My Story — Why I Chose to Fight, What I Learned and Why I Help Federal Defendants
Federal Defendant Advisors, LLC helps federal defendants and their families understand what’s coming, prepare for sentencing and prison, and make smarter decisions at every stage of the case. This is practical, real-world guidance from someone who has been through the system himself.
Andrew Bassaner
How PSR Language Quietly Controls BOP Classification, Programming, and Daily Reality
Most defendants believe the Presentence Investigation Report matters only at sentencing. In reality, it becomes the Bureau of Prisons’ primary narrative for deciding trust, autonomy, and risk. This piece explains how an accurate PSR—combined with deliberate positioning—quietly changed my medical care, work access, and freedom inside federal custody.
Andrew Bassaner
The Definitive Guide to Federal Rule 11: Surviving the Plea Process
The Foundation & Evolution of Federal Plea Bargaining 1.1 The Great Constitutional Paradox The United States Constitution mentions the right to a jury trial in two separate places: Article III and the Sixth Amendment. The Framers viewed the jury trial not just as a right for the defendant, but as a vital check on government power—a "sentinel" of liberty. Yet, if you look at the federal system in 2026, the jury trial is effectively extinct. In 1980, roughly 19% of federal crim
Andrew Bassaner
Why the Federal Conviction Rate Is So High — And What Every Defendant Needs to Understand
The System Is Quiet on Purpose The first thing people misunderstand about the federal system is noise. From the outside, it looks enormous, imposing, constantly at work. Massive courthouses. Stone facades. Columns meant to signal permanence. Flags flying over entrances that feel closer to monuments than buildings. Everything about the exterior communicates activity, authority, and inevitability. It suggests that inside, justice is being processed continuously by an army of pr
Andrew Bassaner
“Attended Some College”: How My PSR Erased My Story
How a Single Line Rewrote My Education, Character, and Sentence Long before I ever saw my name typed in a Pre-Sentence Report, long before my life was reduced to bullet points and sterile paragraphs written by someone who met me once, my trajectory had already been bent—quietly, bureaucratically, and without my consent. The PSR would later pretend my story began when I started making “choices.” That’s convenient. But my story actually began when adults made choices about me.
Andrew Bassaner
