Federal criminal defense
A federal investigation is not a bigger version of a state case — it's a different system with different rules, different timelines, and very different consequences. If a federal agent has reached out, or if you've received a target letter, subpoena, or grand jury notice, the moment to engage counsel is now, not after charges are filed.
What we handle
- Federal drug cases — 21 USC 841, 846 (conspiracy), 851 (priors). Mandatory minimums for many quantity-driven charges.
- Federal firearm offenses — 18 USC 922(g) (felon in possession), 924(c) (firearm during a drug trafficking or violent crime), Armed Career Criminal Act exposure.
- Federal fraud — wire fraud (18 USC 1343), mail fraud (18 USC 1341), bank fraud (18 USC 1344), healthcare fraud (18 USC 1347), tax fraud (26 USC 7201), and false statements (18 USC 1001).
- Federal immigration offenses — 8 USC 1326 (illegal reentry), 1325 (improper entry).
- Federal child-exploitation cases — 18 USC 2251–2252A. Mandatory minimums apply.
- Federal gun-and-drug 924(c) stacking cases.
Where Stanislaus County cases go
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California has divisions in Sacramento and Fresno. Stanislaus County cases are usually filed in the Fresno Division (2500 Tulare Street, Fresno). The case may proceed there for the duration, or be transferred for sentencing.
Pre-indictment vs. post-indictment
By the time most federal defendants learn they are subjects of an investigation, the agents have done substantial work. The window before indictment is the most leveraged window in the case:
- The U.S. Attorney's Office can decline to prosecute, refer back to state, or charge a different (often less severe) offense.
- Cooperation decisions, if appropriate, are most valuable before indictment.
- Loss-amount, drug-quantity, and role-in-the-offense determinations — which drive sentencing under the Guidelines — can sometimes be shaped by what the defense puts in front of the AUSA before charges.
After indictment, the system is pre-trial detention, discovery production, motion practice, and a short march toward a plea or trial. Federal cases move on a schedule.
The Sentencing Guidelines
Federal sentencing is structured by the United States Sentencing Guidelines. The court calculates a Guidelines range based on the offense level (driven by drug quantity, loss amount, role, sophistication, victim count, and many other adjustments) and the criminal history category. The range is advisory — Booker — but it remains the anchor for almost every federal sentence.
Real sentencing work in a federal case includes:
- Disputing offense-level adjustments — leadership, sophistication, abuse of trust, vulnerable victim, obstruction.
- Negotiating relevant conduct — what counts toward sentencing beyond the conduct of conviction.
- Safety-valve eligibility for certain non-violent drug cases.
- Cooperation under USSG 5K1.1 when applicable.
- Variance arguments under 18 USC 3553(a) — the personal, family, and rehabilitation factors that justify a sentence below Guidelines.
What I look at first
- The investigation timeline. When did the case begin? What agencies are involved? What's already been seized?
- Existing legal exposure. Has the client testified, given a proffer, signed any document, or made any admissions? What was the context?
- The client's risk profile. Mandatory minimums, Guidelines ranges, and 851 enhancement exposure based on priors.
- Cooperation. Whether it's available, whether it's wise, and whether the client's information has actual value to the government — a hard, narrow analysis with major consequences.
- Detention. Federal pretrial detention is not bail. The Bail Reform Act analysis is its own fight, often the first one in the case.
Collateral consequences
- Immigration — most federal felonies are aggravated felonies under INA 101(a)(43). Removal is mandatory in many categories.
- Federal supervised release — runs in addition to any prison term, with its own enforcement.
- Restitution and forfeiture — broader and more aggressive than the state side.
- Public record — federal indictments are on PACER and frequently picked up by local press.
What to do now
- Don't talk to federal agents — FBI, DEA, ATF, IRS-CI, HSI — without counsel. "Just to clear it up" is the most expensive sentence in federal practice.
- Preserve everything. Document destruction is its own federal offense (18 USC 1519, 1512(c)).
- If you've been served with a subpoena, don't respond on your own. Subpoenas can be challenged, narrowed, or quashed; that work has to begin immediately.