Federal Criminal Defense

When a person says, “Don’t make a federal case out of it,” they mean, “Don’t make a big deal about it.” And that’s accurate: Federal criminal cases are a big deal that have life-lasting direct and collateral consequences. The federal legislative body, Congress, drafts many criminal laws. There are literally too many federal criminal offenses to count; no one knows how many there are. The enforcers of those laws, known as special agents, are scattered around different federal agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administraiton (DEA), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Internal Revenue Service (IRS), to name a few. There are many other federal agencies that investigate, interdict, and enforce specific area of federal law,

In Ohio, there are two federal judicial districts: Northern and Southern. Unlike state courts in Ohio, the sentencing phase of federal case, where the judge imposes punishment, is guided by a very intricate model known as the United States Sentencing Guidelines. Under the Sentencing Guidelines, the person who’s facing prosecution is assigned number, known as a base offense level, that corresponds to the specific federal offense they are accused of committing. The base offense level is then matched to a criminal history category, which is based on the offender’s prior criminal history. This computation provides a recommendation to the judge on a range of imprisonment. Overall, however, the federal judge must impose a sentence that achieves the overriding purposes of federal sentencing; that is, a sentence that is sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to reflect the seriousness of this offense, promote respect for the law, and provide appropriate punishment.

Navigating federal court requires a zealous and knowledgable attorney. We can help.