Can I Reduce My Sentence if I Am a Criminal Informant?

Criminal informants, or “snitches,” aren’t well respected among other criminals. But at a certain point, you need to look after number one. When you serve a criminal sentence, you aren’t around to be with your family, earn a living, or enjoy freedom. Sometimes operating as an informant can reduce your criminal sentence.

Offering to be an informant is a difficult choice. Before you negotiate with law enforcement officers to be an informant, make sure you understand your rights. A criminal defense attorney will be able to negotiate on your behalf to make sure you get the promised deal. For more information about reducing your prison sentence, talk to a local criminal defense lawyer for legal advice.

What Is a Criminal Informant?

A criminal informant provides information about illegal activity to law enforcement. Many criminal informants offer information after they are arrested for a crime. The prosecutor can offer to reduce your charges in exchange for giving information about other suspects.

For example, if you are arrested on drug charges, you could face serious jail time. The police may know you’re not a major criminal and want information about more large-scale drug dealers. If you provide information to federal agents about other criminal enterprises, you might get a reduced sentence.

Law enforcement agencies refers to informants as criminal informants (CI) or confidential human sources (CHS). The criminal justice system has always relied on the use of informants in police investigations. CIs offer important information to help FBI agents and police officers with investigations into criminal activities like drug sales, organized crime, and gangs.

What Are the Benefits of Being a Confidential Informant?

You can likely reduce your criminal sentence if you act as an informant. However, there are also risks of giving the police information without a guarantee. The police may not be interested in information about other low-level offenders. Instead, you may have to give substantial assistance for major criminal cases, including drug trafficking or federal crimes.

Giving informant information to the police can be part of your plea agreement. With a plea deal, your attorney can negotiate with the prosecutor for a lighter sentence. Offering information about other crimes can help with leniency, especially for first-time offenders. If the judge agrees, you may be able to avoid jail time, plead to lesser charges, or even keep a drug case off your criminal record.

Are There Risks of Acting as an Informant?

The most serious risk of acting as an informant is your safety if you are found out. Many criminals take a hard stance against informing on others. There may be a risk of physical harm to you or your family as a result of providing information to the police.

One of the problems with acting as an informant is that you might not get your sentence reduced. Before you agree to cooperate with law enforcement, talk to your criminal defense lawyer. Your lawyer can explain your options and make sure any offer you make is in writing.

Cooperating witnesses (CWs) are different than CIs because a CW agrees to testify in legal proceedings. CWs usually have their obligations and expectations written out in an agreement.

How Else Can You Reduce Your Criminal Sentence?

There may be other ways to reduce your criminal sentence other than acting as an informant. Many non-violent drug offenders can benefit from treatment and counseling instead of jail time. You may be eligible for drug court, deferred judgment, or other programs. Your defense attorney can negotiate with the prosecutor and judge to show how you would benefit from an alternative to jail.

If you were already sentenced for your crime, there may be other ways to reduce your prison sentence. You may be able to get sentence reduction credits or jail credits to take time off your sentence. This includes credit for good behavior or participating in a work program.

Before you give information to law enforcement, talk to your criminal defense lawyer about your rights. You may be able to use your inside information in your plea bargain to reduce your charges.