Criminal Defense Lawyers

Philadelphia Federal Criminal Defense Lawyers

Last Updated on: 21st December 2025, 10:40 pm

Philadelphia, PA Federal Criminal Defense Lawyers

Welcome to Spodek Law Group. If federal agents have contacted you in Philadelphia – if you’ve recieved a target letter, if investigators showed up at your business, if your attorney told you the Eastern District is looking at you – this article will tell you what your actually facing. Not the version that makes you feel better. The truth.

Heres the thing nobody tells you about federal investigations in Philadelphia. You think when prosecutors start investigating, there gathering facts to decide if you did something wrong. You think if you cooperate and explain what happened, they’ll understand it was a misunderstanding or a mistake or not actually criminal. You think the investigation is the beginning.

Its the ending.

By the time you know your under federal investigation in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, prosecutors have usually spent 18 months to seven years building there case. They’ve reviewed your bank records. They’ve interviewed your employees, your business partners, your accountants. Theyve had cooperating witnesses wearing wires to record your conversations. They’ve subpoenaed your emails and text messages. The investigation everyone talks about – the one your trying to respond to – isnt beginning when you learn about it. Its ending. And that changes everything about how you need to respond.

The Eastern District of Pennsylvania Doesn’t Bring Weak Cases

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania covers Philadelphia, the surrounding counties, and Reading. This isnt some backwater federal court. This is were the Department of Justice sends career prosecutors to take down powerful targets.

The conviction rate in federal court nationwide hovers around 99.6% when you include guilty pleas. In the Eastern District specifically, the numbers are even more striking. Over the past twenty years, EDPA has successfully prosecuted a Congressman (Chaka Fattah), a powerful union leader (John Dougherty, known as “Johnny Doc”), multiple judges, city council members, state legislators, and hundreds of healthcare providers in one of the most aggressive medical fraud enforcement operations in the country.

These aren’t prosecutors who bring charges hoping they might stick. These are prosecutors who spend years building cases until conviction is nearly certain. Then they indict.

What does that mean for you? It means if your facing federal charges in Philadelphia, the government has already decided they can prove your guilty. There not hoping. There not guessing. Theyve done the work. They’ve built the case. And the 99.6% conviction rate means there probably right.

The Eastern District has three major enforcement priorities that account for most federal prosecutions. First is public corruption and political cases – anything involving government officials, contractors doing business with the city or state, campaign finance, or bribery. Philadelphia has a long history of political corruption, and EDPA has made prosecuting it a signature priority. If your involved in government-connected work, understand that routine business interactions that might seem normal in Philadelphia can trigger federal scrutiny.

Second is healthcare fraud. The Eastern District is home to major hospital systems – Jefferson, Temple, Penn Medicine, and dozens of smaller healthcare networks. The federal government deployed specialized healthcare fraud prosecutors to Philadelphia who do nothing but investigate doctors, clinics, pharmacies, and medical billing operations. If you’ve billed Medicare, Medicaid, or any federal healthcare program, your billing patterns are being compared to statistical models, and deviations trigger investigations.

Third is drug trafficking and organized crime. While the opioid crisis hit Philadelphia particularly hard, federal prosecutions increasingly focus on distribution networks, pill mills, and doctors who prescribed painkillers that prosecutors claim were medically unnecessary. Even if you were a legitimate pain management physician following proper protocols, if patients later overdosed or diverted medications, federal prosecutors can build a case that you “should have known” your prescriptions were being misused.

The point isnt to scare you with how aggressive EDPA is – although they are extremely aggressive. The point is to make you understand that by the time they’ve contacted you, they’ve already made the decision. Your not at the “should we investigate this person” stage. Your at the “how many counts should we charge” stage.

By the Time You Know About It, They’ve Already Decided

Heres were people get this catastrophically wrong. They think a federal investigation unfolds like this: Agents become aware of potential wrongdoing → They investigate to gather facts → They decide whether the facts support charges → They indict or decline. And somewhere in that process, you get notified and have an opportunity to explain your side.

That timeline is technically accurate. But heres what it leaves out: All the investigating happens before you know anything about it.

The typical federal investigation in Philadelphia – particularly for white-collar cases, healthcare fraud, or public corruption – takes 18 to 24 months minimum before the target even knows they’re being investigated. Complex cases routinely take 3 to 7 years. During that entire time, federal agents are building the case.

What are they doing during those years? There reviewing your financial records – bank statements, wire transfers, loan applications, tax returns. There obtaining your emails through subpoenas to your email provider (not to you – to Google or Microsoft, who have to comply without notifying you). There interviewing people who work for you, people who’ve done business with you, people who know you. And critically, there often flipping lower-level players into cooperating witnesses who then provide testimony and sometimes wear recording devices to future meetings with you.

