Jacksonville Federal Crime Defense: Middle District of Florida

Jacksonville Federal Crime Defense: Middle District of Florida

The moment federal agents knock on you’re door, everything changes.

Maybe it’s the FBI executing a search warrant at your buisness. Maybe its a target letter in the mail. Or federal prosecutors calling your attorney about a grand jury subpeona. Whatever the trigger—your facing the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Jacksonville Division, and the decisions you make in the first 48 hours will determine weather you spend the next decade in federal prison or weather you have any chance of avoiding charges alltogether. Unlike state court where you might get probation, federal convictions come with mandatory minimums, no parole (you serve 85% of you’re sentence), and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines that calculate your time down to the month. The US Attorney’s Office in Jacksonville has a 95% conviction rate. Their not bringing charges unless they beleive they can win.

Federal Agents Want to Talk to You—Should You?

Look, here’s the thing about federal investigations. By the time FBI agents show up at you’re house or workplace, they’ve probly been investigating you for months, maybe years. There building a case, collecting evidence—emails, financial records, recorded phone calls, witness statements. And now they want to interview you. They’ll say things like, “We just want to hear your side of the story,” or “This is your chance to clear things up.” They might even say your not a target, just a witness.

Should you talk to them?

The answer is almost allways no—not without an attorney present. Here’s why. Under 18 USC Section 1001, making a false statement to a federal agent is itself a seperate federal crime, even if your innocent of whatever their investigating. You don’t have to be under oath. You don’t have to sign anything. If you missremember a date, if you get confused about a meeting, if you forget who was present at a conversation three years ago—and what you say contradicts other evidence—your now facing false statement charges on top of whatever else they’re investigating. And here’s the catch: anything you say to federal agents cannot be used to help you at trial (hearsay rules), but it can be used against you. Your literally taking on risk with zero potential benifit.

Federal agents don’t record interviews—they take notes and later write up a report called a 302. That 302 is there version of what you said, and if you later testify differently at trial, they’ll use the 302 to impeach you.

Even if your completely innocent, even if you think you have nothing to hide, talking to federal agents without a attorney is a mistake that’s destroyed countless cases. Between you and I, this is where alot of federal charges originate—not from the underlying conduct, but from the statments made during the investigation.

So what should you say if federal agents contact you? Somthing simple: “I want to speak with an attorney before I answer any questions.” That’s it. Your not being rude. Your not admitting guilt. Your exercising your constitutional rights. Then you call a federal criminal defense attorney immediatly. If you recieve a target letter—a letter from the US Attorney’s Office informing you that your the target of a grand jury investigation—that’s even more urgent. Target letters usually mean there considering charging you, and you have a very breif window to respond, possibly convince them not to bring charges, or begin preparing your defense.

In 2025, federal investigations use technology you might not expect. Geofence warrants pull location data for everyone near a crime scene. Cell site simulators (called “Stingrays”) track your phone’s location. Encripted messaging apps like Signal and WhatsApp—federal prosecutors are supoenaing those records now. Social media posts from years ago are being entered as evidence. The sophistication of federal investigations has increased dramaticly, and the window to make good decisions has gotten smaller. This isn’t something you can handle on you’re own, irregardless of how smart you think you are or how innocent you beleive you are.

Middle District of Florida: Why Jacksonville Federal Court is Different

Federal court isn’t one uniform system—each district operates differently, and if your case is in Jacksonville, your entering the Jacksonville Division of the Middle District of Florida. The courthouse is the Bryan Simpson United States Courthouse at 300 North Hogan Street in downtown Jacksonville. This isn’t the Southern District of Florida (Miami) or the Northern District (Tallahassee). Its a completly seperate district with its own prosecutors, judges, local rules, and charactoristics.

The Jacksonville Division serves twelve counties: Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Duval, Flagler, Hamilton, Nassau, Putnam, St. Johns, Suwannee, and Union.

