Convicted Balch & Bingham partner and ghost-writer extraordinaire Joel I. Gilbert faces at least 20 years in federal prison.

The data about federal sentencing guidelines on bribery are not favorable. The vast majority (94%) are first time offenders, yet a super-majority (75%) were sentenced to prison.

With 6 guilty counts against him and a $360,000 bribe that was over five times the national median amount,  Gilbert may not see his two young children until they are teenagers or in college. He may come out of federal prison as a senior citizen.

What can Gilbert do to secure a shorter concurrent prison sentence for the sake of his children?

Start singing like Oliver Robinson.

Having worked at Balch & Bingham for 15 years, Gilbert may have key knowledge about any possible dark secrets at Balch: acts or schemes that include unsavory or possible criminal conduct by Balch and Balch clients hidden behind NDAs and other legal maneuvers.

As we wrote before the trial began:

Gilbert’s loyalty to the firm and his clients has been unwavering. However, one’s own life and tight-knit family will obscure those loyalties.

Gilbert has been tossed overboard by his once esteemed colleagues, and even his former boss was acquitted. Instead of being embittered or disillusioned, Gilbert can finally do something for the benefit of his family, his children: stand up for inherent goodness.

One item from the criminal trial that has yet to be cleared up is the billing records for the letter of intimidation Gilbert wrote against the public charity GASP.

As we wrote in our original post, our review of the billing records, we could not find any records for that drafting or mailing of the letter from December 1, 2014. Maybe Gilbert knows why.

Joel, pick up the phone and call George Martin.