United States Attorneys may not consent to the plea known as an Alford plea (see North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 91 S.Ct. 160 (1970)) (when the defendant maintains his or her innocence with respect to the charge to which he or she offers to plead guilty) except in the most unusual of circumstances and only after recommendation for doing so has been approved by the Assistant Attorney General responsible for the subject matter or by the Associate Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General, or the Attorney General. In any case in which the defendant tenders a plea of guilty but denies that he or she has in fact committed the offense, the attorney for the Government should make an offer of proof of all facts known to the Government to support the conclusion that the defendant is in fact guilty. See JM 9-27.440, Principles of Federal Prosecution (discussing the rationale of this policy); JM 6-4.330 (approval of Alford pleas in tax cases).

The Policy and Statutory Enforcement Unit (PSEU) of the Office of Enforcement Operations will coordinate the review of requests for approval to consent to Alford pleas in matters for which the Criminal Division is responsible. Such requests should be submitted to the PSEU using a form available to Department attorneys which 1) describes the facts of the case; 2) sets out the specific statutory violations charged; 3) states the charges to which the defendant agrees to plead; 4) explains the circumstances supporting the requested consent to the plea: and 5) provides any other information that may be helpful in rendering a decision on the request. The PSEU will obtain the views of the Criminal Division section responsible for the substantive area involved in the case and will forward the request and the section's views to the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division for decision.

Questions regarding this approval requirement in matters under the supervision of the Criminal Division may be directed to the Policy and Statutory Enforcement Unit of the Office of Enforcement Operations at 202-305-4023.

[updated January 2020] [cited in JM 6-4.330]