Federal sentencing has its own set of guidelines. Judges look at the history of the person convicted of a federal crime and determine the sentence based on factors such as nature of the offense, need for a strong sentence and the kind of sentence available for specific offenses. As a result, sentencing varies wildly.
For instance, white-collar crimes involving financial fraud or theft often come with requirements to pay restitution or reimbursement for funds stolen from money laundering, tax evasion, bank and wire fraud and securities fraud. Offenses involving firearms, kidnapping, sex or drug trafficking often see maximum prison time of 5 to 50 years in prison. Your lawyer will review the different classifications of federal crimes with you.