Plea Bargain is whatever your lawyer can arrange. The more expensive the lawyer, the better he is, the better deal you’ll get. That’s the sad truth.
What is interesting is how outraged you guys are over this one. Santa Fe New Mexico didn’t have a single criminal case tried in Federal Court for two years. No drug smugglers. No bank robbers. No federal crimes of any sort saw the inside of a courtroom other than the reading of the plea deal. Two years.
Nearly all but two or three percent of Federal Crimes are handled this way. That means negotiations manage most cases. A vast majority of cases. This means Defense Attorneys are really good at negotiating.