I’m getting a lot of questions about Apollo’s sentence today. The other post is already sort of jumbled due to the flow of updates, so I will break it down for you here. Despite the fact that many news stations report that Apollo faced “up to 30 years,” that was either media hype or a lack of understanding of the law. The maximum sentence for bank fraud is in fact 30 years, but Apollo was never facing the maximum sentence. First of all, there are guidelines the judge follows on sentencing that I told you about here. I told you that there were two factors that are involved on determining a sentence. First, is the Criminal History Category this is a number from one to six based on all of his past run-ins with the law. Each instance results in a certain number of points. Apollo had a total of eleven points for previous infractions. This made him a Category V. Today, the judge did not grant Apollo’s attorney’s request to lower his a Category IV based on so many of his infractions occurring in his early twenties. His ruling was based on the fact that his arrest free decade occurred when he was incarcerated for the majority of that time. So his past criminal behavior number is a five.

Now picture a piece of paper with the numbers 1-6 heading up six columns across the top of the page. Down the left side of the page, you will have lines numbered from 1- 43. Those numbered lines represent the seriousness of the charges he is currently being sentenced for. I’ll spare you the math and tell you that he was, as best as I can determine, a level 30. So if you put your finger on line 30 and ran it over to the Category V column you would land on a sentence of 151-188 months (approximately 13 -15.5 years). That was the actual sentence Apollo was facing.

However, there is a document that is sealed in the record. That document discusses the amount of snitching Apollo did and how it will benefit his sentence. This snitching gives Apollo a “downward departure.” This moves your finger back up the paper because the downward departure means that some number will be subtracted from his offense level. This is his snitching bonus. Apparently, he did a fine job because he was rolled back at least 6 and as many as 8 levels to receive a sentence of 96 months (96 months falls within the range of level 22, 23 and 24). Whoever he ratted out cut out three years and three months worth of time.

Still with me? All of the above was to explain how the eight year sentence came to be. Now let’s discuss how much time he will actually serve. Federal prisoners no longer have the opportunity for parole. They must serve 85% of their time. Assuming that Apollo gets in no trouble as a rat in prison, the earliest he can be released is after serving 6 years and 8 months.

HOWEVER, there is one other thing federal prisoners can do to get time off of their sentence. This is where Apollo’s attorney, Tom Bever, of Chilivis, Cochran, Larkins & Bever LLP., earned his salary. The federal system has a program called the 500-Hour Residential Drug Abuse Program. If you ever find yourself heading to federal prison, first hire Tom Bever, then you need to immediately begin doing drugs or at least tell the court you have a drug problem. Because if you can get a coveted spot in this program (a judge has to grant your admission, which means you need to know about it before you get to jail and do what it takes to get yourself in it), you can earn up to 18 months off your sentence. PLUS! You get to do your last six months in a half-way house. So that is two less years in the actual prison. Since Bever got Apollo in the program, he could potentially be released in FIVE YEARS and TWO MONTHS! And six of those months would be in a halfway house.

Oh I knew I forgot something. Bever also got Apollo voluntary surrender. This means he can stay out of prison until they secure him a place in a prison near Atlanta. The prison location was also requested by Bever. Who knows how long it will take for them to find him a spot. Meanwhile, he has time to film RHOA Season 7! Um, yay?!

I’m thinking a lot of people would be willing to do five years in prison for millions of dollars. What a country! What a justice system!

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