The Federal Government is Watching You – Probation and Supervised Release in Federal Criminal Cases
As most Federal Criminal Defense Lawyers will explain to their clients, the federal government carefully monitors criminal defendants during probation and supervised release.
Federal Probation
You may be placed on probation in one of three ways:
- The court might sentence you to probation. In that instance, if you violate the terms of your probation, then your probation will be revoked and the court may impose any sentence, up to the maximum, allowed by the statute or the sentencing guidelines.
- The court might suspend imposition of a sentence and, instead, place you on probation. In that instance, if you violate the terms of your probation, the court can re-sentence you to any amount of incarceration up to the statutory maximum.
- The court might impose a sentence, but suspend the execution of the sentence. In that case, if probation is violated, you will have to serve the jail time to which you were originally sentenced.
Probation allows the government to monitor a federal criminal defendant and, simultaneously, allows the defendant to avoid jail time. You should also be familiar with another means of government monitoring of criminal defendants — “supervised release.” In federal cases, there is no parole. Instead, after a defendant has served his full sentence (with the possibility of a 15% reduction in time for good behavior), he will serve a period of supervised release (typically 3 to 5 years). If the defendant violates any of the conditions of the supervised release, he can be sentenced to further incarceration.
Contact Boston criminal defense attorney, Kevin J. Mahoney
If you are facing federal criminal charges and you are worried about the uncertainty of your future, contact an experienced Boston criminal lawyer to discuss your rights and your legal options. Please call us at 617-492-0055 to schedule a time to meet to discuss your case.
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