Federal Gun Enhancement Charges: What Sentencing Enhancements Actually Mean To Your Case

Federal Gun Enhancement Charges: What Sentencing Enhancements Actually Mean To Your Case

The prosecutor said 10 years mandatory minimum, and your attorney keeps using the word “enhancement” like you should know what that means. You don’t. Your family doesn’t. And frankly, half the lawyers explaining it make it sound like some abstract legal concept instead of years of your life. Here’s what nobody’s telling you straight: an enhancement isn’t a seperate charge—its time that gets added on top of whatever your base sentence already is. That difference matters more then anything else when your trying to understand what you’re actually facing.

Federal gun charges don’t work like state charges. In state court, a judge usually has discretion to sentence you anywhere within a range. In federal court, certain gun charges come with mandatory minimums that judges cannot go below, no matter how sympathetic they’re case might be. When prosecutors add an enhancement, they’re not just increasing your potential sentence—their locking you into years that the judge has no power to reduce.

Understanding Base Offenses vs. Enhancement Charges

Let’s start with the most common scenario: your charged under 18 USC 922(g), which is simple possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. If your a convicted felon and police find a gun in you’re car, that’s 922(g). The maximum sentence is 10 years, but the federal sentencing guideline calculation might only recommend 18-24 months depending on your criminal history. The judge has discretion here—they can vary upward or downward based off the facts of you’re case.

But here’s where it gets complicated (and expensive for your future). If prosecutors also charge you with 18 USC 924(c), that’s a whole different situation. Section 924(c) applies when you use or carry a firearm “during and in relation to” a drug trafficking crime or crime of violence. The mandatory minimum for 924(c) is 5 years, and it runs consecutive to whatever your base sentence is. That means the 5 years gets added on top, not folded into your overall sentence.

So in that scenario, your looking at: 24 months for the 922(g) possession charge + 60 months for the 924(c) enhancement = 84 months total. That’s 7 years mandatory before any other factors come into play. And if the gun was brandished (pointed or displayed), the mandatory minimum jumps to 7 years consecutive. If it was discharged, 10 years consecutive. See how fast the time adds up?

The key word here is “mandatory.” When a statute says mandatory minimum, the judge doesn’t have a choice. Even if they think 7 years is excessive based on the facts of you’re case, even if they believe your remorseful and unlikely to reoffend, even if your a first-time offender with a family depending on you—the judge can’t sentence you below that floor. This is why federal firearm sentencing enhancements are so brutal compared to state gun charges.

Now here’s something most articles don’t tell you: prosecutors know this. They know the mandatory minimums create immense pressure on defendants to plead guilty. That’s why in many cases, the government will charge both 922(g) and 924(c) even when the connection between the gun and the crime is questionable. The legal standard for 924(c) is that the firearm was used “in furtherance of” the underlying crime, but courts have interpreted that broadly—sometimes just having a gun in the same room during a drug deal is enough.

What you need to understand is whether your case actually meets the in furtherance standard or if prosecutors are overcharging to create plea leverage. If the gun was unloaded in a locked safe in another room, thats different than a gun on the table during a transaction. If your attorney isn’t challenging the 924(c) charge in the early stages, you need to know why. (More on lawyer competency later—because this is where alot of defense attorneys fail there clients.)

How Prior Convictions Add Years Through ACCA and Career Offender Status

If you thought mandatory minimums were harsh, wait until you hear about the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). This is where your past literally multiplies your sentence. Under ACCA, if you’re convicted of possessing a firearm under 922(g) and you have three prior convictions for violent felonies or serious drug offenses, the mandatory minimum jumps from 10 years to 15 years. That’s a 50% increase just because of cases that might be 10 or 15 years old.

But here’s where it gets intresting (and this is where alot of lawyers either don’t know the law or don’t fight hard enough): what counts as a “violent felony” varies depending on which federal circuit your in. The 5th Circuit (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi) has a relatively narrow definition after the Supreme Court’s decision in Borden v. United States (2021). A Texas burglary conviction, for example, might not count as a violent felony anymore in the 5th Circuit, but the same conviction absolutely counts in the 4th Circuit (Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia).

