Federal Criminal Defense Glossary

Key U.S. federal criminal-defense terms, statutes, and rules defined, from the Sentencing Guidelines and the Bail Reform Act to supervised release and restitution. For Texas state-law terms, see our Texas Criminal Law Glossary.

Acceptance of Responsibility

A 2-level reduction in the offense level under U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1 for a defendant who clearly accepts responsibility for the offense, most often through a timely guilty plea. On the government's motion, a third level is available when the offense level is 16 or higher.

AEDPA

The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. For federal habeas review under 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d), it sets a one-year deadline and a highly deferential standard, granting relief only when a state court ruling was contrary to, or an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law.

Allocution

The defendant's right under Fed. R. Crim. P. 32(i)(4)(A)(ii) to personally address the court and offer mitigation before the sentence is imposed.

Appeal (Notice of Appeal)

A challenge to a conviction or sentence in the U.S. Court of Appeals. Under Fed. R. App. P. 4(b), the notice of appeal must generally be filed within 14 days. Appeals from Texas federal courts go to the Fifth Circuit.

Arraignment

The proceeding under Fed. R. Crim. P. 10 at which the defendant is brought before the district court, informed of the charges in the indictment, and enters a plea.

Base Offense Level

The starting point assigned to the offense of conviction in the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, before specific-offense characteristics, role adjustments, and acceptance of responsibility are applied to reach the total offense level.

Booker (Advisory Guidelines)

United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005), made the Sentencing Guidelines advisory rather than mandatory. A court must still correctly calculate the range and weigh it alongside the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors.

Brady / Giglio Material

Evidence favorable to the defense that the government must disclose. Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), covers exculpatory evidence; Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150 (1972), covers impeachment evidence affecting a witness's credibility.

Bureau of Prisons (BOP)

The Federal Bureau of Prisons, which houses federal inmates, designates the facility, and calculates good-time and First Step Act earned-time credits. The sentencing court may recommend, but does not control, BOP designation.

Career Offender

An enhanced status under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1 for a defendant who was at least 18 at the time of the offense, whose offense is a felony crime of violence or controlled-substance offense, and who has at least two qualifying prior felony convictions. It sharply raises the guideline range.

Compassionate Release

A sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A) for “extraordinary and compelling reasons.” Since the First Step Act, a defendant may file the motion directly after exhausting the Bureau of Prisons' administrative process.

Cooperation & Substantial Assistance

Assistance to the government that can earn a sentence below the guideline range under U.S.S.G. § 5K1.1, or below a statutory mandatory minimum under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(e), but only on the government's motion.

Criminal History Category

One of six categories (I through VI) in Chapter Four of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, set by adding criminal-history points for prior sentences. Combined with the offense level, it fixes the guideline range.

Departure

A sentence outside the guideline range that the Guidelines themselves authorize, such as a § 5K1.1 substantial-assistance departure. It is distinct from a variance, which rests on the § 3553(a) factors.

Detention Hearing

A hearing under 18 U.S.C. § 3142(f) of the Bail Reform Act at which a magistrate judge decides whether any condition of release will reasonably assure the defendant's appearance and the safety of the community.

Discovery

Government disclosure governed by Fed. R. Crim. P. 16 and the Jencks Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3500. Federal criminal discovery is narrower than civil discovery and is supplemented by Brady/Giglio obligations.

Federal Sentencing Guidelines

The advisory framework issued by the U.S. Sentencing Commission. An offense level and a criminal-history category intersect on the Sentencing Table to produce a recommended range in months, which the court considers under § 3553(a).

Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals

The federal appellate court that hears appeals from the U.S. District Courts in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Its published opinions bind the Northern and Eastern Districts of Texas, where L&L's partners practice.

First Step Act

The 2018 reform law (Pub. L. 115-391) that expanded the safety valve, made Fair Sentencing Act crack-cocaine relief retroactive, created earned-time credits, and let defendants file compassionate-release motions directly.

Forfeiture

The government's taking of property connected to an offense as part of the criminal judgment, under statutes such as 21 U.S.C. § 853 (drug offenses) and 18 U.S.C. § 982 (money laundering and fraud).

FSA Earned-Time Credit

First Step Act time credits under 18 U.S.C. § 3632(d)(4), earned by completing recidivism-reduction programming and applied toward prerelease custody or early transfer to supervised release. Distinct from good-time credit.

Good Time Credit (Federal)

A reduction of up to 54 days per year of the sentence imposed for satisfactory institutional conduct, under 18 U.S.C. § 3624(b). The First Step Act corrected the calculation to the full 54 days.

Grand Jury (Federal)

A body of 16 to 23 citizens that, under the Fifth Amendment and Fed. R. Crim. P. 6, decides whether probable cause supports a felony indictment. Its proceedings are secret and one-sided.

Guideline Range

The range of imprisonment, in months, found at the intersection of the total offense level and the criminal-history category on the Sentencing Table in Chapter Five of the Guidelines.

Habeas Corpus (Section 2255)

The principal post-conviction remedy for federal prisoners, under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, used to raise claims such as ineffective assistance of counsel. State prisoners use § 2254. A one-year deadline generally applies.

Indictment (Federal)

A grand jury's formal written felony charge, required by the Fifth Amendment and Fed. R. Crim. P. 7 unless the defendant waives it and proceeds by information.

Information (Federal)

A charging document filed by the prosecutor without a grand jury, permitted under Fed. R. Crim. P. 7(b) when the defendant waives indictment, common when a case resolves by plea.

Initial Appearance (Federal)

The defendant's first appearance before a magistrate judge after arrest, under Fed. R. Crim. P. 5, where rights are explained and pretrial release or detention is addressed.

Jencks Act

18 U.S.C. § 3500, which requires the government, after a witness testifies on direct examination, to produce that witness's prior statements relating to the testimony.

