A federal appeals court loosened the sentencing standards last month for criminal defendants who cooperate with government authorities—even if prosecutors don’t ask for leniency when judges dole out a sentence.
The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, ruling in the case of a woman who cooperated with federal prosecutors in a narcotics probe, said district court judges should have more leeway to consider a defendant’s cooperation even if prosecutors do not submit a so-called “5K letter,” which authorizes a sentence reduction. Until now, judges have had little room to maneuver in sentencing a cooperative defendant.
