Blog
72 Hours After Federal Arrest
# 72 Hours After Federal Arrest
You’re sitting in a county jail cell. It’s been 18 hours since FBI agents handcuffed you at your home. Your wife is outside making calls, calling anyone she can think of—bail bondsmen, one after another—and she’s been at it for 4 hours and nobody will help. You keep asking the guard when you see a judge. He says “maybe tomorrow.” You have no idea what happens in the next 48 hours. What you need to know RIGHT NOW.
## What’s Happening to You Right Now – The 72-Hour Timeline
You’re Googling “72 hours” and panicking. That ACTUALLY means what?
The law says they’re supposed to get you in front of a judge within 72 hours—supposed to, anyway. That’s the maximum, not what actually happens. If federal agents arrested you Tuesday morning, you’ll see a magistrate judge Wednesday. If they arrested you Friday at 6 PM, you’re sitting in a cell until Monday morning. That’s 60+ hours.
**Hour 0-6: Booking and Processing**
FBI shows up at your door at 6 in the morning. You think they’re trying to intimidate you, make a scene in front of the neighbors. Wrong. They’re not trying to embarrass you—they’re timing the arrest so you see a judge TODAY. The math works like this: Arrest at 6 AM, booking takes 5 hours, transport to courthouse by 12 PM, initial appearance at 2 PM. If they’d arrested you at noon, you’d be sleeping in county jail tonight.
Many, many, defendants don’t understand this. Early arrest equals same-day appearance. When FBI shows up at 6 AM, you’ll see a judge within 12 hours.
**Hour 6-24: Where You’re Sitting Matters**
Where you’re being held determines how fast you see a judge. County jail near courthouse—24 hours. US Marshals holding cell inside courthouse—same day. Suburban area far from federal courthouse—48+ hours, maybe longer.
Weekend arrests are different because most federal magistrate judges don’t work Saturdays or Sundays, which means if you’re arrested Friday night, you’re sitting in a cell until Monday morning. That’s why some defendants see a judge in 18 hours and others wait 60+ hours—it’s about geography and timing, not their case.
**Hour 24-72: The Reality**
The actual timeline based off where you are and when you were arrested:
– Downtown arrest + weekday = 12-24 hours
– Suburban arrest + weekday = 24-48 hours
– Any arrest + weekend = 60+ hours until Monday
Google says “72 hours maximum.” That’s the CEILING—not the norm, not what you should expect. If you’re arrested Friday evening in Westchester, you won’t see the magistrate judge in White Plains until Monday at 10 AM. That’s 64 hours of sitting there, just sitting, waiting.
## Your ONE Shot – The Detention Hearing
The question everyone asks: “how do I get out?” Better question: “What are my actual odds?”
In Manhattan federal court (SDNY), 81.2% of defendants are detained. That’s 8 out of 10. You DON’T get out. The national average is 76.3%—SDNY is tougher. If you’re sitting in a cell after arrest in Manhattan, Bronx, or Westchester, you’re fighting 81.2% odds that you’re staying locked up.
**This Isn’t “Posting Bail”**
There’s no bail bondsman in federal court—none, no matter how many calls your wife makes or how many she finds online who say they do “federal cases.” Stop. Your wife has been calling bondsmen for 6 hours. None work in federal system. She’s wasting hours you don’t have, critical hours when she should be doing something else entirely.
Federal court doesn’t have bail like state court. It has what they call a detention hearing. Within 3 business days of your initial appearance—the first time you’re in front of the magistrate judge—usually 3-5 days later in reality, you’ll appear before that same magistrate. The judge decides: detained until trial, or released on conditions.
Released on conditions means expensive GPS monitoring you pay for daily, home detention where you can’t leave your house, third-party custodian supervising you 24/7. Or detained—transferred to a federal detention center 200 miles away to wait 18 months for trial, maybe longer.
**What Actually Works**
Defendants think detention hearing is where they tell the judge they’re innocent and promise to show up. Judge has heard that speech 1,000 times before. Doesn’t matter. Doesn’t move them at all.
What judge pays attention to: Your employer’s HR director appearing in person with employment verification letter on company letterhead. Third-party custodian—someone with a clean record who’s willing to supervise you 24/7—ready to testify. Property deed showing you own a home in the district. Character witnesses appearing in person to testify, not just writing letters. That’s evidence. Not promises.
In SDNY, when there’s what they call a rebuttable presumption of detention—drug trafficking cases, fraud cases, firearms—defendants overcome it only 18% of the time. You need HARD evidence, physical proof, people willing to appear and testify, not speeches about how you’re a good person.
