Receiving punishment from the judge might seem like the failure of your criminal justice attorney. But in fact, hiring the right defense attorney can help you formulate a case so that the punishment that you do receive is substantially smaller than you would have received otherwise.

So if you case ends up going to trial, we’ll do our best, as your criminal defense law firm, to avoid any of these. But we’ll also be working so that everything we do will also be in service to mitigating (reducing) punishments as well.

Fines – Breaking the law has consequences, and fines might be one of them. This is especially true if you’re in need of a white collar crime lawyer because you’re accused of mishandling of money. Fines might be the only punishment or can be a part of the other punishments on this page.

Restitution – If you’ve wronged someone, the judge might order you to pay restitution, which is the repayment of victims. This can be in lieu of or in addition to the other punishments listed on this page.

Probation – The prison system in the United States is the largest in the world, and many prisons are full. If the judge has the option, he might sentence you to probation in order to keep you out of prison. Probation involves being monitored and the agreement to abide by certain terms for a period of time. Follow these rules and you won’t go to prison. Probation might be in addition to fine and community service.

Community Service – Community service involves working for the public good for no pay. This might include picking up trash in a public space, it might involve working for a non-profit organization..

Jail – Being sent to jail is preferable to being sent to prison. Jail is run by the county sheriff and is for people sentenced to 364 days or fewer. The right criminal defense attorney will do everything he or she can to make sure you’re spending as little time in jail as possible. While it won’t be a pleasant experience, it certainly is a better alternative to…

Prison – Prison is meant for individuals who are to be incarcerated for more than 364 days and is run by the New Jersey Department of Corrections. Prisons are more dangerous because you’d be surround by the other inmates who are also there for more serious crimes. Of course, prison is something to avoid, but if it is inevitable because of the evidence brought against you, you want the right criminal attorney on your side who can present the case in the best possible light in order to help the judge understand that a reduced sentence might be what’s in everyone’s best interest.

The Death Penalty – While the death penalty might be an option for juries in other states to decide, it was abolished in New Jersey in 2007.

Remember, some of these forms of punishments can be combined…you might serve jail time as well as have to pay a fine, of you might pay fines and perform community service. The goal of your criminal law attorneys is make sure you don’t suffer any consequences. If that’s not an option, we’ll work to mitigate the punishment as much as possible. The best way to these scenarios is to hire the best criminal defense law firm you can. Call the Law Office of Robert J. DeGroot at the first sign of trouble.