Understanding Felony Sentencing in the Federal Court System

Criminal History Points

To determine how the courts will view a defendant’s criminal history, they have created a Criminal History Points statistic.  To calculate someone’s Criminal History Points, you add the following:

• 3 Points for every sentence served over one year in duration
• 2 Points for every sentence served between sixty days and one year in duration
• 1 Point for every sentence served less than sixty days in duration
• 2 Points if the crime was committed while the defendant was on parole, probation, imprisoned, or on work release
• 2 Points if the crime was committed within two years of a previous sixty-day or longer prison sentence

Base Offense Level

All federal felonies are assigned a point total, ranking the severity of the crime.  This number is a base level and can be increased based on specific aspects of the crime (if the crime was committed with a firearm, if the crime was committed with a minor, etc.).  Some example base levels are listed below:

Offense	Base Level
First Degree Murder	43
Second Degree Murder	38
Voluntary Manslaughter	29
Involuntary Manslaughter	12
Conspiracy/Solicitation to Commit Murder	33
Assault with Intent to Commit Murder	27
Aggravated Assault	14
Assault	4
Obstructing/Impeding Officers	10
Criminal Sex Abuse/Attempt to Commit	30
Criminal Sexual Abuse of a Minor Under the Age of Sixteen Years/Statutory Rape/Attempt to Commit Such Acts	18
Abusive Sexual Contact/Attempt to Commit	12
Failure to Register as a Sex Offender	12
Kidnapping, Abduction, Unlawful Restraint	32
Demanding/Receiving Ransom Money	23
Stalking/Domestic Violence	18
Larceny, Embezzlement, and Other Forms of Theft; Offenses Involving Stolen Property; Property Damage/Destruction; Fraud/Deceit; Forgery; Offenses Involving Altered/Counterfeit Instruments Other than Counterfeit Bearer Obligations of the United States	6
Insider Trading	8
Burglary of Residence/Structure Other than Residence	12
Trespass	4
Robbery	20
Extortion by Force/Threat of Injury or Serious Damage	18
Blackmail/Similar Forms of Extortion	9
Unlawful Sale/Transportation of Drug Paraphernalia; Attempt/Conspiracy	12
Gambling Offenses	12
Animal Fighting Offenses	16
Promoting Commercial Sex Act/Prohibited Sexual Conduct with an Individual Other than a Minor	14
Promoting Commercial Sex Act/Prohibited Sexual Conduct with a Minor	34
Sexually Exploiting a Minor by Production of Sexually Explicit Visual or Printed Material; Custodian Permitting Minor to Engage in Sexually Explicit Conduct; Advertisement for Minors to Engage in Production	32
Trafficking in Material Involving the Sexual Exploitation of a Minor; Receiving, Transporting, Shipping, Soliciting, or Advertising Material Involving the Sexual Exploitation of a Minor; Possessing Material Involving the Sexual Exploitation of a Minor with Intent to Traffic; Possessing Material Involving the Sexual Exploitation of a Minor	22
Obstruction of Justice	14
Failure to Appear/Material Witness	6
Failure to Appear at Trial/Defendant	6
Failure to Appear for Sentencing/Defendant	11
Arson	20
Unlawful Receipt, Possession/Transportation of Firearms/Ammunition; Prohibited Transactions Involving Firearms/Ammunition	12
Treason	43
Possessing Contraband in Prison	4
Possessing Contraband in Prison (alcohol, U.S. currency, mobile phones, marijuana)	6
Possessing Contraband in Prison (a non-firearm weapon, methamphetamine, narcotics)	13
Possessing Contraband in Prison (firearm)	23
Money Laundering	8

Federal Drug Charges

Drug charges are based on the quantity of drugs possessed at the time of arrest.  See the tables below:

Base Level	Heroin (g)	Cocaine (g)	PCP (g)	Methamphetamine (g)
12	<10	<50	<10	<5
14	10	50	10	5
16	20	100	20	10
18	40	200	40	20
20	60	300	60	30
22	80	400	80	40
24	100	500	100	50
26	400	2000	400	200
28	700	3500	700	350
30	1000	5000	1000	500
32	3000	15000	3000	1500
34	10000	50000	10000	5000
36	30000	150000	30000	15000
38	90000	450000	90000	45000

Base Level	LSD (g)	Fentanyl (g)	Marijuana (kg)
6	–	–	<1
8	–	–	1
10	–	–	2.5
12	<0.1	4	5
14	0.1	4	10
16	0.2	8	20
18	0.4	16	40
20	0.6	24	60
22	0.8	32	80
24	1	40	100
26	–	160	400
28	7	280	700
30	10	400	1000
32	30	1200	3000
34	100	4000	10000
36	300	12000	30000
38	900	36000	90000

Base Level	Oxycodone, Adderall, Ritalin, Vicodin, Ketamine (units)	Codeine, Anabolic Steroids (units)	Xanax, Valium, Darvocet (units)
6	<1000	<1000	<16000
8	1000	1000	16000
10	2500	2500	40000
12	5000	5000	80000
14	10000	10000	–
16	20000	20000	–
18	40000	40000	–
20	60000	60000	–
22	80000	80000	–
24	100000	–	–
26	400000	–	–
28	700000	–	–
30	1000000	–	–
32	3000000	–	–
34	10000000	–	–
36	30000000	–	–
38	90000000	–	–

