If you are charged with a crime in the Commonwealth of Virginia, you will either be charged with a misdemeanor crime or a felony crime. Misdemeanors are less serious crimes, and the punishment will not be as severe, with less or no jail time and lower fines. Felony crimes are much more serious crimes with harsher punishment that can include long prison terms, heavy fines, and a loss of your civil rights. When charged with a felony, you should understand how felonies are classified and sentenced in Virginia, so that you know the possible jail or prison sentence you could face if you are convicted of your felony charge.

If you plead guilty to a felony charge, or if a judge or jury finds you guilty of a felony charge, and you are, as a result, convicted of your felony charge, the court will set a sentencing hearing date in your case. Before the sentencing hearing, the court will task a local probation officer to prepare a “Pre-Sentence Investigation Report” (i.e., "PSIR" or "PSR") that will contain within it your “Virginia Sentencing Guidelines.” The Virginia Sentencing Guidelines are a discretionary set of recommendations for a judge to use when sentencing you on a felony conviction. The Virginia Sentencing Guidelines will determine your recommended jail or prison sentence range. 

Virginia Code Section 19.2-298.01 outlines the general rules of the Virginia Sentencing Guidelines. The Virginia Sentencing Guidelines cover a wide range of felonies such as burglary, fraud, drugs, murder, rape, robbery, malicious wounding, and other felony crimes. The Virginia Sentencing Guidelines do not apply to misdemeanor crimes.

The Virginia Sentencing Guidelines are based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to: the nature of the offense, the amount of charges the defendant was convicted of in the case, the defendant's criminal history, and the specific facts and circumstances of the case. Thus, they provide a reference for the judge’s sentencing decision in your case and help the judge ensure that similar offenders receive similar jail or prison sentences.

To see the parameters that the probation officer, prosecutor, and judge have to work within, the specific Virginia Code (i.e., the specific statute or law number) that you are charged under will list the minimum and maximum jail or prison sentence you are facing if convicted of the alleged crime. The Virginia Sentencing Guidelines will take that minimum and maximum jail or prison sentence into account and then recommend to the judge a tailor-made jail or prison sentence range for you that is based on the specific facts and circumstances of your case along with who you are as a person and your criminal history. 

The Virginia Sentencing Guidelines consist of several worksheets that are to be filled in and prepared by a local probation officer or the prosecutor. The assigned probation officer or prosecutor would work through several stages in completing each worksheet. At each stage, points would accumulate that will determine the severity of your jail or prison sentence. Once the worksheets are completed, the probation officer or prosecutor will add up all points to get a total score. Using your total score, the probation officer or prosecutor will then use a grid to convert your total score to the recommended jail or prison sentence range. 

To see the actual Virginia Sentencing Guidelines worksheets, the instructions on how to fill in the worksheets, and the grids that determine your recommended jail or prison sentence range, you may do so by clicking here.

When the probation officer or prosecutor completes the Virginia Sentencing Guidelines worksheets, it, along with the other remaining portions of the Pre-Sentence Investigation Report, will be filed with the court and a copy will be given to you and the prosecutor in advance of your sentencing hearing. 

Your tailor-made jail or prison sentence range will include a “low end,” a “mid-point,” and a “high end” for the judge to choose from at your sentencing hearing. Although the Virginia Sentencing Guidelines play an important role in sentencing a person convicted of a felony crime, they are only advisory and not mandatory for the judge to follow. The judge will only consider the Virginia Sentencing Guidelines as an initial benchmark of a fair jail or prison sentence, but it does not bind the court. This means that a judge may sentence you to a jail or prison sentence that is more than the “high end” of your sentencing guidelines or less than the “low end” of your sentencing guidelines.

Having said all of that, I — as any good criminal defense lawyer should —  will calculate and use the Virginia Sentencing Guidelines early in a criminal case to defend my clients. In fact, I will calculate a few different sets of sentencing guidelines that are based on different hypothetical outcomes of my client’s case. Doing this is particularly useful during plea negotiations with the prosecutor as it allows both sides in the case to see, in advance, the probable range of your punishment if you are convicted of your current charge versus the probable range of your punishment if you accept a plea offer and are convicted of a different charge.

If you are charged with a felony in Virginia, you should contact an experienced criminal defense attorney that is located in or around the city or county in which you have been charged. With the help of an attorney, you may be able to get your felony charge dismissed, reduced to a lower classification of felony, or reduced to a misdemeanor. Moreover, an attorney will be able to avoid or minimize any jail or prison sentence you may receive.

Since negotiating plea agreements are such a large part of how criminal cases are resolved in the United States, this makes calculating sentencing guidelines early in your case crucial to obtaining the best possible outcome.

By Michael Huff, Esq.