If your federal charge originated in any of these countys, your case will be heard in Jacksonville, not Tampa or Orlando (which are other divisions within the Middle District). Why does this matter? Because Jacksonville operates differenly than other federal courts in Florida. The jury pool in Jacksonville is more conservative then Tampa or Miami. There’s a significant military and law enforcement presense in Duval County becuase of Naval Station Jacksonville, which effects jury composition. Jacksonville is also a major shipping port, so port-related crimes (drug trafficing, customs violations, smuggeling) are more common here. And the I-95 corridor runs right through—alot of interstate drug cases originate from traffic stops in Clay, St. Johns, or Duval countys.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida has offices in Jacksonville at 300 North Hogan Street, same building as the courthouse. These are the federal prosecutors who will handle you’re case—Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSAs) who specalize in federal criminal law.

In 2025, there priorities include fentanyl trafficking, healthcare fraud, firearms offenses, child exploitation, and COVID-era fraud (PPP loan fraud, EIDL fraud). If you’re case falls into one of these catagories, expect agressive prosecution.

On the defense side, the Federal Defender’s Office for the Middle District of Florida has a Jacksonville office at 200 West Forsyth Street, BB&T Tower, Suite 1240 (phone: 904-232-3039). Federal defenders are not like state public defenders—they’re highly experianced specialists who handle only federal criminal cases. They have investigators, paralegals, and access to experts. If you can’t afford a private attorney, the federal defender you’ll be appointed is likly very good. That said, private attorneys who practice regularly in the Middle District have institutional knowlege about specific judges’ tendencies, which AUSAs are more willing to negociate, and how Jacksonville juries typically respond to certain defenses. This knowlege can’t be found online—its the result of years of practice in this specific courthouse.

The Middle District has its own Local Rules that supplement the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. These local rules cover everythng from motion formatting to notice requirements to sealed document procedures. Attorneys who don’t regularly practice in the Middle District sometimes make procedural errors that hurt there clients’ cases—missing deadlines, filing motions incorrectly, or failing to follow local customs that judges expect.

So basically, if your case is in Jacksonville, you want a attorney who knows Jacksonville federal court, not just federal court generally.

The Pre-Indictment Window: Your Best Chance to Avoid Charges

Here’s something most people don’t relize: the time between when federal investigators start looking at you and when there actually charged (the indictment) can be six months, a year, even three years or more. This is called the pre-indictment phase, and its the single most important window in you’re entire case.

Why?

Because once your indicted—once formal charges are filed—your negotiating power drops dramaticaly. But before the indictment, you have options.

During the pre-indictment phase, federal prosecutors and agents is building there case. Their interviewing witnesses. Their reviewing financial records. Their executing search warrants. Their presenting evidence to a grand jury. And their deciding weather to bring charges. This is when a experianced federal defense attorney can intervine, somtimes convincing prosecutors not to charge you at all. How? Through a declination letter.

A declination letter is a detailed submission to the prosecutor explaining why charges should not be brought—legal defenses, factual innacuracies in the investigation, mitigating circumstances, lack of criminal intent. Its basically arguing you’re case before charges are filed. Does it allways work? No. But its worked in cases I’ve seen (and I mean that). The key is having a attorney who understands federal prosecutorial priorities, knows the specific AUSA handling the investigation, and can present you’re situation in a way that makes the prosecutor think, “Maybe this isn’t worth our resources.” Because federal prosecutors have limited resources, and their making calculations about which cases to bring based on strength of evidence, seriousness of conduct, and availibility of resources.

Another pre-indictment option is cooperation. If you have information about other targets that federal prosecutors want, you might be able to negociate a cooperation agreement before charges are filed—or even avoid charges entirely in exchange for your cooperation. This is very diffrent from cooperating after your charged. Pre-indictment cooperation gives you more leverage becuase your not yet a defendant, and prosecutors might be willing to give you immunity or charge you with a lesser offense in exchange for substancial assistance.

Pre-indictment representation isn’t cheap—expect to pay $20,000 to $50,000 or more. But consider the alternative: if charges are brought, your looking at $50,000 to $150,000 for trial representation, plus the possibility of years in federal prison. Spending money on a attorney during the pre-indictment phase might save you from charges alltogether, or at minimum, position you for the best possible outcome if charges do come.

Irregardless of the cost, this is not the time to go it alone.

If you recieve a grand jury subpeona—either for documents or to testify—that’s a clear sign your in the pre-indictment phase. Grand juries are used to investigate federal crimes and issue indictments. If your subpeonaed, you need a attorney immediatly. Even if your subpeonaed as a witness (not a target), anything you say to the grand jury can be used against you later, and false statements to a grand jury are perjury. An attorney can help you assert your Fifth Amendment rights if neccesary, negociate the scope of document production, and advise you on weather to testify.

