Guidelines

2025 United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines

The United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines are represented in the below chart.  Because we have 50 States and several territories, each home to 1-4 district courts, it is easy to imagine that a judge in Hawaii might come up with a different sentence for the same case than a judge in Alaska, Oklahoma, or New York.  

The Guidelines are established so that there is more fairness in how people get sentenced, no matter what part of the United States their case is located in.  Fairness and Consistency are the words we hear most often when it comes to this chart.  However, they are only “guidelines,” meaning that they are advisory and a judge can deviate from them, at times significantly.  In fact, a significant percentage of all federal sentences stray or deviate from the guidelines, and far more depart below the guidelines than above.

Implications for Your Case

What does this mean for you or your loved one?  With the right circumstances and the right attorney, a sentence below the guidelines is possible.  So, how does this work? To familiarize you with how the guidelines work, take a look at the chart.  You will note that down the left-hand column titled Offense Level are a series of numbers from 1 to 43.  The higher the number, the more serious the crime. This number is based on the law you are accused of violating and the particular allegations within that law.  Once you know this number, you can follow it across the page to the corresponding criminal history category that applies in your situation.  

Interpreting the Chart

Criminal History is based on prior convictions of any kind in State or Federal Court, anywhere in the United States. Generally, prior convictions count for at least the last ten years, but in the case of felonies, they count for 15 years.  The accumulation of points for prior offenses will correspond to a criminal history level of between 1-6, which, as you can see, increases the amount of punishment for the case you are currently looking at.

Where the Offense Level (left column) and the Criminal History Level (across the top) meet, you will see two numbers separated by a dash.  This is called your sentencing range.  The numbers are months and they range from “low-term” to “high-term.”  Until you have been advised by an attorney otherwise, you should assume you are looking for “mid-term,” which is halfway between the two numbers.

There are often strategies to reduce or entirely avoid the guidelines, but they are highly specific to each case and should be discussed with a qualified attorney to avoid false hope.