I found this, so could be that plea of guilty will give less sentence.
A Federal Criminal Case Timeline
The following timeline is a very broad overview of the progress of
a federal felony case. Many variables can change the speed or
course of the case, including settlement negotiations and changes
in law. This timeline, however, will hold true in the majority of
federal felony cases in the Eastern District of Virginia.
Plea:
In the majority of federal cases, the defendant pleads guilty and does not
go to trial. A defendant can plead guilty “straight up,” or without a plea
agreement, or can strike a deal with the prosecutor and have a written
contract (a plea agreement) drafted with the terms of the plea.
A defendant has a right to be informed of every plea offer made by the
government. The defense attorney will also explain the terms of the plea
agreement, will discuss a defendant’s sentencing exposure at trial or
through the proposed plea, and will review the good and bad evidence
that awaits a defendant at trial. Ultimately, however, it is the defendant’s
decision alone on whether to take a plea offer from the prosecutor.
Sentencing:
If a defendant is convicted by either pleading guilty to a charge, or by
being found guilty after a trial, sentencing will take place about seventy-
five days later if the defendant is in custody, or about ninety days later if
the defendant is out of custody. See Fed. R. Crim. Pro. 32. A defendant
convicted of some offenses will likely be remanded into custody after trial,
but continued bond is allowed for less serious convictions.
Sometime after the conviction, the defendant will be interviewed by a
Probation Officer, and defense counsel may be present. The Probation
Officer will then take information from that interview, from forms
submitted by the defendant, and from material provided by the
government, and will prepare a draft pre-sentence report.
The draft pre-sentence report (or PSR) is provided to defense counsel and
the government before sentencing. The parties must make factual or legal
objections to the report within ten days of receipt. The court does not
receive a copy of this draft report – the goal is to resolve as many factual
or legal errors as possible before a PSR is provided to the judge.
Before sentencing, the final PSR is provided to the judge. This final PSR
describes the defendant’s background, describes the offense, and
calculates the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. It lists any unresolved
objections.
Also before sentencing, the parties must submit sentencing memoranda to
the court arguing for their proposed sentences.
At the sentencing hearing, the district court judge must resolve any
remaining objections to the PSR, make factual findings, and must consider
the factors of the key sentencing statute, 18 USC § 3553(a). Among the
factors that the court must consider are the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
In addition to a custodial sentence, the court will also decide how much
restitution is owed, and whether a criminal fine is appropriate.
Before imposing the sentence, the court must permit the defendant to
speak (or “allocute.”
See Fed. R. Crim. Pro. 32(i)(4). The defendant’s
counsel will have good advice on what to say at this point in the
sentencing hearing. A federal sentence can range from probation to
months or years in federal prison. If a sentence of imprisonment is
imposed, the district judge will also impose a term of supervised release
whereby a defendant must abide by the law while under post-release
supervision or risk additional punishment (see below).
http://vae.fd.org/sites/vae.fd.org/files/FedCrimTimeline.pdf