By the time you recieve a target letter – the formal notification that your the subject of a grand jury investigation – the EDPA prosecutors have already reviewed all this evidence. They’ve already identified what charges they think they can prove. The target letter invites you to come in and “provide information” or “present your side” before the grand jury makes a decision.

Now maybe your thinking: “OK so they’ve investigated, but this is my chance to explain. Maybe theres been a misunderstanding. Maybe if I show them the documentation or explain the context, they’ll see it wasnt criminal.”

Heres the reality. The Eastern District sends out target letters in cases were they’ve already decided to seek an indictment. According to Department of Justice internal guidance, prosecutors should only seek indictments when they have “probable cause” and believe the evidence is “sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction.” By target letter stage, they’ve already made that assessment.

What percentage of people who receive target letters in the Eastern District are eventually indicted? The exact numbers aren’t publicly tracked, but federal defense attorneys consistently estimate 80-90%. Maybe higher. The 10-20% who avoid indictment after a target letter are usually either (1) cooperating against bigger targets, or (2) presenting genuinely exculpatory evidence that the government didnt have – think alibi proof, documentation showing someone else committed the offense, expert analysis disproving a critical element.

For the other 80-90%, the target letter isn’t an opportunity to explain. Its an opportunity to incriminate yourself further by making statements that conflict with evidence the government already has. Or by lying, which becomes a separate federal offense (18 U.S.C. § 1001 – false statements). Or by “refreshing your memory” about events from years ago where you misremember a detail, which prosecutors then characterize as obstruction or lying to investigators.

Practitioners who’ve practiced in EDPA for decades will tell you: “By the time the client comes to me with a target letter, I’m not trying to prevent charges. I’m trying to negotiate what charges and whether cooperation is possible.” That’s the reality. The investigation you think is beginning has actually been ending for years.

The Seven-Year Investigation You Never Knew Was Happening

Let’s get concrete about what this looks like. Because the timeline sounds abstract until you see how it actually unfolded in real cases.

In 2016, federal prosecutors in the Eastern District indicted Congressman Chaka Fattah on 29 counts including racketeering, fraud, and money laundering. Fattah was a powerful Philadelphia politician – 11 terms in Congress, senior member of the Appropriations Committee, millions in campaign funds, deep connections throughout the city. When the indictment came down, it shocked people. But it shouldnt have.

Federal investigators had been building the case for seven years before indictment. Seven years. From 2009 to 2016, FBI agents were reviewing financial records, interviewing associates, flipping cooperators, and documenting alleged illegal activity. By the time Fattah learned he was under investigation, agents already had testimony from 17 cooperating witnesses, thousands of pages of bank records, emails documenting the alleged schemes, and recorded conversations.

When Fattah’s attorneys finally got to see the evidence against him, the investigation wasn’t in its early stages. It was complete. The prosecution had already identified every charge, every witness, every exhibit. The trial was essentially a presentation of what investigators had spent seven years assembling. Fattah was convicted on 23 of 29 counts and sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.

Or take the John Dougherty case. Dougherty ran the Philadelphia electricians union (IBEW Local 98) and was one of the most powerful political figures in the city – more powerful than many elected officials. Federal prosecutors indicted him in January 2019 on embezzlement and fraud charges related to union funds. When did the investigation start? Years earlier – with cooperators, wiretaps, financial analysis going back to 2010. The investigation was nearly complete before Dougherty knew he was under scrutiny. He was convicted in 2023.

The pattern repeats in healthcare fraud cases in Philadelphia. Federal prosecutors build cases against doctors and clinics by first analyzing years of billing data – sometimes going back 5-7 years. They identify billing patterns they consider anomalous. Then they pull patient files. Then they interview patients. Then they bring in medical experts to review whether treatment was “medically necessary.” By the time the doctor receives a target letter or agents show up with a search warrant, the government has already reviewed hundreds or thousands of patient encounters and made determinations about which ones they consider fraudulent.

Now heres the part that makes this devastating. While this investigation is happening – while agents are building the case over years – the target keeps conducting business as usual. The doctor keeps seeing patients and billing insurance. The politician keeps raising campaign funds and doing constituent services. The contractor keeps bidding on government jobs. And every single action during this time period can become additional evidence or additional charges.

You think your defending yourself against what you did last year. Actually your defending yourself against a pattern of conduct the government has documented over five or seven years, and you kept feeding them evidence the entire time because you didnt know they were watching.

This is why “I’ll just wait and see what happens” is catastrophic. By the time you see what happens, its too late. The evidence is already compiled. The witnesses have already flipped. The case is already built.

