Top federal criminal lawyer discusses obtaining a significantly below Federal Sentencing Guidelines sentence for client in a money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business prosecution. On Friday, November 4, 2022, federal District Court Judge Andrea Wood sentenced a defendant who had been found guilty by a jury of money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business to a term of imprisonment of 84 months. Prosecutors for the United States Attorneys’ Office for the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago) had argued that the defendant should receive a sentence within the Federal Sentencing Guidelines of at least 151 months. Leonard Trial Lawyers presented strong arguments under both the Federal Sentencing Guidelines and the “3553 factors” (18 U.S.C., section 3553) in opposition and in mitigation. Michael Leonard of Leonard Trial Lawyers argued, among other things, that the defendant’s lack of criminal history, his role as his family’s only breadwinner, his excellent conduct during the pendency of the case, and the possibility of his deportation, all served as mitigation, and thus merited a sentence substantially below the suggested Federal Sentencing Guidelines of 151 months or more. Accordingly, the sentencing result was nearly one-half less than that urged by the Government. The case can be found on the Northern District of Illinois website at 18 CR 388.
Written by Michael Leonard. Leonard Trial Lawyers
November 6, 2022