Pro Bono Client Secures Reduced Sentence

Paul, Weiss helped a pro bono client secure the minimum possible sentence in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on charges arising from a narcotics conspiracy case. Our client had originally faced a charge that carried a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years. The Paul, Weiss team negotiated a plea deal to a lesser included offense that carried a mandatory minimum sentence of 60 months. At sentencing, we presented significant mitigating evidence that our client had become involved in the conspiracy only in a desperate effort to avoid homelessness. The court sentenced our client to the mandatory minimum - half of the sentencing guidelines range that she faced, and two years less than the sentence the government proposed.

Paul, Weiss also represented the same client in a hearing on a related violation of supervised release, which carried a maximum sentence of two years that could be imposed consecutively to the 60 months she had already received. We successfully argued that any sentence she would receive upon revocation of supervised release should run concurrently with her other sentence, rather than consecutively, as the sentencing guidelines recommend.

The Paul, Weiss team included, among others, counsel Michelle Parikh and associates Adam Dulberg, Meghan Michael, Jessica Morton and Jamie Noonan.