Somtimes prosecutors will offer a proffer session—a meeting where you provide information about the case in exchange for limited immunity. The agreement usually states that what you say in the proffer can’t be used against you in the governments case-in-chief, but it can be used for other purposes (like impeachment if you testify differently later). Proffer sessions are high-risk. Your revealing you’re knowledge of the case, and if you lie or missstate facts, you’ve just given the government more ammunition.

Never, and I mean never, attend a proffer session without a attorney, and even then, only if you’re attorney beleives its strategicly wise.

Should You Cooperate? The Math and Reality of Federal Cooperation

Okay, so lets talk about the decision that will probly keep you up at night more then any other: should you cooperate with federal prosecutors?

I mean, seriously—this is the biggest, most gut-wrenching decision in the entire federal criminal process. And to understand it, you need to understand what cooperation actually means, what the math looks like, and what the emotional and practical realities are.

First, the legal framework. Federal cooperation is formalized through a 5K1.1 motion (if your case is charged) or a 18 USC Section 3553(e) motion (if your facing a mandatory minimum sentence). These are motions filed by the prosecutor—not you’re attorney, the prosecutor—asking the judge to reduce you’re sentence below the guideline range or below the mandatory minimum in exchange for your “substancial assistance” to the goverment. The prosecutor has compleat discretion on weather to file this motion. Your attorney can’t file it. The judge can’t order it.

Only the prosecutor decides if you’re cooperation is “substantial” enough to warant a 5K1.1 motion.

So what does “substancial assistance” mean? It means you provide information or testimony that helps the goverment investigate or prosecute other people. Your not just telling them what you know—your testifying at trials, grand jurys, detention hearings. Your sitting through debriefing sessions, sometimes for days or weeks. Your taking polygraph tests to verify you’re truthfullness. Your available for years after your own case is resolved because the case against the people you testified about might not go to trial for a long time. You become a goverment witness, and that means your life is entwined with federal prosecuters and agents for the forseeable future.

Now the math.

On average, cooperation can reduce you’re sentence by 40% to 50%. In some cases, even more—I’ve saw reductions from 15 years to 5 years. In rare cases, cooperaters receive probation even though the guidelines called for substantial prison time. But heres the thing: the amount of reduction depends on how valuable you’re information is. If you were low-level in a conspiracy and you dont have information about higher-ups, you’re cooperation might get you a modest reduction. If you were high-level and you provide information leading to the prosecution of other significant targets, you might get a masive reduction.

The goverment wants to move up the chain—they want bigger fish. If you can give them bigger fish, you’re cooperation is worth more.

Let me walk through a hypothetical to show you the math (and this is based off real cases). Lets say your charged with a federal drug conspirac involving fentanyl. You’re guideline sentencing range, based on drug quantity and you’re role in the offense, is 87 to 108 months (thats 7 to 9 years of you’re life). Your criminal history is Category I (no prior record), so your at the lower end of the guidelines. The prosecutor offers you a plea deal: plead guilty, cooperate fully, and they’ll file a 5K1.1 motion recomending a 50% reduction. That means instead of 87 to 108 months, your looking at roughly 44 to 54 months (about 3.5 to 4.5 years). If you dont cooperate, you go to trial. At trial, if your convicted (and remember, the trial conviction rate is about 85%), the judge might sentence you to the high end or even above the guidelines—lets say 120 months (10 years).

So your decision:

Cooperate: 44-54 months (roughly 4 years)
Don’t cooperate, accept plea offer: 87-108 months (roughly 7-9 years)
Go to trial and lose: 120+ months (10+ years)

The math seems obvius, right? Cooperate and save yourself years.

But heres were it gets emotionaly complicated. Who are you cooperating against? In many federal conspiracys, your co-defendants are people you know—friends, buisness partners, maybe even family. Cooperation means testifying against them. It means sitting on the witness stand, looking them in the eye, and telling the jury what they did. It means they’ll know you cooperated, there familys will know, mutual friends will know. The label “snitch” or “rat” will follow you, especially if your case involves certain communities or organizations were cooperation is seen as the ultimate betrayal.

