Federal Sentencing · Published Analysis · Editorial Leadership

Press & Media. Published Analysis.

Joseph De Gregorio is a published federal sentencing strategist and Founder & President of Sentencing Advocacy Group. His analysis has appeared in Bloomberg Law, Bloomberg Tax, Law360, the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Magazine, the Federal Bar Association, and national media.

Across hundreds of federal cases, primarily white-collar matters, Joseph has worked directly with defendants and alongside defense counsel at critical points in the federal process, helping develop the documented record before decisions affecting sentencing, custody, release, and long-term consequences are made.

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Latest announcement · American Bar Association · October 27, 2026

Joseph De Gregorio on White Collar Talks with Nina Marino and Joe Whitley

A new conversation about early federal sentencing preparation, the presentence process and documented accountability—building on Joseph’s ABA article, “The Mitigation Revolution.”

Listen to the ABA conversation →Request a Private Case Review

American Bar Association · Professional Education

Federal sentencing education at the American Bar Association Learning Center

Joseph De Gregorio and Nicholas Kaizer are listed as panelists for Federal Sentencing Reduction: Engineering Drastic Downward Variances in White-Collar Matters.

October 19, 2026 · 3:00 p.m. EDT · 60-minute online webinar

Explore the American Bar Association program →View the American Bar Association program →

From the published work to your preparation

What should defendants take away?

  • Prepare before the interview. Joseph De Gregorio’s American Bar Association article explains a documented, five-phase sentencing preparation process, including preparation for the presentence interview.
  • Make change verifiable. Collect accurate records of treatment, work, education and other relevant progress so counsel can evaluate what supports your case.
  • Start with a clear record. Read the published analysis, use the 25 preparation questions, and discuss case-specific decisions with defense counsel.

Get the 25-question preparation guide → Explore presentence interview preparation →

Publication establishes authorship and subject matter; it is not an endorsement of services or a promise of an outcome.

The Record Behind the Work

Published analysis tied to the decisions that shape a federal case.

These publications address different stages of the federal process, but they share a common premise: sentencing outcomes are influenced by the quality of the record available to the people making consequential decisions.

The record below is organized by institution, date, exact title, source, and the practical significance of the published analysis.

Effective advocacy depends on the record that exists. The earlier that record is built, the more there is for counsel and the court to evaluate.
Joseph De Gregorio and Joe D. Whitley seated onstage during their conversation at the 2026 American Bar Association Southeastern White Collar Crime Institute.

Joseph De Gregorio in conversation with Joe D. Whitley at the American Bar Association’s 12th Annual Southeastern White Collar Crime Institute, Braselton, Georgia, September 10, 2026.

FEATURED SPEAKING APPEARANCE · SEPTEMBER 10, 2026

12th Annual Southeastern White Collar Crime Institute

A Fireside Chat with Joseph De Gregorio

American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section event artwork for A Fireside Chat with Joseph De Gregorio, moderated by Joe D. Whitley, September 10, 2026, Braselton, Georgia
September 10, 2026 appearance · Original event artwork. Registration information shown is historical. View full-size artwork ↗

Joseph De Gregorio, Founder and President of Sentencing Advocacy Group, was listed for a fireside chat moderated by Joe D. Whitley of Womble Bond Dickinson LLP at the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section’s 12th Annual Southeastern White Collar Crime Institute.

The Institute brings together professionals engaged in the defense, prosecution, and adjudication of complex white-collar criminal matters.

View American Bar Association Event Information
Documented. Published. Verifiable.

A record that can be checked at the source.

Every credential below is tied to a specific publication, appointment, or appearance, with its date, context, and original source available for verification.

5Bloomberg Law & Bloomberg Tax analyses
3Law360 Expert Analysis articles
2026Law360 Criminal Practice Editorial Advisory Board appointment
American Bar AssociationCriminal Justice contributor and JustPod guest
Federal Bar AssociationPublished contributor
Published & Featured By

Institutions of record.

Explore the published record by institution. Each entry includes the exact title, publication date, practical significance, and original source.