This isn’t some abstract legal theory—this is the diffrence between 10 years and 15 years of your life. If you have questionable ACCA predicates and you’re case is in a circuit with favorable precedent, your lawyer should be filing a motion to dismiss the ACCA enhancement immediately. If they’re not doing this, you need to ask why. Is it because the law is unclear? Or is it because they haven’t researched the recent case law? (I’ve seen both, and the latter is unforgivable.)

Let me give you a real example. Say you was convicted in 2008 for burglary of a habitation in Texas, in 2010 for aggravated assault, and in 2013 for delivery of cocaine. The government charges you with 922(g) in 2025 after finding a gun in your car. Prosecutors will likely file a notice that your facing ACCA’s 15-year mandatory minimum based off those three priors. But here’s what your lawyer should be investigating:

1. Does the Texas burglary conviction meet the current definition of “violent felony” under Borden and subsequent 5th Circuit cases? Many Texas burglary statutes don’t require violent entry, which might exclude them post-Borden.
2. Was the aggravated assault conviction based on recklessness or intent? The Supreme Court’s decision in Borden held that crimes requiring only reckless conduct don’t qualify as violent felonies. If your assault was reckless (say, a car accident that resulted in serious injury), it might not count.
3. Do all three convictions meet the temporal requirement? ACCA requires that the convictions be “committed on occasions different from one another.” If two of the cases stemmed from the same incident or time period, they might not count as seperate predicates.

This is detailed work. It requires pulling court records, reading jury instructions, analyzing state statute elements, and comparing them to federal circuit case law. If your attorney isn’t doing this—or worse, if they tell you “ACCA definitely applies” without showing you the research—you might be getting bad advice. Because challenging ACCA predicates has a sucess rate of around 20-25% in defense-friendly circuits when the work is done properly. That’s one in four chances of shaving off 5 years. Would you take those odds?

Beyond ACCA, there’s also the career offender enhancement under the federal sentencing guidelines. If you’re convicted of a felony that’s either a crime of violence or a controlled substance offense, and you have at least two prior felony convictions for crimes of violence or controlled substance offenses, you get categorized as a career offender. This doesn’t carry a mandatory minimum like ACCA, but it dramatically increases your guideline range—often adding 10-15 years to the recommended sentence.

The good news (if there is any) is that career offender status is based on the sentencing guidelines, not a mandatory statute. That means judges have more discretion to vary downward. The bad news is that most judges don’t vary significantly from career offender ranges because they view these defendants as exactly what the name implies: career criminals. Your attorney’s job is to present mitigation evidence that rebuts this characterization—stable employment, family support, addiction treatment, time elapsed since the last conviction. If they’re not preparing this kind of sentencing presentation, you’re leaving years on the table.

The First 30 Days: Critical Decisions That Lock In Your Sentence

Most people don’t realize this, but the first month after your arrested is when your case is won or lost. Not at trial, not at sentencing—right now, in the initial decisions about detention, discovery, and plea negotiations. Let me walk you through the timeline and the decisions you need to be making (or demanding your lawyer make).

72-Hour Detention Window

When you’re arrested on federal charges, the government has up to 3 business days to present their detention arguments to a magistrate judge. This is you’re first—and sometimes only—chance at getting released on bond before trial. In gun cases, particularly those with enhancements, prosecutors almost always argue for detention. They’ll claim your a danger to the community or a flight risk. But here’s what most defendants don’t know: judges who recieve substantive defense filings before the government’s detention memo are significantly more likely to grant bond.

What does that mean practically? If you’re arrested Thursday evening, you’ll probably have a detention hearing Monday or Tuesday. The AUSA (Assistant US Attorney) will submit their detention memo Monday morning. If your lawyer files a Greyson factors memo—that’s a filing that addresses danger to community, risk of flight, health conditions, family ties—by Friday morning, the judge reads your side first. According to data from federal defenders offices, defendants whose attorneys file early detention memos have about a 40% higher bond success rate than those whose lawyers just show up and argue orally at the hearing.

