On February 5, 2025, Pamela Bondi was confirmed as the new United States Attorney General serving under President Trump. The same day, the Attorney General issued several memoranda to the Department of Justice regarding changes in operation and guidance on important matters. One of those memos, GENERAL POLICY REGARDING CHARGING, PLEA NEGOTIATIONS, AND SENTENCING, will have a significant impact on current and future federal criminal defense cases.

The United States Attorney General acts as the head of the U.S. Department of Justice and is the boss of all United States Attorneys throughout the country. The United States Attorneys are those responsible for prosecuting federal criminal cases. This new memorandum provides an outlook on how federal criminal cases will be handled by the government over the next few years, including some significant and harsh changes.

Charging Decisions

As we previously reported, the Department of Justice issued an interim policy change on charging decisions on January 21, 2025. The Attorney General’s newest memo reinforces the interim policy. Namely, federal prosecutors are instructed to seek and charge federal defendants with the most serious crimes readily provable. This includes seeking enhanced penalties under 21 U.S.C. § 851 and the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. § 924(e).

In addition, the new memo also rescinds prior guidance on not seeking enhanced penalties except under exceptional circumstances and not charging crack cocaine which is punished 18 times harsher than charging powder cocaine.

Plea Negotiations

Attorney General Bondi has also instructed federal prosecutors not to “abandon pending charges to achieve a plea bargain that is inconsistent” with the seriousness of the charges that were filed. The provides the offenses of racketeering and terrorism as examples, but its language is vague.

Under this guidance, plea bargaining for a lesser included offense or agreeing to plead guilty to charges in exchange for dismissal of more serious charges may only occur if there are “significant mitigating or intervening circumstances[.]” This may mark a dramatic shift from how plea bargaining is traditionally done in both state and federal criminal cases.

Sentencing

 According to the memo, the United States Government will advocate for a sentence within the Sentencing Guidelines in most cases. Whether this means the government will seek the top-end of the guidelines in the majority of cases like the interim January 2025 memo indicated remains to be seen.

Contact a Federal Criminal Defense Attorney

There have been a lot of changes over the past several weeks, and we can likely expect to see more. If you have received a target letter, have been recently charged, or have a federal criminal case, reach out to us today for a free consultation.