Firm Achieves Federal Sentence Reduction for Pro Bono Client

May 2025 – Hughes Hubbard achieved a two-and-a-half-year sentence reduction for a federal inmate the firm is representing on a pro bono basis under Amendment 821 to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which was passed in 2023 and retroactively applies to certain zero-point offenders.

In 2020, our client was sentenced to over 12 years in prison by Judge Rossie D. Alston, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia after being found guilty by a jury of three counts of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud and one count of inducing interstate travel with intent to defraud.

Our client was initially sentenced to 151 months' imprisonment. At the time of his sentencing, our client's criminal history score was zero, establishing a criminal history category of one. His base offense level was seven, and with the addition of various enhancements and adjustments, his total offense level became 34, resulting in a sentencing guideline range of 151 to 188 months' imprisonment.

After taking on the case in March 2025, HHR filed a motion to reduce our client's sentence from 151 months to 121 months based on Amendment 821. In the motion, the firm argued that Amendment 821 applies to our client in two relevant ways: first in its reduction of “status points" for offenders without serious criminal histories, and second by providing a decrease of two offense levels for those with no criminal history and whose offense did not involve specific aggravating factors.

On April 25, Judge Alston granted HHR's motion to reduce the sentence to 121 months' imprisonment, shaving two-and-a-half-years off our client's sentence.

The Hughes Hubbard team included Mike DeBernardis, Winthrop Jordan and David Tannenbaum.