01 · American Bar Association

Criminal Justice Magazine · Summer 2026

American Bar Association Criminal Justice Magazine · Summer 2026 · Nine-page feature

The Mitigation Revolution: A Practical Guide to Engineering Drastic Federal Sentence Reductions

Read at the American Bar Association →Read the PDF — no subscription required ↗

A nine-page Criminal Justice Magazine feature presenting a five-phase framework centered on PSR preparation, documented behavioral change, verifiable rehabilitation, and evidence capable of supporting judicial confidence in a variance.

Sentencing Advocacy Group PerspectiveMitigation should not be treated as a collection of favorable facts assembled shortly before sentencing. Effective mitigation is a process: identify the issues that matter, begin constructive work early, document that work, prepare carefully for the PSR process, and organize the resulting evidence so it can be used effectively by counsel. The distinction between assertion and verification is critical. Saying that a defendant has changed is fundamentally different from creating an evidentiary record demonstrating what changed, when it changed, who can verify it, and whether the conduct has been sustained.

Explore Sentencing Advocacy Group’s sentencing preparation methodology — an original Sentencing Advocacy Group companion to the published American Bar Association feature.

02 · Law360

2026 Criminal Practice Editorial Advisory Board

03 · Bloomberg Law

Three published analyses

For an original reading guide connecting these articles to Sentencing Advocacy Group’s preparation work, explore Joseph’s Bloomberg Law analysis →

Bloomberg Law · December 8, 2025

How to Get a Judge to Reduce Your Client’s White-Collar Sentence

Read at Bloomberg Law →

A practical sentencing analysis on how defense counsel can build a stronger sentencing record before the hearing and give the court concrete evidence with which to evaluate accountability, rehabilitation, and variance.

Published case example: Joseph De Gregorio’s Bloomberg Law article describes a 168-month (14-year) sentencing guideline and a sentence of one year and one day. The published account explains the six weeks of presentence-interview preparation and the documented mitigation work behind that case.
Sentencing Advocacy Group PerspectiveThe sentencing hearing is the end of a much longer record-building process. Long before counsel stands before the judge, information has already been collected through the probation interview, the Presentence Investigation Report, financial disclosures, treatment records, restitution information, character evidence, and the defendant’s documented conduct after the offense. The practical issue is not simply whether a defendant says the right things at sentencing. It is whether accountability, rehabilitation, compliance, treatment, employment, family responsibility, and future planning can be demonstrated through credible evidence.

Use the article to identify gaps in your personal history and supporting records. Explore interview preparation and coordinate factual questions with defense counsel.

Prepare for your presentence interview →
Bloomberg Law · April 20, 2026

Prepping for Fraud Payback Hearings Helps Clients Save Millions

Read at Bloomberg Law →

An analysis of restitution hearings as an evidentiary issue, including victim identification, causation, loss calculations, recovery, and the documentary record supporting the proposed obligation.

Sentencing Advocacy Group PerspectiveFinancial consequences in federal fraud matters do not end with the advisory sentencing range. Restitution can create an entirely separate and enduring exposure, and the factual assumptions supporting a restitution demand deserve the same disciplined scrutiny as other consequential components of the case. Preparation requires understanding what losses are legally attributable, how calculations were developed, whether amounts overlap, what recovery has already occurred, and whether supporting records tell the same story as the government’s proposed number.
Bloomberg Law · June 4, 2026

DOJ Enforcement Vacuum Opens a Strategy Window for Defendants

Read at Bloomberg Law →

An analysis of changing federal enforcement priorities and the opportunity to document remediation, compliance improvements, treatment, financial responsibility, governance changes, community conduct, and other corrective measures.

Sentencing Advocacy Group PerspectivePeriods of changing federal enforcement priorities can create something defendants rarely receive in a criminal case: time. But time has strategic value only when it is used deliberately. This analysis examines the opportunity for individuals facing potential federal exposure to begin documenting remediation, compliance improvements, treatment, financial responsibility, governance changes, community conduct, and other corrective measures before those actions are demanded by a prosecutor, probation officer, or sentencing court. For defendants and counsel, the larger principle is that the strongest record is often the one built before anyone requires it.
04 · Bloomberg Tax

Two published analyses

For an original reading guide connecting these articles to Sentencing Advocacy Group’s preparation work, explore Joseph’s Bloomberg Tax analysis →

Bloomberg Tax · March 11, 2026

Tax Fraud Sentencing Has a Gap Defense Attorneys Are Missing

Read at Bloomberg Tax →

An analysis distinguishing guideline tax loss from restitution exposure and the separate factual and financial questions that can remain after the sentencing range is established.

