As a Probation Officer, You Are Asked Towrite Presentence Investigation

As a probation officer, you are asked towrite presentence investigation (PSI)reports for the federal judge towhose court you are assigned. As part of the PSI report, you are asked tomake a formal sentencing recommendation for each case. Recently, you have been assigned a case where a 21-year old woman (and a mother of a 1 year-old little girl)has been distributing crack cocaine in a local gang neighborhood. She was one of ten whowere recently arrested in this neighborhood. Based on your findings regarding her case, she has been arrested before for simple possession at the state level, however, this time she was selling the crack cocaine in a known gang neighborhood, whohad ties toother gangs in twodifferent states-thus making this a federal case. While conducting your investigation, you were made aware of an interesting fact by the woman's mother. Her mother indicated that she was being forced tosell the crack cocaine by her boyfriend whowas a known drug dealer and member of the Latin Kings street gang. Her mother explained that the boyfriend told her that if she did not sell for him, "that she would never see her child again." With this information in hand, you speak tothe federal agent whomade the bust, and he further corroborated the mother's story. You now have tomake your final recommendation tothe judge regarding what type of sentence the young woman should receive. What doyou recommend, and why?