Why does this matter? Because being detained pretrial puts you at a massive disadvantage. You can’t help with your defense, can’t work with your lawyer as effectively, and—most importantly—you’re under immense pressure to take a plea deal just to get out. Prosecutors know this. That’s why they fight so hard for detention. Every week you sit in county jail is another week your more likely to plead guilty regardless of the strength of they’re case.

So your first question to your lawyer should be: “Are you filing a detention memo before the hearing?” If they say “I’ll just argue at the hearing,” that’s a red flag. Demand they put something in writing for the judge to review in advance.

Fast Track Programs (Border Districts Only)

If you’re charged in a border district—Southern District of Texas, District of Arizona, District of New Mexico—there’s a program called Fast Track that almost nobody explains correctly. Here’s how it works: if you plead guilty to a 922(g) charge within 60 days of indictment, you get a 4-level reduction off your sentencing guidelines. Depending on your criminal history, that’s typically a 3-4 year reduction in actual prison time.

Sounds great, right? But there’s a catch—actually, several catches. First, Fast Track doesn’t apply to 924(c) charges. So if you’re facing both 922(g) and 924(c), pleading guilty to get Fast Track doesn’t reduce the mandatory 5-year consecutive sentence from the 924(c). Second, Fast Track is only available if you have fewer then 3 criminal history points in most districts. If you’re criminal history puts you in Category III or higher, your not eligible. Third, the 60-day window is firm. If you spend 45 days reviewing discovery and filing motions, you might miss the deadline and lose the 4-level reduction.

This creates a brutal calculus. Should you accept Fast Track and plead guilty immediately to save 3-4 years? Or should you take time to investigate whether the search that found the gun was illegal, whether the government can prove you knew about the gun, whether you even qualify as a prohibited person? If you have a strong suppression motion, you might be able to get the whole case dismissed. But if you wait to file that motion and it loses, you’ve also lost Fast Track.

Here’s the tactical insight most lawyers won’t explain: Fast Track is designed to pressure defendants into quick pleas without meaningful review of the case. The government saves money on trial preparation, the probation office saves time on presentence reports, and prosecutors boost there conviction rates. Your 4-level reduction is they’re cost-benefit calculation, not a gift. So before you accept Fast Track, your lawyer needs to answer these questions:

1. Is the search that found the gun defensible? If police searched your car without consent and without probable cause, that’s potentially a winning suppression motion. Winning that motion = case dismissed. Losing the motion but having filed it = leverage for a better plea offer, though you’ve lost Fast Track.
2. Can the government prove you’re a prohibited person? Prosecutors have to prove you knew you were a convicted felon at the time of possession. If your prior conviction was reduced to a misdemeanor or expunged in state court, the federal prohibition might not apply.
3. Is there a question about whether you “possessed” the gun? If it was in a shared vehicle or residence, the government has to prove you knew it was there and had control over it. That’s not always easy for them to prove.

If the answer to any of those is “maybe,” you need to at least spend 2-3 weeks investigating before you throw away potential defenses for a Fast Track reduction. On the other hand, if the gun was in you’re pocket when you were arrested and you’re clearly a prohibited person, Fast Track might be the smartest move. The point is: your lawyer should be explaining this calculus to you, not just saying “Take Fast Track, it’s a good deal.”

Plea Deadline Arbitrage

Here’s something prosecutors don’t want you to know: they’re plea offers get better as the trial date approaches, but only if you’ve shown you’re willing to fight. AUSAs have internal metrics requiring conviction rates above 85% (federal conviction rate overall is around 98%). Cases that go to trial cost money—ATF agents have to testify, forensic experts have to prepare reports, prosecutors have to spend weeks on trial prep instead of managing there caseloads of 60-80 other cases.

