Women Criminal Defense Attorneys: United States Sentencing Commission to Review Fraud Guidelines

Just last week the United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) announced its priorities for the upcoming year and they have included a review of sentences in economic crimes. The press release quoted Judge Patti Saris, Chair of the Commission, as saying “For the past several years, we have been reviewing data and listening to key stakeholders to try to determine whether changes are needed in the way fraud offenses are sentenced in the federal system, particularly in fraud on the market cases,” Saris said. “We look forward to hearing more this year from judges, experts, victims, and other stakeholders on these issues and deciding whether there are ways the economic crime guidelines could work better.”

Some federal judges have grown increasingly critical of the fraud guidelines. One such judge from the Southern District of New York, Judge Jed S. Rakoff, was recently quoted in a Newsweek article, Nonsensical Sentences for White Collar Criminals stating that “Insider trading is a serious offense, and it is very important there is prison time to send a strong message,” he said “But the arithmetic behind the sentencing calculations is all hocus-pocus—it’s nonsensical, and I mean that sincerely. It gives the illusion of something meaningful with no real value underneath.” The criticism is focused on the fact that the guidelines are driven by monetary loss amounts and as Judge Rakoff points out, “The way it’s set up now, you may be the lead offender in a crime or the low man on the totem pole and still get the same sentence,” Rakoff says.

Sound familiar? It is not news to any white-collar practitioner out there that white-collar clients are receiving excessive sentences for economic crimes. I could tell countless stories where I have personally seen clients sentenced to grotesque sentences for nonviolent financial crimes that often times far exceed the time that a violent offender might face in an overburdened state system. Something has to change, and at least for now, the USSC’s statement that they are going to make it a priority to review the fraud guidelines is a step in the right direction. Stay tuned.