How can cooperating with the FBI help you when you are being charged with a crime? If a person is being charged with a crime, has information, or is able to obtain information against others who are committing crimes, the US Attorney’s office may recommend a lower sentence than what the Federal Sentencing guidelines call for. This is called a downward departure from the sentencing guidelines. The sentencing guidelines are advisory and are presented to the judge by prosecutors. There are many factors that can influence the Federal Sentencing Guidelines such as loss to investors, the sophistication of the crime, the level of the person’s involvement, past criminal history, and more. Based on these factors a level of offense is created and that level will equal a certain amount of months in prison. Again these numbers are not mandatory, but in many cases, judges will sentence in line with these numbers.
Typically the person will meet with the FBI and his attorneys to discuss cooperation and what will be expected of the person who will be cooperating. There will also be an agreement discussed that the person will in most cases be pleading guilty. If the cooperator is going to be working undercover also known as a confidential informant, the plea agreement and the plea hearing may be postponed. Part of the cooperation is the person has to follow certain rules laid out by the Department of Justice. Some of the rules may be as follows1
1.The cooperator may not lie to the government ( prosecutors or FBI Agents) about anything related to the case or his cooperation.
2. The cooperator may not commit any additional crimes while he is cooperating. If he does his cooperation agreement may be canceled and the person will be charged with additional crimes
3. The person may not disclose his cooperation to anyone including people who may be targets or that are part of a Federal Investigation
4. There are never any promises made about my sentencing.
These are rules that a person must follow if he is going to be cooperating with the government. In my case, I was offered an opportunity to cooperate with the FBI when they initially visited my office. I discussed cooperation more in-depth at my Proffer in Boston with my attorney, and in more detail at the FBI office in Boston several days after my proffer. The decision to cooperate was not very difficult because of the amount of prison time that I was facing. I weighed my family situation against what was being asked of me and made my decision based on those factors. I did not expect to cooperate for almost 5 years, but it was the length of my cooperation along with the extraordinary quality that earned my departure from the sentencing guidelines.
