Sentencing Questions — Ask the Inmate
The moment a sentence is handed down, everything changes. Families who were focused on the trial or plea negotiations suddenly have a new set of urgent questions about what the sentence actually means in practice. How long will they actually serve? What facility will they go to? What is the difference between the sentence imposed and the time served? This section covers how federal and state sentencing guidelines work, what mandatory minimums mean and when they apply, how good time credits are calculated from the moment of sentencing, how the Bureau of Prisons designates a facility and whether families can influence that decision, what a split sentence means, and what the difference is between concurrent and consecutive sentences when multiple charges are involved. The guidance here translates the courtroom language into plain answers about what happens next. See also our sections on Sentence Reduction, Inmate Transfer, and General Prison Questions and Terminology.
Normally, the disclosure of the location and custody status of an inmate is not made ahead of time for security reasons. The determination is made at the administrative level and the outside world has no impact on these decisions. Even the sentencing judge can only make a recommendation as to where they house the offender, the final decision is up to the Department of Corrections or Bureau of Prisons
Read moreRobbery is a serious charge. If this is something that she is unaware of, she should immediately be asking her attorney BEFORE entering a plea. Robbery can carry a double-digit year sentence so this needs to be handled properly.
Read moreTypically, the prosecution is in no rush for probation violations seeking a court date. The normal rule of thumb from the prosecutor's perspective is a violator is highly likely to receive jail time. With that knowledge, they are not in a hurry to give a definite date - he will be given "time-served" for his current stay.
Read moreThis is a serious charge that carries a heavy penalty. Since he has a criminal history and was already incarcerated it is our opinion that the least he will get is 30 years and it's likely he could get life.
Read moreThe sentencing phase is based on a point system set up by the legislature that writes the laws. The higher the points, the longer the sentence. The judge has discretion to determine the sentence, there are a few factors with which to base their determination: criminal conduct history; was the offender the main actor in the crime; were there victims that were injured or killed; were there aggravating circumstances when an offender was particularly cruel to a victim - the
Read more85% of 16 months is 13.6 months. If he has 6 months in, then he has 7.6 months left to serve
Read moreIn California, most inmates are required to serve 85 percent of their imposed sentence before becoming eligible for release. On a 16 month sentence that works out to approximately 13 and a half months of actual time served. California moved to the 85 percent rule for most offenses as part of truth in sentencing reforms that eliminated the possibility of serving just half a sentence on many charges. The days of doing a third or half of your time
Read moreRelease dates are not available in all instances. If federal you can look on the bop.gov website where it is posted. If it is a state sentience, some of them have the information posted on the state DOC website. If you call the facility and ask to speak to the inamte's counselor or case manager, you might get their release date.
Read moreThe general rule from the prosecution's position is they are not happy having to try any case, no matter the county or state. They want you to plead guilty and take what they offer which keeps their docket clean and they may remain lazy. If you want to fight back, they will fight dirty and if you lose they will try and get you the harshest sentence possible. A guilty verdict will most probably come with some state prison time.
Read moreA 10 serve 2 sentence means the judge imposed a 10-year sentence but built in a mandatory minimum of 2 years that must be served before any parole consideration kicks in. It is a structure used in some state systems that gives the court a way to impose a longer sentence as a ceiling while setting a floor that guarantees some minimum time is served, regardless of behavior or parole board decisions. For a first-time offender on a shoplifting
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