Lastly tax evasion levels are based on the amount of tax money the government deems itself to have lost.  See the table below:

Base Level	At Least
6	<$2,500
8	$2,500
10	$6,500
12	$15,000
14	$40,000
16	$100,000
18	$250,000
20	$550,000
22	$1,500,000
24	$3,500,000
26	$9,500,000
28	$25,000,000
30	$65,000,000
32	$150,000,000
34	$250,000,000
36	$550,000,000

Determining Sentencing

With the chart below, you can calculate the minimum and maximum amount of imprisonment (in months) that a defendant could be facing.  

First, you take the number of criminal history points the defendant has, which determines which column in the chart you should use.  Then go down to the row that represents the base level of the crime committed. 

For example, a first-time offender who is being charged with robbery would use the left-hand column (labeled “0,1”), go down to the row for 20 base level points (which is the amount assigned to robbery), and that defendant would be facing between 33 and 41 months in prison.  See the table below:

	Criminal History Points
Offense Level	0, 1	2,3	4,5,6	7,8,9	10,11,12	13+
1	0-6	0-6	0-6	0-6	0-6	0-6
2	0-6	0-6	0-6	0-6	0-6	1-7
3	0-6	0-6	0-6	0-6	2-8	3-9
4	0-6	0-6	0-6	2-8	4-10	6-12
5	0-6	0-6	1-7	4-10	6-12	9-15
6	0-6	1-7	2-8	6-12	9-15	12-18
7	0-6	2-8	4-10	8-14	12-18	15-21
8	0-6	4-10	6-12	10-16	15-21	18-24
9	4-10	6-12	8-14	12-18	18-24	21-27
10	6-12	8-14	10-16	15-21	21-27	24-30
11	8-14	10-16	12-18	18-24	24-30	27-33
12	10-16	12-18	15-21	21-27	27-33	30-37
13	12-18	15-21	18-24	24-30	30-37	33-41
14	15-21	18-24	21-27	27-33	33-41	37-46
15	18-24	21-27	24-30	30-37	37-46	41-51
16	21-27	24-30	27-33	33-41	41-51	46-57
17	24-30	27-33	30-37	37-46	46-57	51-63
18	27-33	30-37	33-41	41-51	51-63	57-71
19	30-37	33-41	37-46	46-57	57-71	63-78
20	33-41	37-46	41-51	51-63	63-78	70-87
21	37-46	41-51	46-57	57-71	70-87	77-96
22	41-51	46-57	51-63	63-78	77-96	84-105
23	46-57	51-63	57-71	70-87	84-105	92-115
24	51-63	57-71	63-78	77-96	92-115	100-125
25	57-71	63-78	70-87	84-105	100-125	110-137
26	63-78	70-87	78-97	92-115	110-137	120-150
27	70-87	78-97	87-108	100-125	120-150	130-162
28	78-97	87-108	97-121	110-137	130-162	140-175
29	87-108	97-121	108-135	121-151	140-175	151-188
30	97-121	108-135	121-151	135-168	151-188	168-210
31	108-135	121-151	135-168	151-188	168-210	188-235
32	121-151	135-168	151-188	168-210	188-235	210-262
33	135-168	151-188	168-210	188-235	210-262	235-293
34	151-188	168-210	188-235	210-262	235-293	262-327
35	168-210	188-235	210-262	235-293	262-327	292-365
36	188-235	210-262	235-293	262-327	292-365	324-405
37	210-262	235-293	262-327	292-365	324-405	360-Life
38	235-293	262-327	292-365	324-405	360-Life	360-Life
39	262-327	292-365	324-405	360-Life	360-Life	360-Life
40	292-365	324-405	360-Life	360-Life	360-Life	360-Life
41	324-405	360-Life	360-Life	360-Life	360-Life	360-Life
42	360-Life	360-Life	360-Life	360-Life	360-Life	360-Life
43	Life	Life	Life	Life	Life	Life

Sentencing Departures

The judges must start with these ranges of allowable sentences. They are allowed to depart from the guidelines in the presence of “an aggravating or mitigating circumstance of a kind, or to a degree, not adequately taken into consideration by the Sentencing Commission in formulating the guidelines that should result in a sentence different from that described.” 18 U.S.C. § 3553(b)

So, if the defendant was the organizer or ringleader of the crime, the sentence could be longer.  But, if the defendant was a minor participant in the crime, the sentence could be shorter.

Judges are not permitted to depart from the standard sentences for any reasons based on race, sex, national origin, creed, religion, socio-economic status, lack of guidance as a youth, physical condition, or addictions.

Facing Federal Charges is Serious

If you or a loved one finds themselves charged with a federal felony, you should speak with a qualified defense attorney.  

Twibell Pierson Criminal Law has handled many federal cases in its history and will work with any defendant in ensuring the best possible outcome during the federal criminal process.  Only by having experienced representation can someone navigate these dangerous and confusing waters.