And heres another reality: cooperation dosen’t garauntee a specific sentence. The prosecutor files the 5K1.1 motion, but the judge ultimatly decides how much to reduce you’re sentence. I’ve seen cases where the prosecutor recomended a 50% reduction, but the judge only gave 30%. I’ve seen cases were the defendant cooperated extensively, testified at multiple trials, and still recieved a significant prison sentance because the judge felt the underlieing conduct was to serious.

So your taking on the risks of cooperation—testifying, being labeled a cooperater, the emotional toll—without a garauntee of the exact outcome.

Then theres the proffer problem. When you first start cooperating, you’ll have a proffer session were you tell prosecutors everything you know. You sign a proffer agreement (sometimes called a “queen for a day” agreement) that says you’re statements cant be used against you in the goverments case-in-chief, but they can be used for other purposes—like impeachment if you later testify inconsistantly, or if you go to trial and present a defense inconsistant with what you said in the proffer. If you lie or withhold information during the proffer, the goverment can use that against you. So your revealing you’re entire knowledge of the case, and if the goverment decides you’re cooperation isn’t substancial enough, they can still prosecute you, and now they know everything.

Look, I’m not saying cooperation is always wrong—it isnt. In alot of cases, its the smart strategic move. The sentance reductions are real. The diffrence between 4 years and 10 years is enormous—thats you’re 30s vs. you’re 40s, thats being there for you’re kids’ childhood vs. missing it, thats rebuilding you’re life vs. coming out with nothing.

But you need to go into cooperation with you’re eyes open. You need to understand that its not just “give them some information.” Its a long-term commitment that will require you to testify, potentially against people you care about, and the emotional and social consequenses are real.

One more thing: not everyone has information valuable enough to cooperate. If you were on the perifery of a conspiracy, if you dont know the higher-ups, if you’re information dosen’t lead to new prosecutions, the goverment might not be intrested in you’re cooperation. And if they’re not intrested, theres no 5K1.1 motion, no sentence reduction. So you need to have a honest conversation with you’re attorney about weather you have information the goverment wants and weather cooperation is even a viable option.

Plea vs. Trial: The Expected Value Calculation

Alright, so lets say charges have been filed, and your now a defendant in the Middle District of Florida. You’ve been arraigned, conditions of release or detention have been set (more on that in a moment), and discovery has started. Your attorney has reviewed the evidence—thousands of pages of documents, financial records, recorded calls, witness statements.

Now comes the next major decision: do you accept a plea offer, or do you go to trial?

First, some data. Nationaly, aproximately 90% of federal criminal cases result in guilty pleas, not trials. Of the 10% that go to trial, the conviction rate is around 85%. So if you go to trial, theres about a 85% chance your convicted and a 15% chance your aquitted. These numbers vary depending on the type of case, the strength of the evidence, and other factors, but their a reasonable baseline.

So basically, trials are risky.

But heres were expected value comes in. Expected value is a concept from decison theory—you calculate the probibility-weighted outcomes of diferent choices. Lets walk through a example. Suppose you’re guideline sentencing range is 87 to 108 months (7-9 years). The prosecutor offers you a plea deal: plead guilty, and they’ll recomend a sentance of 60 months (5 years) because your accepting responsability (which earns you a 3-level reduction in the guidelines). If you go to trial and lose, the judge will probly sentence you at the high end or above the guidelines because you “rolled the dice” and made the goverment prove there case. Lets say the trial exposure is 120 months (10 years) if your convicted.

Now the calculation:

Accept plea: 60 months (garaunteed)
Go to trial: 15% chance of 0 months (aquital) + 85% chance of 120 months (conviction)
Expected value of trial: (0.15 × 0) + (0.85 × 120) = 102 months

So the expected value of going to trial is 102 months, compared to the garaunteed 60 months if you plead guilty. The diffrence is 42 months (3.5 years). Is a 15% chance of freedom worth risking a additional 42 months in prison?

For most people, the math says take the plea.

But expected value isnt the only consideration. What if your actually innocent? What if the goverments evidence is weak and you have a real shot at aquital? What if theres a strong suppresion motion that might get key evidence excluded, which could lead to dismissel of charges or a much better plea offer? These are non-mathmatical factors that change the calculus.

