The case is not over after conviction
If you pled guilty or a jury found you guilty in a California federal court, a second phase now decides your punishment. The trial answered whether you committed the offense. The sentencing hearing answers what happens to you because of it. That hearing has its own rules, its own key document, and its own kind of advocacy, and preparation for it starts right away, not the week before.
The national overview Federal Sentencing explains the process in general terms. This page covers what a defense lawyer actually does at this stage and what is specific to California.
Who decides your sentence, and by what standard
The judge decides, not the jury. Congress gave the judge one guiding command in 18 U.S.C. section 3553(a): "The court shall impose a sentence sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to comply with the purposes set forth in paragraph (2) of this subsection." Lawyers call this the parsimony principle. It means the sentence should be no harsher than needed to do the job.
To apply that command, the judge must consider a list of factors, including "the nature and circumstances of the offense and the history and characteristics of the defendant." The purposes the sentence must serve include "to reflect the seriousness of the offense, to promote respect for the law, and to provide just punishment for the offense," plus deterrence, protection of the public, and needed treatment or training. One more factor matters in every courtroom: "the need to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities among defendants with similar records who have been found guilty of similar conduct." Your lawyer's whole presentation is built around these factors, because they are the law the judge must follow.
The guideline range still anchors the hearing
The Federal Sentencing Guidelines do not set your sentence by themselves. The Guidelines Manual states the system plainly: "The Guidelines Manual is structured to reflect the advisory sentencing scheme established following the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005)." Advisory means the judge must calculate the range and consider it, but may sentence above or below it for reasons stated on the record.
The calculation runs through USSG section 1B1.1 in two steps. Step one builds the range. The court picks the offense guideline in Chapter Two that matches the crime of conviction, sets the base offense level, and adds any specific offense characteristics. Then it applies adjustments from Chapter Three for victim issues, the defendant's role, and obstruction. Multiple counts are grouped under Chapter Three, Part D. Acceptance of responsibility comes next: "If the defendant clearly demonstrates acceptance of responsibility for his offense, decrease the offense level by 2 levels." A third level can come off where the starting level is 16 or higher and the government files a motion saying the defendant's early notice of a guilty plea saved trial preparation resources. Then the court sets the criminal history category in Chapter Four and reads the range: "Determine the guideline range in Part A of Chapter Five that corresponds to the offense level and criminal history category determined above."
Step two is the human part. After the range is set, the court weighs the other section 3553(a) factors and picks a sentence that is sufficient but not greater than necessary. To make this concrete, the Manual's own example reads offense level 15 with criminal history Category III as 24 to 30 months of imprisonment. That number is a starting point for argument, not a prediction. Your statute's maximum penalty caps what the judge can impose, and any mandatory minimum sets a floor, as the Federal Mandatory Minimum Sentences page explains.
The presentence report is the most important document
Before the hearing, a probation officer investigates you and writes the presentence report. The statute is direct: "A United States probation officer shall make a presentence investigation of a defendant that is required pursuant to the provisions of Rule 32(c) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, and shall, before the imposition of sentence, report the results of the investigation to the court."
The report recounts the offense, scores the guideline calculation, tallies criminal history, and describes your background, family, work, health, and finances. It recommends a range to the judge. Almost everything the judge believes about your history at the hearing comes from this report, which is why the probation interview is the most consequential meeting of this phase. What you say, what records you bring, and what you leave out can move the range. Details on the document itself are on the Federal Presentence Report page.
A defense lawyer's first job is to audit this report line by line. Guideline math errors, wrong criminal history points, disputed drug quantities or loss amounts, and one-sided offense descriptions all get formal objections filed before the hearing. Judges resolve those disputes at sentencing, and each ruling can shift the range.
What a defense lawyer does at this stage
Sentencing advocacy is its own skill, different from trial work. In general terms, a defense lawyer at this point does four things.
First, the lawyer fixes the math. Every specific offense characteristic, enhancement, and criminal history point is checked against the 2025 Guidelines Manual with section numbers, because a single wrong adjustment can add months or years to the range.
