Generally speaking, the principles of criminal defense are the same at the Federal level as they are at the state level. However, procedures and rules are quite different. It’s important to have an experienced attorney who has been admitted to practice in your federal district. Of all criminal charges, the most intimidating can be federal charges. The federal government has virtually unlimited money and resources to pursue its charges. It often takes years to build a case.
If you learn that you are under investigation for a federal charge, it is very likely that you will be charged. By the time you are charged or indicted, the feds will have built a substantial case against you. Because of their vast resources, that evidence may include wire taps and video surveillance. Our experienced attorneys can help you defend your case, it is important that you consult with us as quickly as possible.
“In the United States, a federal crime or federal offense is an act that is made illegal by U.S. federal legislation. Prosecution happens at both the federal and the state levels; thus a “federal crime” is one that is prosecuted under federal criminal law, and not under a state’s criminal law, under which most of the crimes committed in the United States are prosecuted.
This includes many acts that, if they did not occur on U.S. federal property or on Indian reservations or were not specifically penalized, would otherwise not be crimes or fall under state or local law. Some crimes are listed in Title 18 of the United States Code (the federal criminal and penal code), but others fall under other titles; for instance, tax evasion and possession of weapons banned by the National Firearms Act are criminalized in Title 26 of the United States Code.
Numerous federal agencies have been granted powers to investigate federal offenses to include, but not limited to, theBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation,U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Internal Revenue Service, and the Secret Service.
Mail fraud which crosses state lines or involves the (national) United States Postal Service is a federal offense. An equivalent offense, under Canadian criminal law, is theft from mail[1] (section 356 of the country’s Criminal Code).
Other federal crimes include aircraft hijacking, kidnapping, bank robbery, child pornography, obscenity, tax evasion,counterfeiting, violation of the Espionage Act, wiretapping, art theft from a museum,[2] damaging or destroying public mailboxes, immigration offenses, and since 1965 in the aftermath of the President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, assassinating the President or Vice President.[3]
In drug-related federal offenses mandatory minimums can be enforced. Federal law is implicated when a defendant manufactures, sells, imports/exports, traffic, or cultivate illegal controlled substances across state boundaries or national borders.[citation needed] A mandatory minimum is a federally regulated minimum sentence for offenses of certain drugs.[4]
Prosecution guidelines are established by the United States Attorney in each federal judicial district and by laws that Congress has already established.” –wikipedia
