A
plea bargain (also
plea agreement,
plea deal,
copping a plea, or
plea in mitigation) is any agreement in a
criminal case between the
prosecutor and
defendant whereby the defendant agrees to
plead guilty to a particular charge in return for some concession from the prosecutor. This may mean that the defendant will plead guilty to a less serious charge, or to one of several charges, in return for the dismissal of other charges; or it may mean that the defendant will plead guilty to the original criminal charge in return for a more lenient sentence.