There is a lot of lore about plea bargains. Almost all of it is wrong. First, you need to understand your prior record score and your offense gravity score before trying to decide if a plea is reasonable. You need to know if any mandatory sentences apply, as is typically the case with felony drug offenses. You need to know about sentence enhancements. You also need to know what the "going rate" is for a typical offense.

The plea process is not like eBay or haggling over a used car. Prosecutors do not haggle for the sake of haggling. They do not want to waste time dickering over a case. You need to present a compelling case for your position either before pretrial conference by writing or talking to the prosecutor through your attorney or at pretrial conference.

Prosecutors have a very high volume of cases, and it is a mistake to assume that they know everything about your case, especially if they have only read the police reports and (maybe) talked to the officer. One of the best things that an attorney can do for you is to present facts about your case to the prosecutor that will convince the prosecutor that your proposed sentence or other resolution of the case is fair to the Commonwealth and the victim (if any). Doing this on your own is exceptionally risky.

If you have a pending pretrial conference or an offer on the table from the Commonwealth, you should call attorney Joseph N. Gothie at (717) 848-8455 to set up a free, no-risk consultation to discuss your case. 

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