Federal Court is different.
When the feds come knocking . . .
your first thought is to panic. Yes, federal prosecutions are different than state charges, but the reality is that practice in federal court offers many advantages to state court prosecutions. With a lighter case load than state courts, you will find that the judges, prosecutors and agents can devote more time to your case.
As much as we hate to praise the opposition, we have frequently found that Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSA) listen more attentively to suggestions, arguments and facts that can help our clients.
Pre-Charging.
If you think you might be facing federal charges, call Peters & Peters immediately. Getting involved in your case prior to any charging decision has been made offers a variety of advantages. In some cases, by carefully learning all the facts (both good and bad) from the client, we are able to approach the federal agents and meet before charges are ever filed. Peters & Peters has had several cases where, through hard work and honesty with the AUSA and agents, charges are never brought.
You have been indicted.
In virtually every case, having Peters & Peters represent you immediately after charges are filed helps minimize the damage and the punishment. Federal court genuinely rewards a defendant who, working with his attorney, agrees to self-surrender. Promptly working with your attorney to self-surrender greatly increases the chances of not being detained pending resolution. Being released greatly enhances your ability to work with your attorney, lets you continue to work and be with your family, and provides a track record of supervision that helps with final disposition.
In many cases, by providing honest information about the charge, a defendant can not only avoid additional charges, but get credit for being honest with the "enemy." It seems strange, but we liken it to Catholics going to confession: by honestly talking about any criminal involvement, the client does not get charged with newly disclosed criminal activity, and is given credit against any criminal activity that the government knows about.
"I'm not a snitch" is something we often hear, and respect, from our clients. With years of experience, Peters & Peters has come up with a variety of ways for our clients to get credit for cooperation without ever having to "snitch" on anyone. A recent example involved a client who was absolutely not going to snitch on anyone. His co-defendant was a friend, and the client felt bad about his own activity resulting in the friend also being charged. Working with the client, we came up with a way that our client could help his friend--greatly reducing his friends punishment--and receive credit for doing what he wanted to do.
It can seem hopeless.
But it's not. In one legendary case, our client was video-taped selling drugs, and when he ran from the police and was caught, in his pocket was the key to the abandoned car he was video-taped going to for each sale. In an extraordinarily rare situation, the AUSA would not listen to alternatives, and insisted on trial with a certain sentence of life in prison.
With no other alternative, Peters & Peters went to trial. As sometimes happens, police officers testifying started stretching the truth (some might call it perjury) and eventually one officer simply got caught lying. The very same video-tape that the government used against our client clearly showed that the police officer had lied. The federal jury acquitted our client, stating that although they believed he was a drug dealer, that they couldn't trust the government's case when the officer was caught lying.
In another case, our client was charged with being the largest heroin distributor in the area. When Peters & Peters was hired, the AUSA candidly informed us that there would be no sentence less than life in prison. Over a period of two years of very hard work, we were able to change the decision of the prosecutor, and in an impossible case we were able to save our clients life. Once again, we found that the Assistant United States Attorney, although very talented and very aggressive, was open to new suggestions and new approaches.
White Collar Crime.
Business can be tough.
You've been busy running your business, dealing with customers and clients, employees, contractors, banks, accountants, managers, regulators and the never ending paperwork. Add to that the delegation of tasks, new technologies, changing rules, and a topsy-turvy economy and, at the end of the day, it's a miracle you've survived.
The federal government doesn't understand business. They don't worry about making payroll--they just print more money. They don't worry about dealing with customers--they run a monopoly and can't be fired. But government can pass laws, and those laws can suddenly mean that you are the subject of a federal investigation or indictment.
Three Felonies a Day.
Harvey A. Silvergate has written a wonderful and frightening book titled Three Felonies a Day, How the Feds Target the Innocent. He notes that the average professional "wakes up in the morning, goes to work, comes home, eats dinner and then goes to sleep, unaware that he or she has likely committed several federal crimes that day. Why? The answer lies in the nature of modern federal criminal laws, which have exploded in number but also become impossibly broad and vague."
Although you thought you were doing everything properly, the feds have decided that what has been "business as usual" is suddenly a federal crime. And you can watch the news to find out what the next growth area of federal indictments will be.
Remember the savings and loan crisis of the 1980's? The federal Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act allowed thrifts to make consumer loans up to 20 percent of the assets, issue credit cards, accept negotiable order of withdrawal accounts and invest up to 20 percent of their assets in commercial real estate.
When economic conditions changed and savings and loans began to fail, the feds decided to prosecute the bankers who, prior to the failures, thought they'd been following the law. Hundreds of business men and women found that, unbeknownst to them, they were breaking the new interpretations of the law.
Mortgage Fraud.
Okay. So the housing market collapsed, big banks and investment houses were taking a beating and . . . sure enough, federal prosecutions commenced on "mortgage fraud." Now, keep in mind that when the "big boys" break the law, they don't get prosecuted. Take for example the recent revelation that banks were rubber-stamping forfeiture paperwork as having been reviewed when, in fact, it wasn't. Not seeing those banks facing federal prosecution.
But for that builder or developer or small business man trying to make money, the very rules that the big investors and banks were making billions on are suddenly a criminal act for the small business man.
