If my husband is in federal prison and he got a 17 to 23 points in the chart how many years is he seeing?

Do these "17 to 23 points" refer to the Sentencing Guidelines Offense Level? Or the security scoring given your husband by the BOP? Or his criminal history scoring? There is no way to answer your question without knowing that. But, with two prior convictions for the same human trafficking he's charged with now, and especially being on probation when he did it (it sounds like), you need to get a VERY good lawyer yesterday. Conviction will almost certainly mean a LONG sentence,

No defendant goes to prison until sentenced. No sentencing can take place until a federal judge determines BOTH your Hubby's total final offense levelAND Criminal History Category (1-6). An offense level of 17 carries 24-30 months for a 1st timer, but much higher if he has more than 1criminal history point (which obviously he does) An offense level of23 carries 46-57 months for a defendant with only criminal history point and much higher for those with prior convictions. At sentencing hearing the Judge announce a specific number of months (0 to 360) each defendant gets (unless he gets life). You're missing critical information to go any further without guessing. Good luck!

It is not clear what the 17 to 23 points is. It is also not clear if your husband has been sentenced yet. If he has been sentenced, he will served approximately 85% of the sentence imposed. On the other hand, if he is awaiting sentencing, you need to speak to his lawyer. You have not provided enough information to make even a guess of how much time he is looking at. It depends a lot on his prior record, as well as the current offense. Good luck.

That depends on what he is receiving the 17 to 23 points for. The judge uses a sentencing guideline table to help advise him on the appropriate sentence in a particular case. One axis is for the calculation of an offense level for example, if he was convicted of drug distribution his offense level will be calculated base on a number of factors including, but not limited to the type of drug, the weight of the drug, whether his role was minimal, minor, managerial, supervisory or if he was the head honcho and whether he accepted responsibility for his actions. The ohter axis used in the computation is for his criminal history. For each crime that is a felony for which his past release date was within fifteen years of the date he committed the offense he is currently charged with and awaiting sentencing for. If he received over a year in prison for a prior, he will score 3 points. If he got 60 days or more for a felony prior he will get 2 points and for all other felony convictions within the fifteen year period he will get one point. For each misdemeanor for which he was released from custody within 10 years of the offense he is awaiting sentencing for the same point schedule as discussed above is in effect. when you add up the number of criminal history points he has then you go to the chart and apply the number to a criminal history level from one to six. you then go down the offense level axis to his offense level score and across the Criminal history category to his criminal history score and you will the get a guideline range of how many months in custody is recommended by the Sentencing Commission. Thus the answer to your questions depends upon whether the 17 to 23 points is applied to his criminal history score or his offense level. In either event, you do not have enough information because you need both scores to find out his sentencing range. You can calculate this on your own if you know the details of the offense he committed and his criminal history by googling US Sentencing guidelines manual. That will get you to the government website where the guideline manual is printed and you can see for yourself what his exposure is. By the way, it is possible that you husband may be facing a minimum mandatory 5 year sentence due to his priors, so it doesn't matter what the guideline calculations are if they put him at less that 5 years. He will still have to be sebtebced to at least 5 years in prison.

There is not enough information in your question to answer. If you are referring to the Sentencing Guidelines, you need to know your husband's Criminal History Category in addition to his "points" (offense level) in order to calculate the advisory sentencing range in months. Once you know the advisory range, keep in mind that it is just that, and the judge can sentence your husband up to the statutory maximum or down to the minimum. That is where a good federal criminal defense attorney comes in, to find ways to try to get the sentence as close to the minimum as possible for his case, regardless of the Guideline range. Disclaimer: If this information has been helpful, please indicate below. This response is not legal advice and does not create an attorney/client relationship. It is not based on a full knowledge of the facts and timelines that may apply to your case that could significantly alter the response and make it unsuitable. This response is intended only to provide general information regarding the subject matter of your question. I would strongly advise you to consult an attorney regarding the full facts of your case, so that you can obtain complete and proper legal advice.

Federal does not go by points maybe you are talking about levels. Smuggling is found at 8 USC 1324(a) go to http://www.sentencing.us and there you will find a calculator you can put the article that I gave you and try to answer the rest of the questions there. There are adjustments for role etc. you will get a level and a range of months. The level would be pretty accurate but the months would not because that calculator uses tier I which is for no criminal history or one event of criminal history. If you husband has 3 past convictions he is tier II if he has for then he is tier III. Now with the level from the sentence calculator go to this link and there you will find the sentencing chart http://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/guidelines-manual/2012/manual-pdf/Sentencing_Table.pdf On the vertical you have the level and on the horizontal the tier based on that you will have a range of months. As some of the other lawyers have said we do not have all details like number of aliens smuggled, role in conspiracy, etc. if he is part of a conspiracy he would also be sentenced for the acts of the others which further complicates it. His lawyer would know but I wanted you to at least have some pointers. Best of luck.