Understanding the Calicchio plea deal (Legal Analysis by Not-Stempler)

Last Friday this blog asked:

How come the U.S.A. v Matthew Calicchio Defendant is only pleading out to "Count 1" when the government's case against him spans two election cycles (2013 and 2015?)

Further, what did the government actually file against him (if its not a complaint nor an indictment)?   

GA consulted a lawyer with a criminal defense background, Not-Stempler. (Not-Stempler once provided legal analysis for this blog, but stopped when One-Eye retained him for the Rhinoceros Incident-- those details of his life are inconsequential. )

Understanding what the government chose to file against the Defendant, may hint at the role Calicchio may be playing in developing the government's case against "Candidate 1" and "Candidate 2."  

So, thank you Not-Stempler for breaking this down for us laypeople.

LEGAL ANALYSIS BY NOT-STEMPLER

In federal court, an indictment, an information and a complaint basically mean the same thing on a substantive level and all serve the same function. Each initiates a criminal case and informs the defendant of the charges against him/her. They are also intended to insure that a prosecutor has sufficient evidence to establish probable cause that a crime has been committed. 

The Fifth Amendment to the constitution requires that, at the federal level, a felony prosecution starts with an indictment. For a prosecutor to obtain an indictment, a prosecutor must present the case to a grand jury. After considering the evidence, if the grand jury decides that sufficient cause exists that a crime was committed, an indictment will be issued, which sets for the crime and the underlying facts. 

An information is a document that describes the criminal charges against a person and the factual basis for those charges. Unlike an indictment, however, an information does not require a grand jury’s vote. Instead, the information is presented to a judicial officer, usually a magistrate, who reviews the facts as presented by the prosecutor and decides whether there is probable cause that a crime occurred. 

A complaint is simply a statement of the facts of the offense to be charged, made under oath by a law enforcement official. The purpose of the complaint is to establish probable cause, which will allow an arrest warrant to issue. 

Most federal white collar criminal offenses are felonies, and thus require an indictment. But some white collar cases, even felonies, can begin with an information or a complaint. For example, a complaint or an information can be filed much more quickly than an indictment can be obtained from a grand jury. 

So, if prosecutors need to move quickly in making an arrest, they may file a complaint or information. After the defendant is arrested, the government will have to go to a grand jury and obtain an indictment, unless the defendant chooses to waive that requirement and proceed by information. 

A felony case cannot go forward on the basis of a complaint alone. In reality, the indictment requirement presents a relatively low hurdle to criminal prosecution. Prosecutors control all the evidence that the grand jury sees. They instruct the grand jury on the law. And they write the indictments. Under those circumstances, it is no surprise that prosecutors frequently obtain the indictments they seek and often proceed by information or complaint. 

CONCLUSION

On these facts, what I surmise is that the defendant knew that the prosecutors had the goods on him and wanted to enter into a plea deal and was willing to enter a plea of guilty. 

Pleas deals mean what they sound like – “let’s make a deal”. The terms of the deal usually mean that the defendant gave up some information that the prosecutor believed to be valuable; in this case, information on Candidate No. 1 and Candidate No. 2. 

As to the information covering both elections, that is not unusual in a plea deal, as that is the vehicle by which the prosecutor and the defendant can limit the sentencing exposure. 

This seems to be a straightforward federal court white collar plea deal. What may be of interest is the probability that No. 1 and No. 2 should be sleeping with one eye open.