The Fair Sentencing Act Applies Retroactively For Those Serving Federal Time For Crack Cocaine Convictions

In 2013 the U.S. Congress passed a law known as the Fair Sentencing Act ("FSA") that revised federal sentencing guidelines for those convicted of possession of crack cocaine. Briefly, before the FSA was enacted federal sentencing guidelines mandated that a person convicted of possession of crack cocaine would serve a much longer sentence than a person found guilty of possession of powder cocaine.  For example, a person convicted of possessing just 5 grams of crack cocaine would get the same 5 year minimum mandatory sentence as the person convicted of possessing 500 grams of powder cocaine. That's a big difference.

Once the FSA became law in 2013 it was discovered that it did not apply retroactively to those defendants serving sentences for convictions prior to 2013. Therefore, Congress was urged to enact an amendment allowing those people who were sentenced for possession of crack cocaine prior to 2013 to shorten their sentences.

On July 18, 2014, the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted to make the FSA retroactive and applicable to those who were sentenced prior to 2013. According to www.FAMM.org, "46,000 federal drug offenders sentence before November 1, 2014, will now be eligible to file a motion in federal court asking for a shorter sentence. The average sentence reduction for those who qualify will be two years."

This great news but it is tempered with some caveats, however:

1.  Reductions are not automatic. Not everyone sentenced before November 1, 2014, will be eligible for a sentence reduction. 

2.  Courts will not begin considering in granting motions percentage reductions until November 1, 2014. Moreover, prisoner releases not begin until the following year, one November 1, 2015 the delay is necessary to give courts and probation officers an opportunity to handle what is expected to be a huge amount of motions percentage reductions.

To find out if you or a loved one are eligible For a retroactive since introduction you should call Baton Rouge Criminal Defense Attorney Rhett Spano at (225) 387-8327 or email your question to rspano1@gmail.com. You can also visit my website at http://www.rhettspanolaw.com.