What Are the Federal Sentencing Guidelines?

If you're asking the question what federal sentencing guidelines are, that probably means you've been charged or are being investigated for a federal offense. Federal crimes are much different than your average state crimes, and it takes a special kind of attorney that has the experience in federal law to handle federal cases. Federal guidelines are something that are advisory under federal law, but the judges take them into great consideration when making a sentence. Just to pick a number out of the air, a person can score between 36 and 48 months and under federal law, your sentence would be between 36 and 48 months. Of course, as a federal attorney, I'm often able to get something less than that, depending on where a person scores and if there are other mitigating circumstances.