If your case is set for trial in 90 days, the AUSA’s first plea offer might be 8 years on a 10-year mandatory charge. That sounds like a “deal” because it’s below the mandatory minimum, right? Wrong. They’re offering 8 years because they know that if you go to trial and lose, the judge will give you the full 10 years (and possibly more with enhancements). But if your lawyer files a strong suppression motion, interviews witnesses, and conducts meaningful discovery review, the AUSA’s calculus changes. Thirty days before trial, when they realize they might actually have to try the case, that 8-year offer might become 6 years. Or 5 years with a recommendation for a sentence reduction under the safety valve provision.

According to data from the Southern District of Texas (one of the busiest federal districts for gun cases), cases that proceed to the final 30 days before trial see an average reduction of 18 months in plea offers compared to early pleas accepted in month 2. But—and this is critical—that only works if your lawyer has done the work. If you haven’t filed any motions, if you haven’t challenged anything, the AUSA knows you’re not serious about going to trial. There’s no incentive for them to improve the offer.

So the question you need to ask your lawyer is: “What motions are we filing?” If the answer is “None, we should just take the plea,” you might be leaving years on the table. At minimum, your lawyer should be filing a motion to suppress evidence if there’s any question about the search, a motion to dismiss if there’s a legal challenge to the charges, and a sentencing memo if you’re going to plead guilty. These aren’t just academic exercises—they’re leverage.

The Government’s Cost Calculation

Let me pull back the curtain on something prosecutors think about but never say out loud: every case has a cost, and some cases cost more then others. If your case requires three ATF agents to testify about chain of custody for the firearm, a ballistics expert to testify about the gun’s operability, and an interstate commerce expert to establish that the gun traveled across state lines (required element for federal jurisdiction), the government’s cost to prosecute is easily $15,000-$25,000 per trial day. That includes salary, travel, per diem, report preparation time, and expert witness fees.

Contrast that with a simple 922(g) case where the defendant was arrested with the gun in his waistband and admitted ownership. That case requires one testifying officer and costs the government maybe $3,000 to try. Which defendant do you think gets the better plea offer? The one whose case costs $25,000 to prosecute, or the one whose case costs $3,000? Your lawyer should be identifying every element the government has to prove and every witness they’ll need, then using that as negotiating leverage. If your case is expensive for them to try, that’s your leverage to get a better deal.

What Your Lawyer Should Be Doing (But Might Not)

This is the section I wish I didn’t have to write, but I’ve seen too many people get sentenced to excessive time because there lawyer didn’t do the work. Not because the lawyer was malicious, but because they were overworked, underpaid (in the case of public defenders), or frankly just not that good. So let’s talk about what competent federal gun defense actually looks like, so you can evaluate whether your getting it.

Suppression Motion Research (Week 1-2)

Within the first two weeks after you’re retained or appointed, your lawyer should be researching whether the search that found the gun was legal. This means:

• Getting the police report and any body cam or dash cam footage
• Interviewing you about exactly what happened during the stop and search
• Researching Fourth Amendment case law in your circuit about vehicle searches, consent searches, or plain view doctrine
• Determining if there’s a viable motion to suppress

If there’s even a 20% chance of winning a suppression motion, it’s worth filing. Why? Because winning means the case gets dismissed. Losing still gives you leverage—you’ve forced the government to put there witnesses on the stand under oath before trial, which locks in there testimony and exposes weaknesses. You’ve also shown the prosecutor that your willing to fight, which improves plea negotiations.

What does a bad lawyer do? They read the police report, see that you consented to the search, and assume that’s the end of the inquiry. But consent can be challenged if it was coerced, if you didn’t understand you could refuse, or if police exceeded the scope of you’re consent. A good lawyer investigates those details. A bad lawyer accepts the police narrative at face value.

Cooperation Evaluation (Week 2-3)

Here’s a tough truth: cooperation is often the fastest way to reduce a federal sentence, but it comes with massive personal risks. If you cooperate with the government (meaning you provide information about other people involved in criminal activity), you can receive a substantial sentence reduction. But cooperation requires testifying in other people’s trials, being labeled a snitch, potentially relocating through witness protection, and living with the fear that you’ve put yourself or you’re family at risk.

