Preview of Member Only Content
For full access: 
or Become a Member 
Substantial Assistance The Key To Freedom
By Mark P. Rankin, Rachel R. May
Representing a Cooperating Defendant in Federal Court
Your new client, Danny, has been charged with what is, in the eyes of
the Justice Department and Congress, one of the most heinous of crimes,
for which he faces a mandatory minimum of 25 years in prison. Terrorism?
Nope. Carjacking? Nah. Murder?! Not quite. He’s been charged with
selling 5 kilograms of powder cocaine to an undercover DEA agent. Where
normally he would face a minimum 10-year stay in federal prison, a prior
felony drug conviction (for which he served probation) doubles that —
and since he had an unloaded gun in his pocket at the time, he faces 5
years of consecutive time.1 Danny, a 22-year-old kid who has
never spent so much as a day in county jail, now faces the prospect of
tasting freedom again when he is his father’s age. He is petrified and
desperate.
As always, you have explored every avenue of defense. Unfortunately, the
drug sale is on crystal-clear videotape — as is Danny’s voluntar
Want to read more?
The Champion archive is reserved for NACDL members.
NACDL members, please login to read the rest of this article.
Not a member? Join now.
Or click here to see an overview of NACDL Member benefits.
See what NACDL members say about us.
To read the current issue of The Champion in its entirety, click here.
- Media inquiries: Contact NACDL's Director of Public Affairs & Communications Ivan J. Dominguez at 202-465-7662 or idominguez@nacdl.org
- Academic Requests: Full articles of The Champion Magazine are available for academic and research purposes in the WestLaw and LexisNexis databases.