**The Third-Party Custodian Strategy**
What actually works in the 18% that succeed: Third-party custodian. Your attorney needs 48 hours to arrange this properly—identify someone with stable employment and clean record, vet them so there’s no surprises, prepare their testimony, draft supervision agreement the judge will actually approve.
What doesn’t work: Friend who won’t testify. Family member with criminal history, even old stuff. Person who lives far from the court district and can’t supervise you daily.
If you wait until your initial appearance to hire an attorney, there’s no time. The detention hearing is only 5 days later. Your attorney needs those full 5 days, all of them.
**What Prosecutors Argue**
Federal prosecutors stand up and tell the magistrate you’re gonna run—you’ve got no property, access to money, maybe foreign connections, serious charges hanging over you—or you’re dangerous to the community because it’s a violent offense, criminal history, leadership role in the conspiracy. They have limited resources, so they argue hardest for detention in violent crimes, large fraud ($1M+), organized crime. They pick their battles.
What this means: If prosecutors are standing up and arguing detention, burning their credibility with the judge on keeping you locked up, they’ve decided you’re worth the resources. Your attorney needs evidence—real, physical evidence—to counter their specific arguments.
By the time FBI arrests you, they already have your bank records, emails going back years, phone records, cooperating witnesses who’ve been talking to them for months, grand jury testimony. You think you’re explaining yourself at detention hearing, clearing up the misunderstanding. Wrong. Prosecutors already know what you did. That’s why “explaining everything” is catastrophic. Irrespective of what you think they know, they know more—they always know more than you think.
**Appeals Don’t Work**
Appeals from magistrate detention orders succeed 13.4% in SDNY. That’s roughly 1 in 7. Median time to decision: 8 days. You’re sitting in detention during those 8 days, waiting.
Unlike other law firms who’ll tell you “we can appeal if we lose the detention hearing,” we focus on WINNING at the detention hearing. One shot. That’s it. That’s all you get.
## What Your Family Should Be Doing (Not Calling Bondsmen)
Your wife has called 8 bail bondsmen. None will help because federal bail doesn’t exist the way it does in state court. What she should be doing RIGHT NOW, this minute:
**Hour 1-6:** Contact employer’s HR—get employment verification letter on company letterhead, signed by someone senior.
**Hour 6-12:** Find third-party custodian. Who has stable employment, clean record, lives locally, willing to supervise 24/7? Start making calls.
**Hour 12-18:** Gather property documents. Deed if you own your home. Shows ties to community, roots, reasons you won’t run.
**Hour 18-24:** Contact character witnesses who’ll APPEAR at the hearing in person—pastor, coach, employer, business partner. Not just write letters. Appear.
**Hour 24-48:** Meet with attorney with ALL documents ready, organized, complete.
**What NOT to Do:** Don’t discuss your case on the jail phone. It’s recorded. Every single call, every word. Prosecutors use those recordings at detention hearings to show consciousness of guilt, to show you’re coordinating stories with family. Don’t wait to hire an attorney until after initial appearance. Families wait, thinking “we’ll see the judge first, then hire someone.” By then you’ve lost 24-48 hours your attorney desperately needed.
## Federal vs State – The Reality Shock
Your brother got arrested by NYPD last year. Bail bondsman, posted $5,000, home in 8 hours. Federal doesn’t work that way—not even close.
**State Court:** Bail bondsman, 10% cash, home within hours, 30% detention rate.
**Federal Court:** No bondsman, magistrate sets conditions (not cash), detention hearing days later, 76-81% detention rate.
You’re 2.5 times more likely to be detained in federal court. Everything you know about “posting bail” from your brother’s case, from TV shows, from what your friend’s cousin did—wrong in federal system. Completely different.
Federal judges set conditions based on statute: GPS monitoring, home detention, third-party custodian watching you constantly, drug testing, surrendered passport so you can’t flee the country. Or they detain you. Period. No amount of money gets you out if the judge orders detention—doesn’t matter if you have $10,000 or $1 million sitting in the bank.
Unlike state court where you post bail and leave, federal judge decides based on 18 U.S.C. § 3142 factors: are you a flight risk and are you a danger to the community. Cash doesn’t override those factors, regardless of how much you have available to put up.
## What You Do RIGHT NOW
You’re at Hour 1 thinking “I’ll wait until I see the judge tomorrow, then hire an attorney after that.” Stop. Wrong. Terrible idea.
By Hour 24, you see the magistrate at initial appearance—first time in front of the judge. Detention hearing is at Hour 120 (5 days later). If you hire an attorney at Hour 1, they have 120 hours to prepare everything. If you wait until Hour 24, they have 96 hours. That 24-hour difference equals whether your attorney has enough time to arrange a third-party custodian who’s actually vetted and prepared.
