If federal agents arrested you in Queens, or you have learned that you are the subject of a federal investigation, your case belongs to the Eastern District of New York, which covers Kings, Nassau, Queens, Richmond and Suffolk counties. That puts you in front of prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office at 271 Cadman Plaza East in Brooklyn and a federal court whose rules differ from the state process at 125-01 Queens Boulevard. Spodek Law Group P.C. handles federal cases nationwide, and Todd A. Spodek's defense of Anna Delvey was dramatized in Netflix's Inventing Anna.
Where federal cases from Queens are heard.
Federal law places Queens in the Eastern District of New York, and 28 U.S.C. 112 provides for the district court to be held at Brooklyn, Hauppauge, Hempstead and Central Islip. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the district keeps its main office at 271 Cadman Plaza East in Brooklyn along with a branch at 610 Federal Plaza in Central Islip, and the court's Brooklyn courthouse stands at 225 Cadman Plaza East. A Queens arrest by federal agents therefore takes you out of the Kew Gardens system you may have heard about from friends or family, and your defense has to be built for the federal forum, its procedures and its judges from the very first day.
Federal drug cases and mandatory minimums.
Quantity drives federal drug charges. Under 21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(A), the listed quantities carry not less than 10 years and up to life, and under 841(b)(1)(B) the lower tier carries not less than 5 and not more than 40 years. Importation cases, which can arise from arrivals at JFK, are charged under 21 U.S.C. 952(a) with penalties set by 21 U.S.C. 960, where quantity tiers such as 1 kilogram or more of heroin or 5 kilograms or more of cocaine trigger the highest penalty tier. Because the weight alleged can set a mandatory minimum, we examine how the government measured each amount and how it attributes those amounts to you.
State or federal when either could bring the case.
Queens investigations can involve local and federal agencies at the same time. The Queens DA's Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau pursues gangs and firearms dealers using court-authorized electronic monitoring, its Financial Frauds Bureau covers investment scams, bank and credit card fraud, identity theft and cybercrime, and its Airport Investigations Unit works with local, state and federal partners. When conduct could be charged either in Kew Gardens or in the Eastern District, the choice of forum affects your sentencing exposure and the way the case proceeds, so we work to learn early which office is leading and to address that office directly.
