Post-Sentence Reduction in Sentence—South Carolina

While much attention is paid to reducing a potential sentence under section 5K1.1 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines, there is another way a person who is convicted can reduce his sentence: post-sentencing cooperation conducted under Rule 35 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.

Under this Rule, the court can reduce an individual’s sentence if, within one year of sentencing, the government files a motion stating that the individual “provided substantial assistance in investigating or prosecuting another person.”^[1] Furthermore, the government can file the motion more than a year after sentencing if the information was not known to the defendant until more than a year after sentencing, if the information was provided within a year after sentencing but didn’t become useful until more than a year after sentencing, or the defendant didn’t reasonably anticipate that the information would be useful until more than a year after sentencing and the information was conveyed to the government promptly.^[2]

In South Carolina, such post-sentence cooperation resulted in the reduction of an individual’s sentence from 11 years to 3 years.^[3] Judge G. Ross Anderson Jr. “showed his gratitude when sentencing an inmate who alerted authorities to a plot to kill the judge.”^[4] Maurice Rice was asked “if he was the man who turned in people planning to kill [Judge] Anderson,” and he replied affirmatively.^[5] Two years ago, Mr. Rice was sentenced to almost 11 years in prison for cocaine trafficking, but the sentence was reduced to three years after Assistant United States Attorney Walt Wilkins “said he asked for a sentence reduction because of [Mr.] Rice’s cooperation with investigators on several cases, including [the] supposed plot to kill [Judge] Anderson.”^[6]

While no one has been arrested in connection with the plan to kill the judge (there was credible but insufficient evidence to pursue an indictment), Judge Anderson also noted that Mr. Rice had taken advantage of “several prison programs that involved job skills, computers, drug education, leadership, and Bible studies.”^[7] Such activities are looked at extremely favorably by federal judges.

---

[1] Fed. R. Crim. Pro. 35(b)(1)(a).
[2] Id. 35(b)(1)(2).
[3] Federal Judge Says Inmate Saved His Life, Cuts Sentence, AP (via The Times and Democrat), Nov. 6, 2006.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] Paul Alongi, Federal Judge Says Inmate Saved His Life, Cuts Sentence, Greenville News, Nov. 4, 2006.