Dr. M Blatstein's Blog, Preparation, Sentence Mitigation

DO WHAT YOU CAN – YOU ARE You’re BEST ADVOCATE.

PARTICIPATION IN YOUR DEFENSE

*

THIS INCLUDES YOUR PERSONAL NARRATIVE, LETTERS ATTESTING TO YOUR CHARACTER, YOUR ALLOCUTION AND RELEASE PLANNING

A

The information in this series and on PPRSUS.com is readily accessible to all.

  • Should you wish to engage my services, my Contact Info. is at the end.
  • Hello, and thank you for tuning into my Video series, INDICTED AND FACING PRISON: NOW WHAT?
  • My name is Marc Blatstein. In 2006, I, too, was Indicted and convicted of a felony, and I lost my medical license. With work, I was able to get my license reinstated in full.
  • — Prison is Temporary.

My goal in this series is to provide you with the information you’ll need to survive and navigate these times because Knowledge and Preparation will help build back the confidence you’ll need throughout this process.

  • Since you’ve heard that the DOJ and Feds have been asking questions, their case against you is mostly complete, with a 98% Conviction Rate.
  • Delaying to act – is at your peril.
  • Hiring a legal team doesn’t just mean they have experience; they also need a proven track record of successfully defending cases like yours.
  • The choices you make today – will make life easier tomorrow.

The nuances of traditional legal defense usually revolve around crime and the law, which is why you have paid an attorney, but there is much more.

Judges understand the following:

  • The DOJ wants a conviction
  • The Prosecutor wants Jail or Prison Time to protect society
    1. Retribution: The idea that people who break the law deserve to be punished.
    2. Deterrence: The idea that the prison system should act as a deterrent to potential criminals.
    3. Incapacitation: The idea that prisons should remove people who have offended them from communities to protect the public.
    4. Rehabilitation: The idea that prisons should play a role in rehabilitating criminal offenders.
  • Your attorney is paid to say nice things about you and keep you out of prison. They also know nothing about your background that would help in your defense.

The one person the Judge knows nothing about is you, other than what’s in your INDICTMENT. The judge will sentence you based on that document if you do nothing. This all begins with:

  1. Interviewing attorneys, asking questions
  2. A well-written Personal Narrative
  3. Release Plan
    • Acknowledging Responsibility for the pain you have inflicted on your victims.
    • Use your time incarcerated to reflect and personally develop through education (FSA), post-secondary education, and mentoring others. You’re an Executive; teach a class and share what you’ve learned that could help others.
    • HAVE A PLAN FOR A ROUTINE STARTING DAY 1
    • THIS REQUIRES UNDERSTANDING THE PRISON DO’S AND DONT’S BEFORE YOU GET THERE.
  4. Requesting Letters attesting to your Character
  5. Preparing to speak with your Judge at sentencing, your Allocution

Understanding who you are and your personal history can be beneficial, albeit Drug-related; a personal drive toward success provides an opening for a mental health evaluation.

Before Your Presentence Interview

  1. Visit your doctor and dentist for a complete medical visit and get copies of your records. Then, check the BOP Formulary to see if your medications are available.
  2. Visit your eye doctor to get a current prescription for your eyeglasses—no Contact lenses.
  3. If your sentence is short enough, get an extended driver’s license.
  4. Grant power of attorney to someone you trust to handle your finances and other legal matters.
  5. If married, consider transferring utilities and other bills to your spouse’s name.
  6. Create an Amazon Book Wish List so friends and family can easily send you 2-3 books per month. Creating a daily log, diary, or paper trail that documents what you’re reading and have learned comes under the categories of,
    • Personal Growth and Development
    • Constructive Activities
    • Which All Of Your STAKEHOLDERS want to see.
  7. For minimum and low-security facilities, the BOP allows Amazon to issue paperbacks.
  8. To keep your credit cards active, have a family member use them, pay them off monthly, or freeze them.

Surrendering: What happens on day 1 in Prison, what to bring, how to act, a pre-plan to get home with your dignity and self-esteem intact

  1. Satellite Minimum Camp – Surrender to the higher facility
  2. At the satellite, strip-searched – and into an isolation cell
  3. Be prepared and have books to read already mailed to you the day before you surrender
  4. The day you surrender, mail yourself a list of all of your contacts’ phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses
  5. Once you arrive, you’re eligible to receive funds electronically. Money Gram, Western Union; it takes ~2 hours.
  6. At an FPC, you are more likely to get in with Cash, which the guards will deposit for you.

What Can You Bring

  1. Plain wedding band (no stones or intricate markings) with a declared value of less than $100
  2. Earrings for females only (no stones) with a declared value of less than $100
  3. Medical, orthopedic, or medical devices
  4. Legal documents
  5. If you have a large medical file, it was included in your PSR? You can also bring it in an envelope titled Legal Mail.
  6. Social Security card and other forms of identification (driver’s license, passport, etc.) to be retained in the Inmate Central File until the inmate’s release
  7. Religious items approved by the Warden (religious medallions and chains must have a declared value of less than $100)
  8. Prescription glasses, CPAP, Insulin Pump (No Blue Tooth), with prescription and medical notes in PSR 
  9. Where applicable, create an opening for a later Compassionate Release-Second Look Act Appeal.

To engage my services or to have your concerns answered, Call Today at 240.888.7778. This is my Cell, and I answer and return all calls.

You can also get additional information on my website: PPRSUS.com.