So the question isn’t “Should I cooperate?” The question is “Do I have information valuable enough to justify the cost?” And most defendants don’t realize this: the government only values cooperation that targets enterprise-level criminals. If you can give them 10 names of low-level drug dealers, that’s worth maybe 6 months off you’re sentence—not worth the risk. If you can give them one supplier with a distribution network responsible for $100,000+ in drug proceeds or 10+ kilograms of narcotics, that’s worth 3-5 years off—that might be worth it.

Your lawyer should be evaluating this equation with you honestly, not just saying “Let’s see if you can cooperate.” What information do you have? Who does it target? What’s the forfeiture value or drug quantity involved? If your information doesn’t meet the threshold, cooperation isn’t a realistic option, and your lawyer needs to tell you that upfront instead of letting you burn relationships for minimal benefit.

Criminal History Verification (Week 3-4)

The probation office will prepare a Presentence Investigation Report (PSR) that calculates your criminal history score. They get their information from FBI databases, state court records, and sometimes inaccurate sources. I’ve seen PSRs that list dismissed charges as convictions, count diversions as guilty pleas, and miscalculate dates to make old convictions appear more recent. Your lawyer’s job is to verify every single prior conviction in that PSR, because one incorrectly categorized prior can add 2-3 years to your sentence.

This requires pulling court records from every jurisdiction where you were convicted, reviewing the elements of each offense, and comparing them to federal definitions. It’s tedious work. It’s time-consuming. And alot of lawyers don’t do it until the week before sentencing, when it’s to late to gather all the documentation needed to challenge errors. If your lawyer isn’t requesting your criminal history records within the first month, that’s a problem.

Sentencing Memo Preparation (30-45 Days Pre-Sentencing)

Federal judges sentence hundreds of defendants every year. Unless you’re case is particularly unique or you’re attorney makes it memorable, you’re just another case number. A good sentencing memo is the difference between a judge seeing you as a person with context, struggles, and potential for rehabilitation—or seeing you as a criminal history category and a guideline range.

A strong sentencing memo includes:

1. Personal history: childhood trauma, addiction issues, mental health treatment, employment history
2. Mitigation factors: family support (letters from spouse, parents, employer), community ties, stable housing
3. Legal arguments: why the guidelines overstate the seriousness of the offense, why a variance is warranted, comparison to similar cases with lower sentences
4. Rehabilitation plan: what you’ll do differently after release, treatment programs your willing to participate in, reentry support

This is where your lawyer humanizes you. If they file a 3-page generic memo that just says “My client is sorry and asks for leniency,” they’ve failed you. A proper sentencing memo is 15-25 pages with supporting documentation. It’s the single most important filing your lawyer will make, and yet its the one that gets shortchanged most often because lawyers are juggling multiple cases with overlapping deadlines.

Ask your lawyer: “When are you starting my sentencing memo?” If the answer is “A week before the hearing,” push them to start earlier. You need time to gather letters of support, collect medical records, document treatment history, and write your own letter to the judge. That doesn’t happen in one week.

The Cost Reality

Let’s address the elephant in the room: federal defense attorneys cost $15,000-$100,000 depending on the complexity of the case. Most people facing federal charges don’t have that kind of money. So what do you do? You get a court-appointed attorney—either a federal public defender or a CJA panel attorney (Criminal Justice Act attorney who takes court appointments).

Are public defenders good? In many districts, yes. Federal public defenders are often some of the best criminal defense attorneys because they handle federal cases exclusively and have resources (investigators, paralegals, expert witnesses) that private attorneys don’t. But they’re also overworked, handling 50-80 cases at once. That means you won’t get the same individual attention you’d get from a private attorney handling 10-15 cases.

So when is it worth paying for a private attorney? If your case involves complex legal issues (ACCA predicates, interstate commerce challenges, unusual suppression arguments), if you’re facing career offender or ACCA enhancements that require detailed mitigation, or if you need an attorney who can devote significant time to trial preparation—private counsel is worth the cost if you can afford it. If your case is relatively straightforward and your primarily concerned about minimizing the sentence through cooperation or a fast plea, a federal public defender can do that job well.

