Types of Federal Cases Prosecuted in Los Angeles
Many people have this big question because they're concerned that the federal government is harsher than the state government. They're always worried about whether the federal government will take their case or whether the state government will take it.
Really, there's no hard and fast rules on it. The federal government in the Central District of California seem to take the more sophisticated cases that require more time, manpower and funds to be able to prosecute. That's definitely one factor that I see in federal criminal cases. Also, they have their specific areas that you'll usually see them in.
For example, child pornography is usually crossing state lines when the internet is being used. It's a little more difficult for the state government to investigate, but even there, there's a dividing line in the number of images. If you could have a few photos, they'll usually kick that down to the state to deal with.
Large-Scale Drug Cases
Another big area I see the federal government getting involved with in Los Angeles in the Central District is significant drug cases, even significant drug cases that involve gang members. In some of the drug cases, there are no gang members involved, but in a lot of the drug cases, because of the amount of money involved and the amount of coordination that it takes, gang members get involved, and the feds will come in and investigate that.
They're pretty well-equipped to do wiretaps, track, and monitor drug trafficking. They've got the time and manpower to deal with it. The state government is usually not as well-equipped, especially if the drug trafficking involves multiple jurisdictions.
The feds are going to get involved with something like that if it's a high dollar amount or a lot of drugs. Stuff at the border, obviously the feds in San Diego, I see getting involved a lot with large amounts of narcotics coming through.
Again, where it's difficult to catch the thieves but high dollar amounts are involved, the feds will get involved. I just recently dealt with a distraction jewelry theft case in which jewelers were being followed from downtown Los Angeles to all over Orange County and San Francisco.
Then, the distraction thieves would distract the person—pop their tire or do various other things—and then steal thousands of dollars worth of jewelry. So, that's another area that the feds are well-suited to deal with.
Ponzi Schemes
You'll see the feds involved with large conspiracies to bilk people out of money—Ponzi schemes—because they have the software and agents to track individuals involved in these types of sometimes internet-related offenses.
Also, internet-related offenses where people trick individuals out of money—maybe dating schemes, maybe a money currency scheme, or money laundering—any time the feds lose significant amounts of money.
They're not getting their piece of money that's being moved in and out of the country — they're going to get involved to track that money, capture those offenders, and get their money back if they possibly can.
Large theft rings—people who put devices at gas stations and capture people's credit card information—are another big area that I will see the federal government get involved in because they've got the people to surveil.
The GPS tracking monitors individuals, so there's a whole host of different crimes that the feds get involved with, but regardless of whether or not it's the federal or state government, you're in a position where you're going to want to get a criminal defense attorney who has the experience and can either fight the case.
Retain a Federal Criminal Attorney
One who can file motions to try to block some of the evidence the prosecutors are trying to use against you, do damage control and mitigate the potential sentence you're facing.
In a federal criminal case, you serve 85% of the sentence, whereas, in a state, you're not always looking at 85%. Even in the 85% of cases that are serious violent felonies, you don't always end up serving the total amount of time. So, you're usually better off if the state prosecutes your case versus the federal government prosecutors. It just depends on the circumstances.
But your first step if you or a loved one is being investigated or charged with a federal criminal crime is to pick up the phone and hire somebody like me who's been practicing for 26 years, has a lot of experience, and knows what it takes to succeed.
