For those who wonder why the motion was filed at this time, such a motion, when made under Rule 35 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, is required to be filed within one year after the adjudication of guilt, which I compute is 28 March, 2007. Though there is another provision in the Rule allowing a sentence reduction after one year, the rule mentions a sentence reduction information not known to the defendant until after that time, and the US Attorney, in an overabundance of caution, appears to have filed the motion so as not to run foul of any potential deadline issue.

It has been reported that the news of this motion was not well received by some in Congress. Typically, cooperating defendants have their sentences reduced by one-half. World-Check will periodically check the progress of the case for the amount of the sentence reduction. Although long sentences frequently receive major press coverage, sentence reductions rarely appear in the media.     

Research Note: U.S. vs. Kidan, Case Number 05-60204cr-HUCK.