For the Defense - Vol. 8, Issue 4 - 10

New Sentencing Guideline 4C1.1
- Great News for White Collar
Offenders (Maybe) but Hurry Up
and Wait (as Long as they Qualify)
Introduction
he White Collar defense community received what sounded
like great news this summer. The United States Sentencing
Commission proposed adding Section 4C1.1 to the United
States Sentencing Guidelines to provide a two-level downward
reduction in Offense Level for certain zero-point offenders.1
The
proposal was submitted to Congress on April 27, 2023, and became
effective on November 1, 2023.2
It sounded like even greater
news when the Commission voted to apply the new Guideline
retroactively.3
To every zero-point offender in the federal criminal
justice system-already sentenced or not-the news seemed like
a windfall. Like many teasers, however, the devil is in the details.
Despite the undoubted scores, if not hundreds, of calls and emails
to counsel from clients, qualifying offenders will have to wait
until February 1, 2024, for a reduced sentence to take effect.4
In
addition to the wait, not all zero-point offenders will qualify for
this reduction-the new guideline includes numerous exceptions to
the two-level reduction, and the exceptions may act as roadblocks
for many defendants.5
10 For The Defense l Vol. 8, Issue 4
Not all zero-point offenders, however, will qualify. Section 4C1.1
includes a long list of exceptions that can bar a defendant from
receiving the reduction.8
will only be eligible for the reduction if:
According to the Guideline, a defendant
T
zero-point offender.6
Sarah Hyser-Staub,
Charles T. Jones III
and James T. Clancy
Basic Mechanics of Section 4C1.1
To qualify for the two-level reduction, a defendant must be a
Zero-point offenders include:
(1) offenders with no prior convictions; (2) offenders
who have prior convictions that are not counted because
those convictions were not within the time limits set
forth in subsection (d) and (e) of §4A1.2 (Definitions
and Instructions for Computing Criminal History); and
(3) offenders who have prior convictions that are not
used in computing the criminal history category for
reasons other than their " staleness " (e.g., sentences
resulting from foreign or tribal court convictions, minor
misdemeanor convictions, or infractions).7

For the Defense - Vol. 8, Issue 4

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of For the Defense - Vol. 8, Issue 4

Contents
For the Defense - Vol. 8, Issue 4 - 1
For the Defense - Vol. 8, Issue 4 - 2
For the Defense - Vol. 8, Issue 4 - Contents
For the Defense - Vol. 8, Issue 4 - 4
For the Defense - Vol. 8, Issue 4 - 5
For the Defense - Vol. 8, Issue 4 - 6
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For the Defense - Vol. 8, Issue 4 - 58
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