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The Criterion Nobody Prepares For The five requirements for safety valve relief under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f) are not, in practice, equally difficult to satisfy. Four of them are matters of record: criminal history,…

FBI Search Warrant at Your Home or Business: Your Rights The search warrant is not the beginning of the investigation. It is, in almost every case we encounter, confirmation that an investigation has been…

The Government's Motion, Not Yours The single most consequential fact about a 5K1.1 motion is the one most defendants learn too late: you cannot file it yourself. Only the government can request this departure.…

The federal grand jury subpoena communicates more than most recipients perceive on first reading. Before the envelope is opened, before counsel is retained, before the words "Fifth Amendment" enter the conversation, the government has…

The Small Docket Problem The District of Vermont prosecutes fewer federal criminal cases than nearly any district in the country, and that is precisely what makes it dangerous. A defendant in the Southern District…

The Conviction Rate and What It Permits An 89 percent conviction rate should end most conversations about whether to cooperate with IRS Criminal Investigation. It does not. The number, drawn from IRS-CI's own fiscal…

The investigation is over before you know it has begun. The agents who appear at your door are not beginning their work; they are confirming what months of database analysis, prescription monitoring, and financial…

Criminal Liability for FDA Misbranding A corporate officer can be sentenced to federal prison for a violation she did not commit, did not authorize, and did not know was occurring beneath her. Under the…

Prescription Pills Without a Prescription in New York Possession of a single prescription pill without the corresponding prescription constitutes a criminal offense in New York. The statute does not distinguish between a person who…

First Appearance in Federal Court The pretrial services report will reach the magistrate before you do. That document, assembled from an interview most defendants regard as routine, contains the court's first and often most…