Top Federal Criminal Defense Firm Leonard Trial Lawyers Obtains Successful Resolution of Federal Fleeing Charge in Recent Sentencing Hearing. Although it is often the subject of tv shows and movies, federal criminal charges arising out of a defendant’s flight to avoid prosecution are not frequently brought. However, recently, Leonard Trial Lawyers’ attorneys Michael Leonard and Matthew Chivari handled such a case and obtained an excellent result for their client. The defendant had been facing federal charges when he decided, with the aid of others, to attempt to flee to Canada to avoid prosecution. Law enforcement was quickly able to capture the defendant, just over the border in Canada. The defendant ended up entering a plea of guilty and being sentenced on his original federal charges. Subsequently, the United States Attorneys’ Office brought additional charges solely premised upon the actions of the defendant in fleeing to Canada. Federal prosecutors also named and charged several other defendants, alleging that they aid and abetted the defendant’s attempted flight from justice. Ultimately, a Federal District Court Judge held a sentencing hearing to determine the appropriate sentence for the defendant on the fleeing-related charges – after the defendant voluntarily entered a plea of guilty to those charges. Mike Leonard and Matthew Chivari argued in their sentencing memorandum and at the sentencing hearing that the application of the Section 3553 factors strongly favored a sentence that would not result in the defendant serving any additional time. This included the fact that the District, in originally sentencing the defendant on his underlying federal charges, had considered the defendant’s flight as an aggravating factor. The District Court ultimately agreed with the position taken by the lawyers at Leonard Trial Lawyers by imposing a modest sentence that will run concurrent to the federal sentence the defendant already received in his underlying case. Accordingly, the defendant will not serve any additional time in the federal BOP because of his federal fleeing. Leonard Trial Lawyers’ client was extremely pleased with this result.
Written by Michael Leonard
Leonard Trial Lawyers
August 16, 2023