Lets talk about federal trials specifically. Federal trials are expensive—your looking at $100,000 to $300,000 for a attorney to take you’re case through trial, depending on the complexity and length of trial. Most federal trials last 1 to 3 weeks (some are shorter, some are much longer). The government has enormus resources—multiple AUSAs, FBI agents, expert witnesses, forensic accountents. Your defense team needs to match that, which means investigators, paralegals, expert witnesses, jury consultents. Its a masive undertaking.

Federal juries in Jacksonville, as I mentioned earlier, tend to be more conservative and pro-prosecution then in some other citys. The jury pool draws from the twelve counties in the Jacksonville Division, and many potential jurors have ties to military or law enforcement. This dosen’t mean you cant win—aquittals happen—but it does mean you’re defense strategy needs to account for the jury’s likely predispositions. An experianced trial attorney who knows Jacksonville juries will tailor there arguments accordingly.

Another factor: the acceptance of responsability reduction. If you plead guilty, you automaticly get a 3-level reduction in you’re offense level under the guidelines (which translates to a significant sentance reduction). If you go to trial and lose, you dont get that reduction. So the sentencing guidelines sentance after trial is higher then the guidelines sentance after a plea, even for the exact same conduct. This is why prosecutors can offer “better” plea deals—their baking in the acceptance of responsability reduction.

Now, when does the math say go to trial? A few scenerios:

1. Your actually innocent. If you truely didnt commit the crime, and the evidence is weak or circumstansial, you might have a real shot at aquital. Innocent people do get aquitted in federal court—it happens. But you need to be realistic about the evidence and listen to you’re attorney’s assesment.

2. Suppresion motion pending. If you have a strong motion to supress evidence (for example, evidence obtained through a illegal search), and if the judge grants the motion, the goverments case might fall apart. Sometimes the entire case depends on evidence from a search warant, and if that evidence is excluded, the goverment has to dismiss charges or offer a drasticly better plea deal.

3. Weak or incredible witness. If the goverments case relies heavily on a cooperating witness who has serioius credibility issues—extensive criminal history, inconsistant statements, motivation to lie—you might be able to destroy there credibility at trial and win aquital.

4. Trial exposure isnt much worse then plea offer. Somtimes the plea offer is only marginaly better then the likely sentance after trial. If the plea offer is 8 years and the trial exposure is 10 years, the diffrence is only 2 years—maybe worth the risk if you have a decent shot at aquital.

But if the plea offer is reasonable, the evidence against you is strong, and the trial exposure is significantly worse, the math usually says take the plea. It sucks—I get it. Pleading guilty when you dont think you did anything wrong, or when you think the goverment overcharged you, feels like giving up. But federal sentancing is real, federal prison is real, and adding years to you’re sentance because of pride or principle is a decision you’ll live with for a long time.

Jacksonville Federal Court Sentencing: What Actually Matters

So lets say you’ve plead guilty (or been convicted at trial). Now comes sentancing, and this is were the Federal Sentencing Guidelines come into play. The guidelines are a complex set of rules that calculate you’re sentance based on the offense, you’re role, the amount of loss (in fraud cases) or drug quantity (in drug cases), and you’re criminal history.

Heres what you need to know.

After you plead guilty or are convicted, the probation office prepares a Pre-Sentence Report (PSR). This is a detaled document that includes you’re background, the facts of the offense, the guideline calculation, and a recomended sentance. The PSR is incredably important because judges rely heavily on it. But heres the thing: PSRs often contain errors. Probation officers sometimes get facts wrong, miscalculate the guidelines, or include inacurate information about you’re criminal history. An experianced attorney will review the PSR line by line and file objections to any errors.

I’ve seen cases were correcting PSR errors reduced the guideline range by years.

The guideline calculation works like this. Every federal crime has a base offense level. For example, the base offense level for drug trafficing depends on the type and quantity of drugs. Then you add or subtract levels based on specific offense charactoristics—did you use a weapon? Were you a leader in the conspiracy? Was anyone injured? Did you obstruct justice? Each of these factors adds or subtracts levels. Then you get you’re total offense level.

Seperately, you have a criminal history category (I through VI) based on you’re prior convictions. If you have no criminal history, your Category I. If you have extensive priors, you might be Category IV, V, or VI. The combination of you’re total offense level and criminal history category determines you’re guideline range, which is a range of months (for example, 87 to 108 months).