Joint & Several Liability (Restitution)

Under 18 U.S.C. § 3664(h), a court may hold multiple defendants each responsible for the full restitution amount, leaving them to apportion payment among themselves.

Mandatory Minimum (Federal)

A statutory sentence floor a court cannot go below, such as the drug-quantity minimums in 21 U.S.C. § 841(b) or the firearm term in 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), unless the safety valve or a substantial-assistance motion applies.

Mandatory Victims Restitution Act (MVRA)

18 U.S.C. § 3663A, which requires full restitution to identifiable victims for listed offenses, including most crimes of violence and fraud, regardless of the defendant's ability to pay.

Plea Agreement (Federal)

A negotiated resolution under Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(c)(1): type (A) dismisses or forgoes charges, (B) is a non-binding recommendation, and (C) is a binding agreed sentence the court must accept or reject.

Plea Colloquy

The on-the-record questioning required by Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(b) to confirm that a guilty plea is knowing and voluntary and that a factual basis supports it.

Presentence Report (PSR)

The probation officer's report under Fed. R. Crim. P. 32 and 18 U.S.C. § 3552 that calculates the guidelines and summarizes the offense and the defendant's history. Parties may file objections the court resolves at sentencing.

Pretrial Detention

An order under 18 U.S.C. § 3142(e) holding a defendant without bail when no condition will reasonably assure appearance or community safety. Certain offenses trigger a rebuttable presumption of detention.

Pretrial Services

The agency, authorized by 18 U.S.C. § 3154, that investigates a defendant's background for the bail decision and supervises defendants released pending trial.

Proffer Agreement

A limited-use agreement (sometimes called “Queen for a Day”) under which a defendant gives information to prosecutors with restrictions on the government's direct use of those statements. Its protections are narrower than full immunity.

Relevant Conduct

Under U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3, all acts and omissions that were part of the same course of conduct or scheme, including uncharged and in some circumstances acquitted conduct, are counted in setting the offense level.

Restitution (Federal)

Court-ordered payment to victims for losses caused by the offense, under 18 U.S.C. § 3663 (discretionary) and the MVRA, § 3663A (mandatory for many offenses).

Rule 11

Fed. R. Crim. P. 11, which governs guilty pleas and plea agreements, including the plea colloquy and the binding and non-binding agreement types.

Rule 16

Fed. R. Crim. P. 16, which governs pretrial discovery, including the defendant's statements, documents, expert disclosures, and the results of examinations and tests.

Rule 29

Fed. R. Crim. P. 29, a motion for a judgment of acquittal arguing the evidence is legally insufficient to sustain a conviction.

Rule 35(b)

Fed. R. Crim. P. 35(b), which lets the court reduce a sentence after it is imposed for a defendant's post-sentencing substantial assistance, on the government's motion.

Safety Valve

18 U.S.C. § 3553(f) and U.S.S.G. § 5C1.2, which allow certain nonviolent drug defendants with limited criminal history to be sentenced below the mandatory minimum. The First Step Act broadened eligibility.

Section 851 Enhancement

The prosecutor's filing under 21 U.S.C. § 851 giving notice of a prior qualifying drug conviction, which increases the applicable mandatory minimum.

Section 924(c)

18 U.S.C. § 924(c), a separate, consecutive mandatory term for using, carrying, or possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime or crime of violence.

Sentencing Table

The grid in Chapter Five, Part A of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. The total offense level (rows) and criminal-history category (columns) meet at the recommended range in months, organized into Zones A through D.

Speedy Trial Act

18 U.S.C. § 3161, which generally requires trial within 70 days of indictment or initial appearance, subject to periods of excludable delay. It supplements the Sixth Amendment right.

Supervised Release

A term of court supervision that follows imprisonment under 18 U.S.C. § 3583. Unlike parole (abolished federally in 1987), it is served in addition to the prison term, and a violation can mean re-imprisonment.

Target Letter

A letter from federal prosecutors notifying a person that they are a “target” of a grand jury investigation, meaning substantial evidence links them to a crime. It often signals that charges are being considered.

TXED (Eastern District of Texas)

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, with divisions in Sherman, Plano, Tyler, Beaumont, Marshall, Lufkin, and Texarkana. L&L's partners are admitted here; appeals go to the Fifth Circuit.

TXND (Northern District of Texas)

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, with divisions in Dallas, Fort Worth, Amarillo, Lubbock, San Angelo, Wichita Falls, and Abilene. L&L's partners are admitted here; appeals go to the Fifth Circuit.

U.S. Sentencing Commission

The independent agency in the judicial branch that writes and amends the federal Sentencing Guidelines and studies federal sentencing data. Not to be confused with the Bureau of Prisons.

USSG (U.S. Sentencing Guidelines)

The abbreviation for the United States Sentencing Guidelines, the advisory manual courts use to calculate a recommended sentencing range. Cited by section, for example U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1 for drug offenses.

Variance

A sentence above or below the guideline range based on the statutory factors in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). Unlike a departure, it is not grounded in a specific guideline provision.

Zone of Imprisonment

The Sentencing Table is divided into Zones A through D. Lower zones (A and B) allow probation or alternatives such as home or community confinement; higher zones (C and D) require imprisonment.

About the Authors

Njeri London

Co-Founding Partner

Texas Bar No. 24043266. Admitted: TXND, TXED, 5th Circuit. Thurgood Marshall School of Law. Focus: Fourth Amendment motion practice, drug-crime defense, federal cases. Verify on Texas Bar

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Reggie London

Co-Founding Partner

Texas Bar No. 24043514. Former Dallas County Assistant District Attorney. Extensive felony trial experience including DWI dockets. Verify on Texas Bar

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