Initial Shock Wave – Part IV

I received a sentence of five years, how much time will I actually do?

As long as you stay out of trouble, you will have approximately forty-seven days per year deducted. You will also be released to a half way house six months before your sentence ends. If you are eligible for the nine month drug abuse program (DAP) you could get an extra year subtracted from your time as well. You will serve just under four years without the DAP program and just less than three with DAP.

There are a number of factors that contribute to the exact amount of time that each individual will serve. You will be able to discuss these during periodic team meeting with the FCI staff. At each meeting they will provide you with your revised projected release date.

For details about how your sentence was computed, jail credit for time served, detainers or earned good time, you may research in one of two ways. You can either submit a request (cop-out) to the records office or go to an open house held weekly in the mailroom.

Projected Good Behavior Deductions:

Sentence Given

Good Time Credit

Actual Time Served

1 year and one day (366 days)

47 days

319 days

2 years (730 days)

94 days

636 days

3 years (1065 days)

141 days

954 days

4 years (1460 days)

188 days

1272 days

5 years (1825 days)

235 days

1590 days

6 years (2190 days)

282 days

1908 days

7 years (2555 days)

329 days

2226 days

8 years (2920 days)

372 days

2543 days

9 years (3285 days)

424 days

2861 days

10 years (3650 days)

471 days

3179 days

Note:

For successful completion of the nine month DAP program you may deduct 365 days from the actual time served.

I was just handed a 20 year sentence, can I still go to a FCI low security?

Yes; it is possible under certain circumstances. The place to which you are designated will depend upon the seriousness of your crime, your criminal history, and whether or not there was violence or a firearm involved.

A few people who receive lengthy sentences are admitted directly into the FCI low. The cut off is set at no greater than twenty years, however some with relatively clean records can slip in with a sentence of twenty-four years.

Those who do end up in a medium or high security may be slowly downgraded. Through a few years of consistent good behavior, they can inch their way down the numerical point ladder to a FCI low.

The Morales Law Firm would like to thank Mad Dogs guide to Club Fed (Instruction Manuel for Newcomers) for sharing this information with us.