Older White-Collar Defendants Likely to Cite Change to Sentencing Guidelines
Older people convicted of white-collar and other federal crimes will likely be citing new U.S. sentencing guidelines scheduled to take effect Nov. 1.
The guidelines say age may be relevant in calculating sentencing ranges, Bloomberg reports. Current guidelines say age is “not ordinarily relevant.”
The story notes that white-collar defendants tend to be older than those accused of other federal crimes. Nearly half of the defendants sentenced in tax cases last year were over age 50, as were about 28 percent of the defendants sentenced for money laundering crimes.
Jeff Ifrah, co-author of Federal Sentencing for Business Crimes, told Bloomberg that long sentences “can turn into death sentences for individuals who are older.” He predicted more defendants will be seeking departures from the guidelines as a result of the change.
