Sentencing Resource Counsel (SRC) is a project of the Federal Public and Community Defenders. We assist Federal Public Defenders in fulfilling their statutory mandate to communicate with the United States Sentencing Commission and to comment on the work of the Commission; support the work of the Federal Public and Community Defenders' Legislative Committee and respond to congressional requests for assistance on criminal law matters; and provide noncapital sentencing-related training, advice, and support to Federal Public and Community Defender attorneys and staff and Criminal Justice Act (CJA) attorneys nationwide.
Meet the SRC Team
LESLIE E. SCOTT, Director, National Sentencing Resource Counsel.
Leslie joined SRC in 2022 after three years in academia, where her scholarship focused on federal sentencing policy and reform. Leslie also served as an Assistant Federal Public Defender in the Western District of New York from 2012 to 2019.
ADEEL BASHIR, National Sentencing Resource Counsel.
Adeel joined SRC in 2023. Before he joined SRC, Adeel served as an Assistant Federal Public Defender and Senior Appellate Attorney for over a decade with the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Middle District of Florida, and also as a litigation associate in the D.C. office of Mayer Brown, LLP.
ELIZABETH BLACKWOOD, National Sentencing Resource Counsel.
Beth joined SRC in 2025. Before that, she spent twelve years as an Assistant Federal Defender and Research and Writing Attorney in the Western District of North Carolina. She also previously worked as Counsel and Director of the First Step Act Resource Center at the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers ("NACDL").
SHELLEY FITE, National Sentencing Resource Counsel.
Shelley joined SRC in 2021. Before that, she spent roughly seven years as an appellate attorney with the Wisconsin State Public Defender and six years as an Associate Federal Defender with Federal Defender Services of Wisconsin, Inc.
BENJAMIN FLICK, National Sentencing Resource Counsel.
Ben joined SRC in 2025. Before that, he spent roughly seven years at the Federal Public Defender’s Office for the District of Columbia, and a year at the Federal Defenders of Eastern Washington and Idaho. He also previously worked for the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project in Washington, D.C.
JILL GINSTLING, National Sentencing Resource Counsel.
Jill joined SRC in 2025. Prior to that, Jill was a trial attorney at the Federal Public Defender's Office for the Central District of California for 21 years, the last two of which she spent detailed to the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime.
CHERRELLE HERBERT, National Sentencing Resource Counsel.
Cherrelle joined SRC in 2023. Prior to working with SRC, Cherrelle worked as an Assistant Federal Public Defender in the District of Puerto Rico and as an Assistant Public Defender in Miami-Dade, Florida.
TINA M. WOEHR, National Sentencing Resource Counsel.
Tina joined SRC in 2021 and has been with the Federal Defender program since 2014. Before joining Sentencing Resource Counsel, Tina was an Assistant Federal Public Defender in the District of Arizona and the Southern District of Texas. Prior to that, she was an associate in the New York office of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP.
MAX WOLSON, National Sentencing Resource Counsel.
Max joined SRC in 2023. His prior experience includes work as a Staff Attorney with the National Immigration Law Center, where he worked on impact litigation on behalf of immigrant communities, and as a Staff Attorney in the Office of General Counsel at the United States Sentencing Commission. Before that, he served as an Assistant Public Defender with the Maryland Office of the Public Defender and an Assistant Federal Public Defender in Iowa, representing clients at both the trial and appellate levels.
ALLISON BRUNING, Sentencing Data Analyst.
Allison joined SRC in 2022. She brings technical and research skills to the SRC: After completing her Master's Degree in Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin, Allison spent a year as a lecturer at Texas State University, teaching experimental and research methods.