If you plead guilty, you typically get a 3-level reduction for acceptance of responsability—but only if you plead early enough and dont engage in conduct that shows your not truely accepting responsability (like lieing at the plea hearing or minimizing you’re conduct). This 3-level reduction can mean the diffrence between 10 years and 7 years, so its huge.

Now, heres were things get intresting. The guidelines used to be mandatory, but in 2005, the Supreme Court decided United States v. Booker, which made the guidelines advisory. What does that mean? It means the judge has to calculate the guideline range, but the judge isnt bound by it. The judge can sentence below the guidelines (called a downward variance) or above (called a upward variance) based on the factors in 18 USC Section 3553(a), which include the nature of the offense, you’re history and charactoristics, the need for the sentance to reflect the seriousness of the offense, and other factors.

This gives judges enormus discresion, but it also means sentancing advocacy is critical. What does the judge want to see at sentancing? A few things:

1. Genuine remorse. Judges can tell the diffrence between someone who’s truely remorsful and someone who’s just sorry they got caught. If your going to allocute (speak at sentancing), it needs to be heartfelt and honest.

2. Acceptance of responsability. This goes beyond the 3-level reduction. It means taking full responsability for you’re conduct, not minimizing it, not blaming others.

3. Restitution and efforts to make amends. If you’re case involves financial losses, have you made any effort to pay restitution? Even partial restitution shows the judge your serious about making things right.

4. Rehabilitation efforts. Have you sought treatment for substance abuse? Have you been attending counselling? Have you been working and supporting you’re family? These show the judge your not a lost cause.

5. Letters of support. Letters from family, employers, community members, clergy—these humanize you to the judge. They show that your more then the worst thing you’ve done.

6. A strong sentancing memorandum. You’re attorney should file a detaled sentancing memorandum arguing for a lower sentance. This memorandum cites relevent case law, argues for downward variances or departures, and presents mitigating factors. A well-written sentancing memorandum can move the judge.

Jacksonville judges, like judges everywhere, have there own sentancing tendancys. Some judges sentence below the guidelines more frequently; others stick closer to the guidelines. Some judges are more sympathetic to first-time offenders; others focus more on the seriousness of the offense. You’re attorney should know the judge assigned to you’re case and tailor the sentancing strategy accordingly.

This is were local experiance matters—an attorney who’s appeared before the judge multiple times knows what arguments resonate and what falls flat.

One more thing: sentancing is often the last chance to effect you’re outcome. Even if you plead guilty, even if cooperation wasnt a option, even if the guidelines are high—good sentancing advocacy can still reduce you’re sentance by months or years. Its worth investing time and resources into preparing for sentancing. Dont assume the sentance is a foregone conclusion just because the guidelines say a certain range. Judges have discresion, and they use it.

Making Decisions in the Middle District

So here we are. You’ve walked through the journy from the first moment federal agents contacted you, through the pre-indictment phase, the charging decision, cooperation considerations, plea vs. trial calculations, and finaly sentancing.

Its alot. Its overwhelming.

And every decision along the way has consequences that can mean years of you’re life.

Heres what I want you to take away from all this: you have more control then you think, but only if you make informed decisions at the right times. The 95% conviction rate doesnt mean your case is hopeless—it means you need to be strategic. It means you need to understand the system, understand the calculations prosecutors and judges are making, and position yourself for the best possible outcome at each stage.

The Middle District of Florida, and specifically the Jacksonville Division, has its own charactoristics—different judges, different prosecutors, different jury pools. If you’re case is here, you need a attorney who knows this district, who practices in the Bryan Simpson Courthouse, who knows the AUSAs and the judges, who understands how Jacksonville juries think. Generic federal court experiance isnt enough.

You need Middle District experiance.

And you need to act quickly. The pre-indictment window is were the most leverage exists. Once charges are filed, you’re options narrow. Once you go to trial and lose, you’re options narrow even more. Time matters. Decisions matter. Every percentage point of sentance reduction matters when your talking about years of you’re life.

Federal criminal defense isnt about knowing the law—its about knowing the system, the players, the math, and the strategy. Its about making calculated decisions at each stage based on realistic assesments of risk and reward. And its about understanding that weather you cooperate, weather you go to trial, how you present yourself at sentancing—these things determine you’re future.