My question involves criminal law for the state of: Wisconsin
A few months ago, my father was indicted for "Conspiracy to Traffic Narcotics." He has never in his life been in any trouble and has no criminal record at all, yet his public defender is telling him that he is looking at a minimum of 11 years and a maximum of 17, and absolutely 100% WILL be going to prison. He says that this is because it is a federal charge and they have a system/guidelines they use to sentence people. Someone, please help me understand this..I do not understand how a first time offender is going to prison or how these "guidelines" work and if he really will go to prison...I am trying to do all I can but I am a college student and have two jobs and can't afford to talk to a different attorney nor do I have the time..I know this is long, but please take the time to read this and help me to understand this mess....
My father has worked his entire life and has been a law abiding citizen nearly his entire life. But I do not believe there is a single person out there who has never committed a crime, no matter how significant or insignificant it may be. We all make mistakes in life.
So about 5 years ago, he became addicted to said narcotic and started selling said narcotic to support his habit. He realized it was much easier to sell drugs than work, and ended up quitting his job of 20 years. He was extremely depressed at that point in life as my brother, his son, had recently died in a car crash and he turned to drugs to cope with it. He was purchasing said narcotic from people that lived out of state. Sometimes he would drive to meet them, other times he would wire them money and they would send him said narcotics through a private shipping company (UPS,FedEx, etcetera.) So the prosecutors have records of how much money he spent. He would then sell some of them to three different people who would then redistribute them individually. This went on for a good three years.
Eventually, he realized the damage it was causing not only to our family, but other families as well as himself. So he made the decision, of his own accord, to not only stop selling drugs but to stop using and selling altogether. It has been two years since he has used and/or sold any illegal substance. He managed to get clean on his own, started to see a counselor, and went back to working a 9 to 5, making nothing compared to what he could have been if he wanted to. His dealers even would ofttimes call and try to sell to him again but he refused to.
So not too long ago, the FBI and DEA show up at his work (he earned a high position for a large corporation) and not only take him into custody, but went on to tell his employer that he used the company car to conduct drug deals(which is outrageous as he started working there AFTER he stopped). That got him put on unpaid suspension until they determine whether or not it is true, therefore, he cannot afford a good lawyer right now. And I am a broke college student and can hardly afford my tuition. So he has a public defender.
The public defender told us that since it is a federal charge, he is going to prison no matter what. He said that when it's federal, they use a scale or guidelines to sentence an individual and since they can prove he sent out a certain amount of money, that means he is for sure 100% no matter what going to prison for a minimum of 11 years and a maximum of 30 years. He has no criminal record AT ALL. One of the individuals that was buying and distributing individually (and played a significantly larger role in the distribution) testified to a grand jury and was granted immunity. However, she lied AND left out information that incriminates her...which I could be wrong here, but I'm pretty sure that us perjury. There were also a few statements against my father from people he has never even met or heard of and were complete lies. At first, the public defender said they were going to be re-interviewing these people to get those statements dropped but has done nothing.
My father has been 100% cooperative, has no criminal record, and is not fighting the charges. He will be entering a guilty plea. My dad even offered to give them information on the out of state people he was buying from (who are very high up in the drug dealer ranks) and was willing to assist in setting them up but they basically told him they don't care about those people because they are in a different state, yet it is federal! And those people are STILL, to this very day, selling HUGE amounts of drugs!
I have always supported and believed in our legal system to the fullest extent. I absolutely, 100% believe in justice and believe that if you break the law/engage in illegal activities, you should be punished. However, my father does not belong in prison and I see no justice in this at all. I understand that the judge uses guidelines for sentencing, and they can prove he sent a certain amount of money, but at least half of the drugs purchased were being consumed by him...Why are they not taking that into consideration when they configure this dollar amount? And why are they not willing to hear information about a drug dealer? And how is it that the three individuals that were distributing them to A LOT of people in less trouble? All 3 of them, including the one that was granted immunity, are still selling drugs! And why are they not considering the fact that he stopped doing because it was the right thing? He went from making his yearly salary in two months to not even being able to keep up with his bills because he realized what he was doing was wrong. Not because he had to. Not because he got arrested. Not because he lost his source/dealer. Just a week before he was indicted, the dealers called him and offered him a better price and larger amounts but he refused!
How is this justice? I am not in ANY way saying my father should not be reprimanded. He broke the law, and he should be punished. That is how it works. But I believe that 11 years in prison for a first offense or any time in prison for a first time offender is extremely excessive. And also a waste of my tax money I pay. Our prisons are already overcrowded with people that should not be in there. I read about a man who was charged and convicted of 4 charges of possession of crack-cocaine with intent to distribute and had multiple prior criminal charges and was sentenced to 4 months in county jail and 2 years probation...But my father who has no criminal record is being charged with one charge of conspiracy to traffic narcotics and is going to prison for at least 11 years...
If anybody has any experience or knowledge of the federal justice system and can help me understand how these guidelines work and if they are set in stone type thing..and is my dad really going to go to prison? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. He goes to court soon to enter his guilty plea...