So, the federal government is coming after you for white collar crimes or a drug conspiracy case. What do you do now? It seems like an insurmountable problem. Where do you go, where do you turn, what do you do.? Why are you so scared? What does the federal government have that you don’t? Well, for one, they have money; they print it! You don’t! Secondly, they have the time. They can prosecute your case for weeks, months, and even years. Eventually you will run out of time, they don’t. Finally, they have the manpower. They can commit the FBI, IRS, ATF, USPS, DOJ, AUSA, and so many other lettered organizations to investigate and prosecute your case. Who do you have? Maybe, if you are lucky enough, you have a good attorney that you are paying top dollar or a good court appointed attorney. But is that enough to combat all the money, time, and manpower the government is going to wield against you? The answer is a resounding NO!
Federal Prison Consultant Robin Stover of the Prison Consulting Group says that federal defendants certainly need more help. Your attorney may be charging $375 to $850 per hour, but that doesn’t make him good. Many of these high-cost, nationally known attorneys are surprisingly ignorant about the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) policies and procedures, sentence reduction programs, post-conviction issues, security, custody, designation, sentencing mitigation programs, and those issues that have such a significant effect on the defendant once he goes through those prison doors. The answer is to get a good Federal Prison Consultant on your side. You need one.
One of the biggest mistakes a federal defendant makes, according to Robin Stover is contacting the prison consultant after the fact, after the defendant’s case has started. Stover says, ”The federal government has a 97% guilty plea rate in federal criminal cases. Federal prosecutors have over a 75% conviction rate following trial, and 91% of federal criminal defendants receive a prison sentence. Based on this, a federal defendant needs the help of a good Federal Prison Consultant.”
Your attorney is with you until sentencing. After that he is gone. Who is going to help you with the problems that occur in prison? Who will help you in choosing the safest prison for you? Who will prepare you for the 500-Hour Residential Drug Abuse Program and its sentence reduction incentives? Who will prepare you for additional halfway house time via the Second Chance Act of 2008? Who will help prepare you for the transition from life on the outside to life on the inside? Who will prepare you for immediate visiting privileges, e-mail, telephone privileges, and even communicating by mail? Who will help you with transfers, furloughs, incident reports, inmate restitution issues, commissary, inmate jobs, bunk assignments, and the multitude of other problems that occur on a daily basis once you are in prison? Certainly not your attorney, he is long gone. It is your Federal Prison Consultant. He represents your interests throughout your entire prison experience. ”That is why", says Robin Stover, ”It is best to choose your consultant carefully.” Stover says that you should choose a consultant you can work with; one who will take the time to answer your questions; one that will return your calls immediately when you leave a message. You need a consultant that is knowledgeable on prison issues and programs. You need a consultant who will contact the BOP, the sentencing judge, and will represent you fully. If he has experienced the prison process then that is a tremendous advantage. Would you have surgery from an individual who is not a doctor? Would you have someone fill a cavity if he was not a dentist? Of course you wouldn’t. Likewise, a prison consultant who has not actually gone to prison only hears second hand about prison life, prison programs, prison encounters; he has never experienced it first-hand. This is a must.
America has more people in prison than any other country in the world. People are going to prison at a shocking rate. The prison population is increasing every year. Prisons are overcrowded. Defendants are being sentenced to higher security institutions with longer sentences. Now more than ever, a defendant facing federal incarceration needs a Federal Prison Consultant. Stover said, ”You no longer have to be rich to hire a Federal Prison Consultant; you just have to be knowledgeable.”