What you can’t afford is a lazy attorney, whether public or private. If your attorney isn’t returning your calls, isn’t explaining the options, isn’t filing motions or challenging the government’s case—you need to file a motion for substitution of counsel. Yes, that delays your case. Yes, it creates tension. But better a delayed case with competent counsel than a fast guilty plea with decades of your life on the line.

After Sentencing: Relief Options Nobody Tells You About

Most people think sentencing is the end of the case. It’s not. There are several post-conviction remedies that can reduce your sentence, sometimes by years. But these remedies have timing windows, and if you miss them, you’re stuck serving the full sentence. So let’s talk about what’s available and when you need to act.

First Step Act 924(c) Stacking Relief

Before 2018, if you were convicted of multiple 924(c) counts, they “stacked”—meaning the second 924(c) count carried a 25-year mandatory minimum on top of the first 5-year minimum. So two 924(c) counts meant 30 years mandatory. The First Step Act changed this, making stacking apply only to defendants with prior 924(c) convictions, not multiple counts in the same case. And critically, the law made this change retroactive.

If you were sentenced before December 21, 2018 with stacked 924(c) counts, you can file a motion for sentence reduction under Section 403 of the First Step Act. Judges have discretion to reduce your sentence to what it would have been under the new law. According to the US Sentencing Commission, about 73% of these motions are granted if filed within 2 years of eligibility. After 3+ years, the success rate drops to 31% because judges view later filers as less credible about rehabilitation.

If this applies to you, file now. Don’t wait until you’ve served 10+ years and then ask for relief. Courts assume that someone who waits years to file is desperate, not reformed. Someone who files within the first 2 years is seen as taking advantage of a legal remedy they’re entitled to. Perception matters in judicial discretion.

Compassionate Release

Compassionate release used to be almost impossible to get. Before the First Step Act, only the Bureau of Prisons could initiate compassionate release motions, and they almost never did. The First Step Act changed this, allowing defendants to file directly with the court after exhausting administrative remedies (asking the warden first).

Compassionate release is available for:

• Medical conditions: Terminal illness, severe chronic conditions that can’t be treated in prison, or COVID-19 vulnerability (this was used extensively in 2020-2021 but less so now)
• Family circumstances: Death or incapacitation of a caregiver for your minor children, elderly parents with no other caregiver, or spouse with terminal illness
• Extraordinary rehabilitation: Some circuits allow compassionate release based on exceptional post-sentencing rehabilitation, particularly for defendants who were juveniles at the time of the offense

The key is “extraordinary and compelling reasons.” You can’t just say “I miss my family” or “I’ve been a model inmate.” You need documentation—medical records, letters from doctors explaining why in-prison care is inadequate, proof that family members have no other caregiver options, evidence of rehabilitation like educational certificates, work history, and program completions.

Compassionate release has about a 25-30% success rate across federal districts, but it varies wildly by judge. Some judges have granted 60-70% of compassionate release motions in there courtrooms, while others have granted fewer then 5%. Your lawyer needs to research you’re specific judge’s track record on compassionate release before filing, because a denied motion often means you can’t file again for 12-18 months.

Constitutional Challenges Post-Bruen

In 2022, the Supreme Court decided New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which dramatically changed Second Amendment law. Bruen held that gun regulations must be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. This has opened the door to constitutional challenges of federal gun laws, including some sentencing enhancements.

For example, some defendants are arguing that 922(g)(1)—the prohibition on felons possessing firearms—is unconstitutional as applied to non-violent felons. If you were convicted of a non-violent drug offense 20 years ago, should you really be subject to a lifetime ban on firearm possession? Under Bruen, the government has to show that this prohibition is consistent with historical tradition. Courts are split on this, but there’s now a viable argument where there wasn’t one before 2022.

Similarly, some defendants are challenging the application of 924(c) enhancements in cases where the firearm was possessed for self-defense or was unloaded. These challenges are in they’re early stages, and most are losing, but the legal ground is shifting. If your facing a long sentence based off a gun enhancement, its worth researching whether a Bruen challenge could apply to you’re case. Even if the challenge loses at the district court level, it preserves the issue for appeal.