Sentencing Advocacy Group PerspectiveTax cases illustrate why guideline exposure and restitution exposure must be evaluated separately. A negotiated or accepted tax-loss figure can influence the advisory guideline calculation without necessarily resolving every financial question that follows. That distinction matters because incarceration exposure and long-term repayment obligations operate differently. Each requires its own factual record, documentation, and strategic analysis. The practical lesson for defendants is that a sentencing strategy should account for the entire consequence structure of the case, not merely the guideline range that appears in the sentencing memorandum.
Bloomberg Tax · July 27, 2026

Changes to IRS Disclosure Program Should Spark Compliance Checks

Read at Bloomberg Tax →

An analysis of federal tax-enforcement program changes and the compliance checks that can help identify whether existing documentation, corrective measures, and compliance systems would withstand scrutiny.

Sentencing Advocacy Group PerspectiveChanges in federal tax-enforcement programs should prompt more than a technical review of eligibility requirements. They should cause individuals and organizations with potential exposure to examine whether their existing compliance systems, financial disclosures, documentation, and corrective measures would withstand scrutiny if the government began asking questions tomorrow. The key is timing. Compliance measures created only after an investigation becomes unavoidable can look reactive; measures adopted, tested, documented, and sustained beforehand can tell a materially different story.
05 · Law360 Expert AnalysisThree Expert Analysis articles · Publisher links and direct PDFs
Law360 · January 29, 2026 · Co-authored with Richard Levitt

Keys To Effective Mental Health Mitigation In Sentencing

Read at Law360 →Read the article PDF — no publisher login →

Law360 Expert Analysis with Richard Levitt of Levitt & Kaizer, focused on the use of clinical evidence and individual mental-health circumstances in federal sentencing.

Sentencing Advocacy Group PerspectiveMental-health mitigation is strongest when it moves beyond diagnosis. The existence of a condition alone does not explain conduct, demonstrate treatment progress, establish future stability, or tell the court why the information should matter under the sentencing factors. Credible mental-health mitigation connects qualified clinical evidence to the defendant’s history, offense conduct, treatment participation, documented change, support structure, and realistic plan for continued care. The objective is not to use mental health as an excuse. It is to give the sentencing court a professionally grounded record.
Law360 · May 14, 2026

Sentencing Tips For Defending Crypto Conspiracy Cases

Read at Law360 →Read the article PDF — no publisher login →

Law360 Expert Analysis addressing sentencing considerations in federal cryptocurrency conspiracy cases.

Sentencing Advocacy Group PerspectiveCryptocurrency conspiracy cases can create a particular sentencing danger: the scale of the overall scheme can overwhelm the individualized conduct of a particular defendant. This analysis focuses on the need to separate enterprise-wide numbers and allegations from the loss, role, knowledge, conduct, and restitution exposure that are actually attributable to the person standing before the court. Blockchain evidence may provide extraordinary visibility into transactions, but the existence of a digital ledger does not eliminate questions about individual responsibility, foreseeability, role differentiation, or the sequencing of multiple defendants.
Law360 · July 14, 2026

A 3-Part Blueprint For Sentencing Variance Arguments

Read at Law360 →Read the article PDF — no publisher login →

Law360 Expert Analysis presenting a three-part framework for building persuasive federal sentencing variance arguments.

Sentencing Advocacy Group PerspectiveA persuasive variance request requires more than repeating the language of 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). The statutory factors become meaningful when counsel can connect them to an individualized and verifiable record. Accountability must be more than a statement of remorse. Rehabilitation should be demonstrated through conduct. Future plans should be concrete. Treatment, employment, compliance, family obligations, restitution efforts, and community involvement become more persuasive when supported by independent documentation. That is why the strongest variance arguments combine legal advocacy with a record capable of supporting the conclusion counsel is asking the court to reach.

Turn the themes of accountability and documented change into a chronology, record inventory and preparation schedule. Counsel determines the legal arguments.