Why Cooperation Gets Harder the Longer You Wait

OK so if the investigation has been happening for years before you know about it, what are you supposed to do? How can you cooperate early if you don’t know your under investigation?

Thats the trap.

Cooperation with federal prosecutors is the single most valuable tool for reducing your sentence – sometimes by decades. Under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 35(b) and U.S.S.G. § 5K1.1, prosecutors can file motions for substantial downward departures if you provide “substantial assistance” in investigating or prosecuting others. In serious cases, this can mean the difference between life in prison and 10-15 years. Its that powerful.

But cooperation value is time-sensitive. The earlier you cooperate, the more valuable your information is. If you come forward before the government knows about certain conduct, before theyve identified other targets, before theyve built their case – your information helps them tremendously. You get maximum credit.

If you wait until your arrested, until the case is fully built, until the government already has all the information you could provide – your cooperation value drops dramatically. You can still get some credit for testifying at trial or pleading guilty, but its nothing compared to what you could have received by coming in earlier.

Heres the paradox. To cooperate early, you need to know your under investigation. But the government deliberately doesnt tell you your under investigation because they dont want to tip you off while there still building the case. So by the time you learn about it and have the opportunity to cooperate, youve already missed the window of maximum cooperation value.

This is why sophisticated targets sometimes have attorneys do proactive outreach to federal prosecutors when they suspect there might be an investigation – even before receiving a target letter. The attorney reaches out and says essentially “My client believes there may be an investigation related to X. If thats the case, my client wants to cooperate fully.” This can sometimes preserve cooperation value. But it requires (1) knowing or suspecting the investigation exists, and (2) having something valuable to offer.

In the Eastern District specifically, cooperation can be the difference between surviving and being destroyed. EDPA prosecutors handle complex conspiracy cases – RICO charges, healthcare fraud conspiracies, public corruption schemes – were the sentencing guidelines produce astronomical sentences. Life in prison. 30+ years. Sentences that mean you die in federal custody. For cooperators who provide substantial assistance, those sentences can be cut to 10-15 years, or sometimes even less.

But timing matters enormously. If you wait until after indictment to start cooperation discussions, the government has less incentive to offer favorable deals because they’ve already built the case. If you wait until after conviction, your cooperation value is limited to testifying against others – and you’ve already lost all leverage in your own sentencing.

Practitioner reality: “Clients come in after theyve been indicted and ask about cooperation. I have to tell them: ‘Where were you two years ago? The cooperation you could have provided then would have changed everything. Now the government already has most of what you know, and your value is marginal.'” Thats the reality of delayed cooperation.

Philadelphia’s Healthcare Fraud Machine Doesn’t Stop

If your a healthcare provider in the Philadelphia area – doctor, nurse practitioner, pharmacist, clinic owner, billing manager – listen carefully. The Eastern District of Pennsylvania runs one of the most aggressive healthcare fraud enforcement operations in the country, and the investigation timeline follows the same pattern described above. By the time you know about it, its over.

The federal government’s healthcare fraud enforcement in Philadelphia targets several categories. First is opioid prescribing. In response to the opioid crisis, federal prosecutors have brought cases against pain management doctors, general practitioners, and even dentists who they claim prescribed painkillers without legitimate medical purpose. The standard is “medically necessary” – but that determination is made years after the fact by prosecutors and government medical experts, not by the treating physician at the time.

Second is billing fraud – upcoding, billing for services not rendered, kickbacks, and submitting claims for medically unnecessary procedures. Federal investigators analyze billing patterns across thousands of claims, comparing your billing to statistical norms for your specialty. If your billing rates are higher than average – more complex procedure codes, more frequent visits, higher reimbursement per patient – that triggers scrutiny. They then pull patient files and review whether the documented medical necessity supports the billing codes submitted.

Third is kickback schemes under the Anti-Kickback Statute. Any payment or benefit in exchange for patient referrals can be prosecuted as illegal kickbacks – including things that seem like normal business relationships. Lab companies paying physicians for blood draws. Hospitals paying doctors for “consulting” in amounts that seem tied to referral volume. DME companies offering free services to physicians whose patients use their equipment. Federal prosecutors view these through a lens of “remuneration for referrals” and prosecute aggressively.

The investigation timeline for healthcare fraud cases in Philadelphia often exceeds three years. Heres how it unfolds. First, data analytics. CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) and private insurers run algorithmic analysis of billing patterns. Outliers get flagged – providers whose billing patterns deviate from norms. This happens without the provider knowing.

Second, preliminary investigation. Federal agents pull billing records for the flagged provider and begin reviewing. They identify specific claims that seem questionable. Still, the provider has no idea this is happening.

