary insanity.
The lawyer we hired to represent him was recommended to us by our pastor of the church. He charged us $5,000, which I borrowed on my credit card. I did not know at the time that he had run for "Prosecutor" in our county in GA. He lost the election. I have a feeling that he just wanted to see him "pay" as much as possible for what he did.
For the past year and a half of waiting, he was on pre-trial probation, and opened up a new business (legitimate) and was doing well. He is extremely remorseful and very sorry that he ever did that in the first place! He was charged with over $120,000 in counterfeit money which I did not know about, and supposedly happened over the years. The attorney told him to plead guilty and that the penalty was probation. He also stated at the time of the plea agreement that he wouldn't have told him to plead guilty if he didn't think he wasn't going to get probation. Wrong! His first sentencing was on in early November. He told the judge that he had the public defender originally tell him to plead Not Guilty and the lawyer we hired told him to plead Guilty and that the penalty was probation. The sentence at that time would have been 41 months. The judge was seriously thinking about dismissing the guilty plea..but instead told the prosecutor and the attorney to talk things over and bring the case back at a later time. The attorney told my husband that they agreed to drop the case 2 levels to bring it down to where probation was possible and to accept the new "deal." So he did. Apparently, as we found out on Dec 1st, probation was never ever a possibility and he was lied to. He has admitted his guilt fully and has cooperated with the authorities from day one. We paid $5K for sound legal advice, which I feel was not received and that he was judged and therefore prosecuted by his own attorney as well! The attorney denied ever saying to my husband that he would get probation! How can we believe anything this guy is telling us? He then wrote him a letter telling him that he only stated probation was a possibility, he never said he would get it. It was quite a nasty letter and basically stated that whatever you get will be better than what you would have gotten if he didn't re-negotiate this "deal." Well, it turns out that probation was never even an option! We don't know if he lied to him on purpose! The attorney never explained much of anything to him. Since this attorney is a member of our church, we trusted him fully that he would help him out. He has only met with my husband about 2-3 times throughout the year and half, most of which was to sign documents. We haven't received a statement of anything about how the judge arrived at that sentence. Only that he got 33 months and some of it will be served in a half way house.
The next sentencing date was November 24th. He doesn't know how to operate our voicemail system on the telephone at home..and didn't get the message that the sentencing was delayed until December 2nd due to a medical issue with the judge. The attorney stated on the message that it was December 2nd at around 2:30PM. My husband showed up on Nov 24 for the sentencing only to find that it wasn't going to take place. He went down to the court clerk who told him it was rescheduled for Dec 1st at 10:30 AM. We never got a phone call from the attorney to state the correct date and time for the hearing! If I wasn't away with the kids, I would have been home, gotten the attorney's phone message for the 2nd, he wouldn't have shown up on the 1st, thinking it was the 2nd, and would have been re-arrested and jailed right then and there! Instead he has to report in February to start serving his sentence.
Anyway, he received a sentence of 33 months in jail and a half way house was mentioned by the judge and by his attorney. He said part of the sentence was to be spent in jail and the rest in a half way house and then 3 years on probation. My husband has assured me that something like this will never happen again! I truly considered leaving him throughout this mess..but after 16 years of marriage and 3 kids (one is special needs) I still love him dearly! He has also found religion and has changed his life around...He just needs a second chance at life. He has owned several businesses in the past that have failed through no fault of his own (competition) and has also been a manager of several small stores and I guess he felt that at his age who would hire him? He is 57 yrs old right now. No prior record for anything. We contacted the GA Bar Association and they should be sending out a package soon to file a complaint. We also called an attorney that would handle a lawsuit to sue the lawyer for not keeping his client informed about much of anything. Any time we would ask him in church was was going on with the case, he said that he was taking care of everything.
How long should he expect to stay in prison? Would he get out possibly any earlier with good behavior? He just wants to do what is right. He did the crime, he'll do the time...how much though...I don't know. I will be our sole support and I would like to know how long I'll be without my husband? I truly appreciate your time and effort on this.
He is truly sorry for what he did....I would appreciate an honest answer and no additional judgments as so many have already done. Thanks! XXXXXXXX
One more thing I forgot to mention, the attorney he called to ask about suing the lawyer told him that there was nothing he could do, he turned down the public defender and you can't prove anything. I do have a tape recording of the voice mail message his attorney left...I saved it in the event we needed it for the future! Thanks!
I wish I had better news for you. Yes, suing the lawyer would be very difficult, but you should pursue the complaint, if you feel that he did not zealously represent your husband. As for your husband's sentence, let me explain something. The Federal system of sentencing is very complex and changing all the time. Many things go into figuing out exactly what sentence a person gets--things such as whether the defendant takes responsiblity for his actions, the conduct of the crime, whether he was in a postion of trust, and also his criminal history. It really is omplex and it takes a lot of studying to figure out exactly what sentence a person might get.
You say your husband got 33 months, but the judge said something about a halfway house, and probation. That does not really tell me how long your husband will spend incarcerated. But, the federal prison system is so overcrowded, they do everything they can to release the people that are non-violent and so forth. You absolutely need to get all the paperwork and study what it says. This is public record, or you can get it from the attorney. It should have a lot more specifics about the sentence. One thing about a federal sentene is that he will serve almost all of the sentence. The good thing is that part about the half-way house. But again, I have no way of knowing how long he will really be in prison.
Also, he has a right to appeal that sentence. He should call the Federal courthouse and get a copy, or get one from the lawyer.
Criminal Defense Lawyer
J.D. degree, 15 years practice