Gun Rights Restoration

If you’re convicted of a federal gun charge, you lose your right to possess firearms for life. But in some cases, you can get those rights restored. This is seperate from your criminal sentence—it’s a post-conviction proceeding that typically happens years after your released from prison.

Federal law allows gun rights restoration if:

1. Your conviction is expunged or set aside under state law
2. You receive a pardon from the President (federal conviction) or Governor (state conviction)
3. You’re conviction is overturned on appeal

Some states also have procedures to restore gun rights for state convictions, which can sometimes affect federal prohibitions. The process varies by state and typically costs $750-$3,000 in legal fees, according to gun rights restoration services. But it’s not automatic, and it’s not fast—expect 1-2 years for the process to complete. If having firearm rights restored is important to you (for hunting, employment, or personal protection), talk to a lawyer about eligibility and timing.

Making The Decision: What You Need To Do Right Now

If your reading this, your probably in one of three situations: you’ve been arrested and are waiting for you’re detention hearing. Your out on bond and deciding whether to take a plea offer. Or your already sentenced and looking for post-conviction relief. Here’s what you need to do in each scenario, broken down into actual steps you can take today:

If You’ve Just Been Arrested:

1. Demand your lawyer file a detention memo before the hearing. Don’t accept “I’ll just argue in court.”
2. If your in a border district, ask about Fast Track eligibility and deadlines—but don’t commit until your lawyer has reviewed the search and seizure issues.
3. Write down everything you remember about the stop and search while its fresh. Police reports are written to justify the search, not to reflect what actually happened. You’re memory matters.
4. Don’t talk to anyone about your case except your lawyer. Not your cellmate, not your family on recorded jail calls, not anyone. Federal prosecutors use jail calls and informant testimony constantly.

If You’re Deciding on a Plea Offer:

1. Ask your lawyer: What motions have we filed? If the answer is “none,” ask why. If the answer is unsatisfactory, consider whether you’re getting competent representation.
2. Understand exactly what your pleading guilty to. Is it just 922(g), or are you also pleading to 924(c)? What’s the mandatory minimum? What’s the guideline range? Don’t sign anything until you can explain these numbers to a family member.
3. Ask about cooperation. Is it an option? What would it require? What’s it worth in sentence reduction? Be realistic about the risks.
4. Get a second opinion if possible. Many federal defense attorneys offer free consultations for people already represented who want another lawyer’s perspective. It might cost you nothing to get another set of eyes on you’re case.

If You’re Already Sentenced:

1. Check if you’re eligible for First Step Act relief. Were you sentenced before December 21, 2018 with multiple 924(c) counts? If yes, file within 2 years of becoming eligible—don’t wait.
2. Document everything that happens in prison. Program completions, work assignments, educational achievements, disciplinary record (or lack thereof). This becomes your evidence for compassionate release or sentence reduction motions.
3. Research Bruen challenges. Are other defendants in your circuit filing constitutional challenges to gun enhancements? If so, it might be worth consulting with an appellate attorney about your options.
4. Stay in contact with your sentencing attorney or hire a post-conviction lawyer. Most federal defenders don’t handle post-conviction work, so you might need to find a private attorney. But don’t wait until your desperate—build the relationship early.

Look, I’m not going to tell you that federal gun charges are easy to beat or that there’s some secret trick prosecutors don’t want you to know. The reality is that federal gun cases have a very high conviction rate, and mandatory minimums limit judicial discretion. But—and this is important—there are decision points where smart strategy saves years of your life. Understanding what enhancements actually mean, knowing when to push for trial and when to negotiate, evaluating your lawyer’s competence, and pursuing post-conviction relief when your eligible…these aren’t guarantees, but they’re the difference between serving 15 years and serving 8. Or between 8 and 5. That’s time with your family, time to rebuild your life, time that matters.

So make the calls. Ask the hard questions. Don’t accept the first answer if it doesn’t make sense. And don’t assume your lawyer knows more than they do—sometimes they don’t, and your life is to important to just trust the process. This is your case. Make them explain it until you understand it.