Law360, New York (October 24, 2016, 12:22 PM EDT) -- Among the arrows in the quiver of federal law enforcement officers is the cooperation agreement. In such circumstances, a criminal defendant agrees to plead guilty to an offense and cooperate with the government in its prosecution of other defendants. In so doing, the cooperator agrees to testify if need be at any trial of those other defendants. The hope is that when it comes time for the cooperator to be sentenced for his or her offense, the court will take his or her cooperation into account and give a lower sentence because he provided substantial assistance to the government. If a defendant has already been sentenced prior to becoming a cooperator, then the government can make a motion to the original sentencing judge under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 35 to reduce the cooperator's sentence based on his or her cooperation....