Build your sentencing preparation record →
06 · Federal Bar Association

Federal sentencing analysis

Federal Bar Association · July 28, 2026

Judicial Sentencing Discretion After Booker: What the Pre-Sentence Report Actually Determines

Read at the Federal Bar Association →

A Federal Bar Association feature focused on the practical role of the Pre-Sentence Report in federal sentencing and the information that shapes the court’s exercise of sentencing discretion after Booker.

Sentencing Advocacy Group PerspectiveBooker restored meaningful discretion to federal sentencing, but discretion is only as useful as the record upon which it can operate. The Presentence Investigation Report occupies a particularly important position because it becomes an institutional document reviewed not merely by the sentencing judge, but potentially by the Bureau of Prisons and others responsible for decisions later in the federal process. What enters that record therefore matters. Accuracy, context, documentation, personal history, treatment, rehabilitation, and future planning can influence how the defendant is understood both at sentencing and afterward.

Identify missing factual records and prepare to explain your history accurately. Counsel reviews disputed findings and any legal response.

Explore PSR and interview preparation →
07 · American Bar AssociationJustPod
American Bar Association · JustPod

Federal Sentence Reduction and Early Release: Joseph De Gregorio’s Journey

Listen to the JustPod →

Originally published October 27, 2025 · Season 7, Episode 13. Joseph De Gregorio, federal sentencing strategist and now Founder and President of Sentencing Advocacy Group, joins hosts Justin Danilewitz and Geonard Flay Butler II to discuss accountability, rehabilitation, sentencing preparation, incarceration and rebuilding after release. The conversation also explores the First Step Act and the experiences informing his work with defendants and families.

Sentencing Advocacy Group PerspectiveThis conversation offers personal and professional background for readers considering Joseph’s preparation work. It is an interview, distinct from an authored legal analysis, and should not be used as a substitute for current Bureau of Prisons rules or advice from defense counsel.

For practical help after sentencing, explore surrender preparation, custody-record organization and release planning for individuals and authorized family members.

Plan for surrender and release →
08 · Us Weekly / UncoveredNational media with five-time Emmy Award-winning investigative journalist Kristin Thorne
Us Weekly / Uncovered with five-time Emmy Award-winning investigative journalist Kristin Thorne · January 22, 2026

Federal Sentencing Strategist Reveals the “Systematic” Reasons Why Some “Real Housewives” Stars Commit Fraud

Read at Us Weekly →Watch the 7-minute feature →

Katherine Schaffstall’s January 22, 2026 article reports on commentary from federal sentencing strategist expert Joseph De Gregorio. The accompanying approximately seven-and-a-half-minute Uncovered feature includes his interview with five-time Emmy Award-winning investigative journalist Kristin Thorne. Joseph is the interview subject, not the author of the written article.

Uncovered with Kristin Thorne
Five-time Emmy Award-winning investigative journalist Kristin Thorne interviewed federal sentencing strategist expert Joseph De Gregorio for Us Weekly’s Uncovered series.
If the player does not load, watch the 7-minute feature on YouTube →
Sentencing Advocacy Group PerspectiveThe Us Weekly feature examines a question that extends well beyond celebrity crime: why individuals who already possess wealth, status, professional success, or public visibility can nevertheless move toward serious financial misconduct. The commentary focuses on the interaction among financial pressure, lifestyle expectations, reputation, rationalization, opportunity, and the progressive normalization of conduct that may initially be treated as manageable or temporary. From a sentencing perspective, understanding how conduct developed is not the same as excusing it. The relevance lies in examining the decisions, incentives, failures of judgment, and behavioral patterns that led to the offense.
09 · Business Insider

Quoted coverage

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Sentencing Advocacy Group is a federal sentencing consultancy and does not provide legal representation or legal advice. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

From published insight to practical preparation

Find the answer that fits your case.

Explore federal sentencing guides, judicial perspectives and dated case analysis—then use those insights to prepare better questions and a stronger evidence file with counsel.

Federal Sentencing Guides →Indictment, PSR interviews, character letters, fraud sentencing, prison credits and reentry.Federal Judges’ Perspectives →36 judicial voices on credibility, accountability and meaningful preparation.Federal Case Analysis →What current fraud cases illustrate about loss, role, restitution and sentencing preparation.