Leading Federal Criminal Lawyer Michael Leonard highlights proposed 2025 Amendments to Federal Sentencing Guidelines. The Guidelines are constantly analyzed by the United States Sentencing Commission for possible amendment. Calendar year 2025 will be no exception.
The Commission has announced that it is contemplating the following Amendments, which are briefly set forth below. However, the Commission first allows for a “Comment” period, including from those within the legal profession. The Amendments being proposed are as follows:
Career Offenders
The Commission proposes an Amendment to §4B1.2 that would eliminate the use of a “categorical approach” by defining a “crime of violence” based upon an individual defendant’s conduct, and by defining “controlled substance offense” that lists specific federal drug statutes.
Federal Criminal Offenses Involving Firearms
The Commission proposes a two-part Amendment to §2K2.1, which entails the unlawful receipt, possession, or transportation of firearms or ammunition. This would include an Amendments to §2K2.1 to address its “application to offenses involving machinegun conversion devices (MCDs),” and to §2K2.1(b), in order to establish a “mens rea requirement for the enhancements for stolen firearms and firearms with modified serial numbers.”
Conflicts Between The Circuit Courts of Appeal
The Commision proposes a two-part Amendment addressing conflicts between the Circuit Courts of Appeal relating to: 1) whether the “physically restrained” enhancement contained within §2B3.1 “can be applied to situations in which a victim is restricted from moving at gunpoint but is not otherwise immobilized through physical measures,” and 2) whether a traffic stop constitutes an “intervening arrest” for purposes of “determining whether multiple prior sentences should be counted separately or treated as a single sentence” pursuant to §4A1.2 of the Guidelines.
A good website link to learn about these proposed changes is:
https://www.ussc.gov/guidelines/amendments/proposed-2025-amendments-federal-sentencing-guidelines-published-december-2024
As always, the Federal Sentencing Guidelines remain a crucial part of any defense of a federal criminal matter. We at Leonard Trial Lawyers are well-versed in the Guidelines and their application to any federal criminal case.
Michael Leonard
Leonard Trial Lawyers
January 17, 2025