**Your Decision at Hour 1**
**Option A – Hire attorney NOW:** Attorney has 120 hours to prepare, can arrange third-party custodian in 48 hours properly, files detention memo 24 hours before hearing so judge reads it. Best chance at release (within the 19% who succeed in SDNY).
**Option B – Wait until initial appearance:** Attorney has 96 hours, rushed custodian search with no time to vet properly, may miss filing deadline because everything is compressed. Reduced chance at release.
**Option C – Court-appointed attorney:** Limited prep time because they get assigned at initial appearance, public defender handles 100+ cases simultaneously, may request continuance which means you sit longer. Lowest chance at release.
Recommendation: Hour 1 retention maximizes success probability. That’s just math.
**Three Hearings – Don’t Confuse Them**
**Initial Appearance (within 72 hours):** Magistrate reads charges out loud, appoints attorney or you say you’re hiring one, schedules detention hearing. You DON’T enter a plea yet. Your goal: Get attorney hired, get hearing scheduled ASAP.
**Detention Hearing (within 3-5 days):** Magistrate decides detained or released on conditions. Evidence gets presented. Your goal: Convince judge with evidence, witnesses, documents.
**Arraignment (within 10 days after indictment):** District judge—different from magistrate—takes your plea, sets trial date, discusses discovery schedule. Your goal: Plead not guilty, get discovery timeline established.
Defendants confuse these all the time. They think initial appearance is where they plead not guilty (wrong—that’s arraignment). They think they can negotiate bail at initial appearance (wrong—that’s detention hearing, and it’s not bail, it’s conditions of release).
**Common Mistakes That Get You Detained**
Talking to federal agents during booking. Everything you say—every explanation, every attempt to clear things up—is used at detention hearing to show you’re obstructing or lying or changing your story. Fifth Amendment—use it, stay quiet.
Discussing your case on jail phone. Recorded. Every call. Prosecutors use it to show consciousness of guilt and flight risk—”he’s telling his wife to move money” or “he’s coordinating his story with his brother.”
Waiting until initial appearance to hire attorney. Critical prep time gone, vanished. Attorney can’t arrange third-party custodian in 96 hours when it takes 48 hours minimum just to vet them properly.
Thinking you can “explain everything” at detention hearing and the judge will understand it’s all a misunderstanding. Judge doesn’t care about your explanation of innocence. The detention hearing isn’t about whether you’re guilty—it’s about whether you’re gonna run or whether you’re dangerous. Completely different questions.
**What Our Attorneys Do in First 48 Hours**
Hour 1-12: Contact Pretrial Services to understand what they’re recommending, gather employment verification from your job, identify potential custodians who might qualify.
Hour 12-24: Vet custodian thoroughly—background check, employment verification, make sure there’s no skeletons that will blow up at the hearing—contact your employer’s HR department for official letter.
Hour 24-36: Draft custodian agreement that complies with what magistrate judges in this district actually approve, prepare custodian for testimony so they know what questions are coming, contact character witnesses and prepare them too.
Hour 36-48: File detention memo with court laying out every reason you should be released, coordinate witnesses so everyone knows when to appear, review conditions we’ll propose to the judge as alternatives to detention.
We are available 24/7 because federal cases don’t wait for business hours. They arrest you at 6 AM Saturday—we’re answering calls at 6 AM Saturday.
## The Next 24 Hours Determine Everything
Our criminal defense attorneys at Spodek Law Group have defended many, many, clients in the first 72 hours after federal arrest. Todd Spodek, a second-generation criminal defense lawyer, was the lawyer of Anna Delvey in the Netflix series “Inventing Anna” that came out in 2022, and has handled federal detention hearings with over 40 years of combined family experience in criminal defense going back to his father’s practice.
In Manhattan federal court, 81.2% of defendants are detained. Appeals succeed only 13.4% of the time. Your detention hearing is your ONE shot at getting released before trial. We prepare for that one shot from Hour 1, not from Hour 24 after you’ve already lost a full day.
Unlike other law firms who wait until arraignment to start building your defense, we act in the first 24 hours—when it actually matters, when the window is still open. The 24 hours after your arrest determine whether you’re sitting in a federal detention center 200 miles away for 18 months or whether you’re home on GPS monitoring preparing your defense with your family, your job, your life still somewhat intact.
Call us at 212-300-5196. Available 24/7. If you’re sitting in county jail right now reading this on the tablet they gave you, your next phone call should be to our criminal defense attorneys. Not tomorrow after you see the magistrate. Not after you think about it. RIGHT NOW.