The federal Sentencing Guidelines are public. Anyone can read them. In practice, almost no one outside the legal profession does, because the rules are spread across a manual of more than 500 pages written for judges, lawyers and probation officers. Most people facing federal charges, and most of their families, have no practical way to see what the guidelines say about a situation like theirs.
This site exists to change that. It turns the manual's rules into plain-English questions and shows the arithmetic behind every number, with a citation to the section it comes from.
Who we are
We are web developers, not lawyers. No one who built this site is an attorney, and this is not a law firm. We built it because we believe people should be able to read the rules that affect their lives, and because making public information easier to understand is something web developers can do for everyone.
The site was built with the help of AI tools, which were also used to check the calculations against the manual's text, as described on the methodology page.
What this site is
A free tool for viewing and understanding the federal Sentencing Guidelines. It covers every offense guideline in the Guidelines Manual effective November 1, 2025, and shows how the guidelines' own arithmetic works for the answers you choose.
What this site is not
- It is not legal advice. Nothing here tells you what to do in a real case.
- It is not a prediction. A real sentence depends on facts a court finds, the charges filed, plea agreements, cooperation, the judge's judgment, and laws this site does not model.
- It is not a substitute for a lawyer. Anyone facing federal charges should talk to a criminal defense lawyer. People who cannot afford one have the right to a federal public defender or appointed counsel.
- It is not affiliated with any government agency. It is not connected to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, the courts or the Department of Justice.
Accuracy and review
Every rule and number comes from the Guidelines Manual, the statute it cites, or another source named on the page. Each offense went through at least five independent review rounds, described on the methodology page, and is marked Verified only once its latest round found nothing to correct. Those reviews were done with AI tools, not by lawyers. We intend to have a federal criminal defense attorney review the site, and the site will say so only once that has happened. Even so, mistakes are possible; please read the disclaimer.
Independence
The site may carry advertising to pay for itself. Advertisers never influence the numbers or the content, and the calculator never sends what you enter anywhere.
Corrections
Found an error? Email [email protected] with the page and the manual section. Please do not include details about any real case: we are not lawyers, we cannot keep such information confidential, and we cannot give advice about it. Corrections are published with the next update.