Study Your Judge, Then Mirror Those Values
White Collar Advice
I had an early Zoom call with a doctor indicted in Florida and his lawyer. The doctor couldn't reconcile two things: the FBI agent told him at his arrest that they were in the bottom of the eighth inning, and his lawyer told him to sit back, relax, and wait for discovery. So I brought up Judge Carlos Mendoza, who isn't even his judge. Mendoza enlisted in the Marine Corps out of high school, served in Desert Shield and Desert Storm, came home, went to junior college, college, and law school, and Obama appointed him in 2014. Then I asked the doctor why he became a physician. To help people, he...
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Nobody Can Take This Investment From You
White Collar Advice
I read a quote from Warren Buffett. He wrote that the best investment you'll ever make is in yourself. Learn to communicate on paper and in person. If you can't get your idea across, it's like winking at a girl in the dark. Nothing happens. Get good at it, raise your own value 50%, and nobody can take it from you.
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Mackenzie Shirilla Is Documenting Herself Into a Life Sentence
White Collar Advice
58 pages of conduct reports. Sex toys on a video visit. Stolen earrings from the kindwear room. Fake eyelashes. Mackenzie Shirilla has a 2037 parole hearing. Parole boards don't believe words. They look at records. She is off to a bad start. Justin Paperny
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Federal Sentencing Guidelines: Why You Don't Have a Math Problem
White Collar Advice
Most defendants I speak with think they have a math problem. Loss amount, offense level, criminal history points. They obsess over the guideline range and do nothing to change it. Earlier today I spoke with a defendant back east who has spent weeks on the math and almost no time building the record that actually moves the outcome. This episode is about that mistake. Federal sentencing guidelines give a judge a starting point, not a final answer. I have been to more than 1,500 sentencing hearings since I came home from Taft Federal Prison Camp in 2008. I have heard judges mock defendants who...
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The Executive Who Practiced His Apology for Weeks and Still Got 18 Extra Months
White Collar Advice
He rehearsed his apology for weeks and still got 18 extra months. In this episode, I explain why vague remorse fails in federal court, what judges actually look for, and why the people who get better outcomes usually start building their case for leniency long before sentencing day.
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How to Hire a Lawyer: What Good Lawyers Do Differently
White Collar Advice
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What Are the Federal Sentencing Guidelines and How Do They Work?
White Collar Advice
Key Takeaways The federal sentencing guidelines create a point-based system using offense level and criminal history to produce a recommended range in months. Every enhancement — loss amount, victims, position of trust, obstruction — adds points and directly extends the likely sentence. The guidelines are advisory after Booker, but judges calculate them in every case and explain any deviation. Most sentences remain within or near the range. The Presentence Investigation Report is the document that carries your guideline calculation forward through the entire prison system. The PSR...
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Federal Sentencing Guidelines 101: How to Calculate Your Prison Range
White Collar Advice
The federal sentencing guidelines exist because before 1987, two people convicted of the same crime could receive wildly different sentences depending on which judge they drew. Congress decided that was unacceptable. The Sentencing Reform Act fixed it — at least on paper. Here's what most defendants don't know: the guidelines are advisory. United States v. Booker made that clear in 2005. Judges must calculate them. They don't have to follow them. This episode explains how the grid works — your offense level on one axis, criminal history category on the other — and what moves each number....
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Federal Sentencing Calculator: Estimate Your Federal Prison Term
White Collar Advice
Tracii entered federal prison with a 51-month sentence. She left after 17 months of actual custody. No calculator predicted that. She built it — teaching classes, documenting everything, submitting a release plan on day one, and updating it throughout her sentence. This episode breaks down what our federal sentencing calculator actually does: you enter your imposed sentence, and it applies every available federal credit — Good Conduct Time, First Step Act earned credits, RDAP if applicable, pre-sentence custody days — and returns a projected release range. Not one number. A range....
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One Day In Federal Prison
White Collar Advice
By 4:00 a.m., I was awake—coffee, journaling, then writing beside Michael Santos. Count at 5:00. Chow at 6:30. Two to three hours running. Standing count at 10:30. Pots and pans detail until 1:30. Library or quiet room until lights out. I had $290 a month in commissary and 300 phone minutes. Structure wasn’t optional—it kept me focused. Minimum-security camps aren’t violent; they’re boring. Boredom ruins people. I avoided the TV room and built assets—a blog, drafts, notes that later became Lessons from Prison. The goal wasn’t comfort. It was preparation for coming home....
info_outlineBy 4:00 a.m., I was awake—coffee, journaling, then writing beside Michael Santos. Count at 5:00. Chow at 6:30. Two to three hours running. Standing count at 10:30. Pots and pans detail until 1:30. Library or quiet room until lights out. I had $290 a month in commissary and 300 phone minutes. Structure wasn’t optional—it kept me focused.
Minimum-security camps aren’t violent; they’re boring. Boredom ruins people. I avoided the TV room and built assets—a blog, drafts, notes that later became Lessons from Prison. The goal wasn’t comfort. It was preparation for coming home.
Slow, steady effort wins.
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Justin Paperny