“Paperny”, a long term prisoner would tell me while working in the prison kitchen “that dude is living in fantasyland. He is going to have a difficult time here in federal prison. I really feel for his family. He has no idea what’s coming.”
Unfortunately, some federal defendants and federal prisoners do struggle to embrace the reality of the situation. And as a result of living in denial and ignoring evidence, they exacerbate their struggle.
In this video, I discuss a troubling phase our team has heard a lot over the last 14 years: “My defense attorney knows my federal Judge. I do not need to really prepare for my sentencing hearing.”
To be clear, we hope your criminal defense attorney has a solid understanding of your Judge. Of course! But to insinuate that you are absolved from preparing because “your lawyer” really knows “your Judge” is both stupid and naive–let’s just own it here.
You are on here looking for guidance. The guidance or advice we gives comes from attending more than 1,000 sentencing hearings; it comes from interviewing federal Judges and guiding more than 1,000 white collar defendants through each stage of the process.
We are telling you what to do–whether or not you do it is up to you.
Best,
Justin Paperny
