NCJ Number
98657
Date Published
1985
Length
31 pages
Annotation
The General Accounting Office analyzed penalties imposed and parole release decisions for 1,044 organized crime figures and major drug traffickers sentenced between January 1962 and July 1983 in 37 judicial districts.
Abstract
The study compared the actual sentences imposed with the maximum penalties authorized by statute at the time of sentencing. The judicial districts in the study were selected because of the relatively high number of organized crime figures and major drug traffickers sentenced during the study period. The median sentence imposed was 120 months, and the median maximum concurrent sentence that could have been imposed was 180 months. Overall, 74 percent of the defendants received less than the maximum concurrent imprisonment term authorized by statute. The Federal district courts imposed criminal fines totaling $17.5 million for 383 of the 1,044 defendants. For 260 of the 383 offenders (68 percent), the court imposed less than the maximum fine authorized by statute. The Federal Parole Commission made parole decisions for 676 of the 1,044 offenders, granting parole to 390 and denying it to 286. The commission made no decision for 193 offenders, and 175 were ineligible for parole consideration. For the 390 offenders granted parole, the median time served was 50 months, and the median sentence imposed was 120 months. Excluding the one offender sentenced to life but granted parole, the offenders served or will serve a median of 42 percent of their sentences. The appendixes contain breakdown of offenders by judicial district and initial year of sentence. Other tabular data from the study are provided.