Second, the lawyer builds mitigation. This is evidence about who you are beyond the offense: steady work, caregiving, military service, addiction and treatment, mental health care, community ties, and concrete steps toward restitution. The goal is to give the judge verified reasons, tied to the section 3553(a) factors, to choose the lower end of the range or vary below it. Note the limit: "A departure or variance requires approval by the court." The lawyer argues; only the judge grants.
Third, the lawyer writes the sentencing memorandum. This filing lays out the correct guideline calculation, the objections, the mitigation story with exhibits and letters, and the exact sentence requested with reasons. It goes to the judge and the probation officer before the hearing so neither walks in cold.
Fourth, the lawyer prepares you to speak. Your allocution, your statement to the judge, is often the only time the judge hears directly from you. Preparation means honest, specific, and brief, not scripted.
On the other side, the prosecutor plays a defined role. The Justice Manual calls this out: "Sentencing is a critical stage in a case." The Manual directs that "The attorney for the government should make sentencing recommendations based on an individualized assessment of the nature and circumstances of the offense and the history and characteristics of the defendant." In practice, prosecutors usually press for a sentence inside the advisory range, since they "should generally continue to advocate for a sentence within that range," and they often file in advance "a memorandum setting forth the recommended sentence with supporting reasons." Your lawyer reads that filing the day it lands and answers it point by point.
What is specific to California
Federal cases in California run through four trial courts: the Central, Eastern, Northern, and Southern Districts. The Justice Department's district finder lists each one, California Central, California Eastern, California Northern, and California Southern, and each district has its own United States Attorney's Office prosecuting federal cases there. Your sentencing hearing happens in the district where you were charged, under that court's local rules and that probation office's practices, so a lawyer working your case needs to know the habits of that courthouse. Start with the statewide hub at California Federal Criminal Defense, and if your case is in Los Angeles, Riverside, or Santa Ana, see the Central District of California page.
If you are convicted and appeal, your case goes to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The statute that draws the map, 28 U.S.C. section 41, lists California among the states in the Ninth Circuit, and the Ninth Circuit states that it "handles appeals of decisions made in district and other federal courts of the Ninth Circuit." Sentencing appeals from every California federal court follow that path.
One more California point, and it is about the Ninth Circuit's pattern instructions. The Ninth Circuit's model jury instructions were "prepared to help judges communicate more effectively with juries." They guide trials, not sentencings. By their own terms, "They are not mandatory," and "The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals does not adopt these instructions as definitive." At sentencing there is no jury to instruct. The audience is the judge, the text that matters is section 3553(a) and the Guidelines Manual, and the advocacy is a written and spoken case for a sufficient but not excessive sentence.
What to do now
If sentencing is ahead of you, these steps come first.
Do not miss or wing the probation interview. Ask your lawyer to prepare you, sit down with your records beforehand, and tell the truth. False statements to the probation officer can cost you acceptance of responsibility and add obstruction exposure.
Gather paper early. Pay stubs, school records, treatment and counseling records, military discharge papers, tax filings, proof of child or elder care, and receipts for any restitution paid. Paper beats memory at sentencing.
Stop the bleeding. No new arrests, no missed court dates, no missed drug tests, no contact with victims or witnesses. Judges notice compliance during the months before sentencing.
Line up support. Employers, clergy, counselors, and family who can write honest letters or attend the hearing. Tell your lawyer who they are now, not the week of the hearing.
Talk about money frankly. Fines, restitution, and the cost of supervision conditions are part of the sentence. A realistic payment plan presented at the hearing helps.
A final note on the numbers
Every penalty figure and guideline range on this page is a statutory maximum or an advisory range, not a prediction about your case. Two defendants with the same charge can receive very different sentences because their histories, their conduct, their districts, and their judges differ. The facts of a case change everything, which is exactly why the presentence report and the mitigation presentation deserve serious work.