Third, patient interviews and file review. Agents obtain patient records (through administrative subpoenas that dont require notifying the provider) and interview patients. They ask: “Do you remember this visit? What treatment did you receive? Did the doctor actually perform the procedure billed?” Patients often dont remember details from years ago, and their vague recollections get recorded as evidence that services weren’t provided.

Fourth, expert review. The government hires medical experts to review patient files and make determinations about whether treatment was “medically necessary.” These experts – who never examined the patients, who are reviewing files years after treatment, who may not practice in the same specialty – conclude that certain treatments weren’t warranted. Those conclusions become the basis for fraud charges.

Fifth, and only now, the provider learns theres an investigation. Either through a target letter, or through a search warrant executed at the clinic with armed federal agents seizing records. By this point, the government has already reviewed thousands of claims, interviewed dozens of patients, and built a prosecution case identifying hundreds of allegedly fraudulent bills.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District has secured convictions against physicians for healthcare fraud with sentences ranging from 3 years to over 10 years in federal prison. Many cases involve allegations that seem, to the provider, like billing judgment calls. Whether a 99214 or 99215 evaluation code was appropriate. Whether a procedure was medically necessary for this specific patient. Whether the documentation sufficiently supported the code billed. Years later, prosecutors and government experts are making these determinations based on cold file review, and billing decisions that seemed reasonable at the time become federal felonies.

If your in healthcare in Philadelphia and you’ve received any communication from OIG (Office of Inspector General), a Medicare audit, or inquiries from insurance companies about your billing – understand that you might already be in the investigation phase. What seems like a routine audit or compliance review can be feeding into a federal criminal investigation. And by the time you learn its criminal, the case is substantially built.

What Actually Helps When EDPA Is Already Building Your Case

After everything Ive described – investigations that span years before you know about them, cooperation windows that close before you can use them, healthcare fraud cases that are complete before the first agent contact – you might be wondering what actually helps. What can a federal criminal defense attorney do against this system?

First, early intervention matters more than anything. If you suspect your under investigation – even if you havent received a target letter – retaining experienced federal counsel immediately can sometimes prevent charges from being filed. An attorney can reach out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, present mitigating information, and potentially negotiate a resolution before indictment. This only works if you act before the government has committed to charging you, which means acting on suspicion rather than waiting for certainty.

What triggers suspicion? Federal agents interviewing your employees or business associates. Grand jury subpoenas served on your bank or email provider (you might not receive these directly, but people around you might mention being contacted). Audits or regulatory inquiries that seem more aggressive than normal. Colleagues in your industry getting charged for conduct similar to yours. These are signals that investigation might be happening, and waiting for a target letter means waiting until its too late.

Second, understanding the specific district and judge matters. The Eastern District has particular judges who are tougher on sentencing, particular AUSAs who are more willing to negotiate, and particular types of cases they prioritize. An attorney who has tried cases in EDPA before Judge Beetlestone or Judge Bartle, who knows the local prosecutors, who understands how the Philadelphia federal court operates – that institutional knowledge is invaluable. This isnt something you can get from a state court attorney or even from a federal attorney from another district.

Third, cooperation strategy is everything. If cooperation is possible – if you have information about others, if your willing to testify, if you can provide substantial assistance – the timing and execution of cooperation can take decades off your sentence. But proffer strategy is complex. Proffering too early, before your attorney has reviewed all the evidence against you, can lock you into statements that later turn out to be contradicted by evidence. Proffering too late means missing the cooperation value window. A federal attorney experienced in EDPA cooperation cases understands when to proffer, what to proffer, and how to maximize cooperation value while minimizing the risks.

Fourth, sentencing is were experienced federal attorneys earn there fee. Even if your convicted, the Federal Sentencing Guidelines calculation determines your actual sentence – and the difference between guideline ranges can be years or decades. Calculating base offense levels, adjustments for role in the offense, acceptance of responsibility, criminal history category – this is technical work that requires deep expertise in federal sentencing law. An attorney who knows how to argue for downward departures, how to challenge guideline calculations, and how to present mitigation can dramatically reduce your time in federal custody.

Todd Spodek and the team at Spodek Law Group have represented clients in federal courts nationwide, including complex cases in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. We understand that federal defense in Philadelphia isnt about courtroom heroics or Perry Mason moments. Its about understanding that by the time your contacted, the case is substantially built – and working within that reality to minimize damage.

If your facing federal charges in Philadelphia, or if you suspect you might be under investigation, dont wait. Every day you delay is a day the government gets stronger and your leverage gets weaker. Call 212-300-5196 for a consultation. We’ll give you an honest assessment of were you stand and what your options actually are.

This is serious. Federal prosecutions in the Eastern District destroy careers, families, and lives. The investigation you think is beginning has been happening for years. Treat it that way.