Hire a Kidnapping Lawyer to Represent You
Individuals who are found guilty of the federal crime of kidnapping, abduction, and unlawful restraint face significant time in prison. We’re talking sentences of 20 years to life in prison, depending on various factors associated with your crime.
At the Zoukis Consulting Group, we understand that facing this kind of prison term can be overwhelming to you, particularly if you have minimal or no prior prison experience. That fear can be compounded by your anxiety about merely surviving prison life amid the other prisoners.
But we are here to help with that. When you hire a kidnapping lawyer with the Zoukis Consulting Group, you’re getting advice from someone who’s been right where you are. Our leader, Chris Zoukis, served 12 years in prison and has written extensively on getting through prison life.
We can educate you on thriving in federal prison, including making it through your first day, interacting with corrections officers and other inmates, and staying safe.
A Zoukis kidnapping attorney can also defend you in court if you’ve not yet been brought to trial. It is often the finesse of the lawyer that determines the time you end up serving.
Call us now for expert consulting on getting through prison life after a federal kidnapping, abduction, and unlawful restraint conviction.
Meanwhile, let’s dive into these federal offenses so you can understand what each entails and what you can expect regarding sentences.
Kidnapping, Abduction, Unlawful Restraint
Kidnapping, abduction, and unlawful restraint refer to the crime of unlawfully seizing, carrying away, or confining a person or persons against their will. People can kidnap others for a variety of reasons, but common ones include terrorizing the victim or demanding ransom money from certain individuals or groups in exchange for the victim.
Kidnapping is often separated from abduction because, while abduction refers only to taking someone away against his or her will, kidnapping involves the threat or use of violence in the process. Many people use the terms interchangeably.
Demanding or receiving ransom money in exchange for the victim is a crime related to kidnapping, and we will cover this later.
It’s important to understand that the Zoukis Consulting Group advises only those people involved in the federal prison system. At the same time, the offense of kidnapping, abduction, and unlawful restraint can be prosecuted as a state crime, depending on where it took place.
However, as with most crimes, kidnapping can become a federal offense if certain conditions are met. If the kidnapper transports the victim or victims across state lines or out of the United States for commercial purposes, that is a federal crime.
Other instances of federal kidnapping, abduction, and unlawful restraint include executing the kidnapping on federal lands or within U.S. aircraft or maritime jurisdictions, kidnapping a foreign government official, kidnapping a federal law enforcement officer or employee, or international parental kidnapping, in which a parent kidnaps his or her child under 16 and takes the child to another country.
Because of the severity of the crime of kidnapping, and the great potential for physical or psychological harm done to victims, the U.S. Code punishes federal kidnapping harshly. If found guilty, defendants can be sentenced to prison for anywhere from 20 years to life.
That is a substantial range of time, and the reason is that certain factors increase the severity of kidnapping from the perspective of the federal government. These factors may include using a dangerous weapon in the course of the kidnapping, demanding ransom money, sexually exploiting the victim, not releasing the victim within 7 or 30 days, and committing the kidnapping while executing another crime.
What Is Child Abduction?
Child abduction is a separate statute under federal law. It is defined as the kidnapping of a victim under the age of 18, where the perpetrator is not a parent, sibling, or other close family member or guardian. The severity of a sentence takes into account the age of the kidnapping victim.
Another example of child kidnapping involves a parent abducting a child from the other parent. These cases often take place during or after divorces. The federal punishment for a parent kidnapping his or her own child averages approximately three years.
If you’ve been charged with federal kidnapping, abduction, and unlawful restraint, you need a good unlawful restraint lawyer by your side to negotiate for the best possible sentence. We are here to help with that.
But let us now focus on one specific complicating factor from this list: demanding or receiving ransom money.
Demanding or Receiving Ransom Money
In U.S. law, each offense carries with it its own specification and penalty. While someone might carry out “one” overall criminal act, multiple other crimes could be involved in that.
For this reason, it is a separate federal crime for a kidnapper to receive or possess ransom money. The sentence for someone found guilty of demanding or receiving ransom money is a fine and a prison term of up to 10 years.
Furthermore, it is a federal crime to transfer, transport, receive, hide, or dispose of ransom money after crossing a state line or the U.S. border. Individuals found guilty of these acts can be fined or imprisoned for up to 10 years.
Let a Zoukis Abduction Attorney Be Your Advocate
Individuals charged with federal kidnapping, abduction, and unlawful restraint face lengthy prison terms if convicted. Additionally, once you get into prison, you may be shocked and overwhelmed at how prison life is. If you don’t have much previous experience with incarceration, facing down a life sentence or even a 20-year sentence can seem overbearing.
At the Zoukis Consulting Group, you can hire a kidnapping lawyer to defend you against your charges. The right attorney can be the difference between a life term and a shorter term in federal prison.
However, if you’re going to prison and need someone to provide a comprehensive picture of what you can expect and how you can thrive during your sentence, give us a call today. We would be happy to meet with you and review all you’ll need to see yourself through this period of your life.
Call the Zoukis Consulting Group today, and let us start working for you.
Published Feb 15, 2022 by Christopher Zoukis, JD, MBA | Last Updated by Christopher Zoukis, JD, MBA on Feb 15, 2022 at 12:27 pm
