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Top Federal Criminal lawyer obtains home confinement sentence for his client in federal gun case

by | Jan 5, 2023 | Firm News

As a top federal criminal lawyer, I obtained a home confinement sentence for my client in a federal gun case. The defendant, a client of Michael Leonard and Leonard Trial Lawyers, was first charged with a State law gun charges in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois. However, those charges were subsequently dismissed by the State prosecutors to allow Federal prosecutors to charge the defendant under federal law with the offense of being a felon in possession of a firearm. This is a typical strategy in the Chicago area. In short, Federal prosecutors in Chicago often seek to make State gun cases into Federal cases in an attempt to obtain longer prison sentences. Mr. Leonard’s client was first charged back in 2020. After obtaining bond for the defendant, Leonard Trial Lawyers dug into the discovery in the case. Ultimately, the defendant made the decision to plead guilty to the federal gun charge. The sentencing hearing was held on Wednesday January 4, 2023 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago). For purposes of sentencing, the United States Attorneys’ Office for the Northern District argued that the defendant should receive a sentence of 24 months in the Bureau of Prisons. Conversely, at the sentencing hearing, Michael Leonard argued that the most appropriate sentence was one that would allow the defendant to remain out of custody so that he could continue to hold and work at his full-time job, and to continue to maintain his significant role with his children. Ultimately, after hearing extensive arguments from the Federal prosecutor and from Mr. Leonard, the Judge handed down a sentence of 8 months of home confinement, allowing the defendant to thus NOT report to the Bureau of Prisons at all; allowing him to live with his wife and children; and allowing him to continue to work. Of course, for those 8 months, the defendant will be restricted in his ability to leave his house, but will be allowed to do so for work, church, and other approved purposes. This was an excellent result for a defendant who walked into the sentencing hearing prepared to hear that he would be doing anywhere from one to two years in a federal prison. This client was highly worthy of the result arrived at by the Judge, and it was a fair and just result.

Written by

Michael Leonard

Leonard Trial Lawyers

January 5, 2023