Civil asset forfeiture lets the government take property on suspicion alone - and the burden of getting it back falls on you. Criminal forfeiture rides alongside an indictment and reaches everything the government calls proceeds. Both run on strict deadlines: miss a claim window and the property is gone by default. We contest seizures, file the claims, and force the government to prove its case.
How these cases are built.
Federal cases are investigated long before they are charged - often for one to three years. By the time an indictment arrives, the government has your records, your communications, and frequently a cooperating witness. That is why the single most important variable in the outcome is when the defense starts. Engaged early, counsel can shape charging decisions, protect you in interviews, and sometimes end the matter before it begins.
Sentencing exposure - and how it moves.
Federal judges sentence under the guidelines, and some counts carry mandatory minimums. But exposure is not destiny: loss amounts get contested, enhancements get challenged, roles get minimized, and mitigation gets built. Six months on a $12 million Ponzi case - when prosecutors pushed for years - is what disciplined guidelines work looks like in practice.
Defenses that actually work.
Intent is the battleground in most federal prosecutions - the government must prove you knowingly and willfully broke the law, not that something went wrong. Suppression of illegally obtained evidence, attacking the loss calculation, dismantling cooperator testimony, and pre-trial motions that narrow the case are how verdicts and dismissals get won. If there is a way to win your case, we will find it.
