The Sentencing Portfolio.
Not every client’s story is one of hardship. For white collar defendants, licensed professionals and public figures, the strongest case at sentencing is often a documented record of contribution and a credible plan for what comes next. We build that record for defense counsel.
Built on the life your client has built.
Traditional mitigation explains how a person’s history shaped them. The Sentencing Portfolio does something different: it shows the court who the client is today, what they have given to their community, who depends on them, and the concrete steps they have already taken to make things right.
Federal judges weigh the history and characteristics of the defendant under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), and Florida courts may depart below the guidelines where the circumstances reasonably justify it, including restitution, an isolated incident with genuine remorse, and victims compensated early. A judge can only weigh what is in front of them. Our job is to put it there, organized, verified and ready for counsel to use.
Clients with a record worth presenting.
Executives & business owners
Fraud, tax, securities and regulatory matters where employees, partners and communities rely on the client.
Licensed professionals
Physicians, attorneys, financial advisors and others whose careers carry a long record of service.
Professional & college athletes
Public figures whose case runs alongside league discipline, contracts, endorsements and public attention.
First time defendants
Clients with no prior record, for whom the offense is a departure from an otherwise law abiding life.
Every element documented, sourced and ready for the memorandum.
Character
Life narrative
A written biography of the client’s education, career, family and service, drawn from interviews and records, written for the court.
Community
Service & charitable record
Volunteer history, foundations, donations, mentoring and civic work, documented with the organizations involved rather than asserted.
Voices
Character letters
We identify the right writers, guide them on what a judge finds useful, and organize the finished letters so the strongest ones lead.
Career
Professional record
Employment history, achievements, employees and families who rely on the business, and a realistic plan for lawful work going forward.
Accountability
Restitution & remorse
Documentation of restitution paid or arranged, steps taken since the offense, and preparation for the presentence interview and allocution with counsel.
Family
Dependents & health
Children, aging parents and others who depend on the client, along with any medical or treatment history counsel wants before the court.
Every portfolio can be paired with a sentencing video: a short documentary in which the people who know the client best speak directly to the court.
We help clients start the work before the court asks.
A judge is more persuaded by a program already underway than by a promise. Under counsel’s direction, we research the options that fit the case and help the client enroll and document their progress.
- Pretrial intervention and diversion programs in Florida and federal court, where the client and charge qualify
- Community service placements matched to the client’s skills, with hours verified by the host organization
- Counseling and treatment, including financial, gambling, substance use and mental health programs
- Restitution planning documentation that shows the court a realistic payment path
- Federal custody planning: Bureau of Prisons programming, First Step Act credits and the Residential Drug Abuse Program for clients with a documented need
- Facility designation information to support counsel’s recommendation to the court
- Home confinement and reentry planning, including housing, employment and support
- Veterans, mental health and drug court referrals where they apply
Program eligibility is set by statute, the prosecutor, the court or the Bureau of Prisons. Counsel decides strategy; we gather the facts and handle the legwork.
Discreet work for clients the public is watching.
When the client is a public figure, the criminal case is rarely the only proceeding. League discipline can move forward without a conviction, contracts and endorsement agreements often carry morals clauses, and every filing may be read by reporters. A sentencing record that reflects years of community and charitable work can matter well beyond the courtroom.
We work quietly through counsel, keep interviews and records within the defense team, and coordinate with the client’s agents and advisors only as counsel directs.
From engagement to sentencing.
Engagement through counsel
The attorney retains CQI so our work stays within the defense team. We meet with counsel to understand the case and the sentencing timeline.
Investigation
Interviews with family, colleagues, employees and community leaders, and collection of the records that prove what they say.
Programs and letters
Program enrollment, community service and character letters, coordinated and tracked so everything is complete before the hearing.
The portfolio
A finished, organized package for counsel’s sentencing memorandum, the presentence investigation and the hearing itself.
CQI is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. All work is performed at the direction of the client’s attorney. No investigator can promise a particular sentence, and we never will.
Sentencing is weeks away, or months?
The earlier the portfolio starts, the more there is to document. Programs, service hours and restitution all take time to show results.
