It was the day my client was to be sentenced. That's a day that is always fraught for any defendant and his lawyer. All of the stars may actually be aligned. Still, one never knows what the judge—any judge—will do. Maybe he woke up on the wrong side of bed. Maybe she just read an article about white-collar sentences being too low. And here, the case was in a courthouse outside New York state, where I'm never particularly at ease.

The client had pleaded guilty to a fraud several years back. He had no trouble with the law until this, and certainly none since. His criminal activity ended many years ago. He pleaded guilty (and quickly), he took valuable steps to demonstrate his remorse and sought to deter others from committing the crime he did (or any crime for that matter). Meaning, in my mind at least, he did everything right (if that's the correct word for it). Still, you never know; and preparing the client for the worst is difficult—especially when the sentencing guidelines for the crime could potentially have imprisoned him for up to three years.

The client was not a flight risk—he was out on an agreed-upon bail for years (delays were partly due to COVID-19). As a white-collar offender, I figured the judge would give him six weeks or so to surrender if she jailed him, as was a good, even likely, possibility. That has been the practice for as long as I can remember, and the prosecution had no objection. Indeed, the coconspirator had been given that courtesy when he was sentenced. So … I confidently told the client and his wife on the morning of sentencing: "Don't worry at all about going to jail today. Not a chance. You'll sleep in your own bed tonight."