Long Island Federal Criminal Lawyers

Last Updated on: 13th December 2025, 10:05 pm

Long Island Federal Defense Lawyers

The federal courthouse in Central Islip dominates the landscape unlike anything else on Long Island. This massive building serves as the headquarters for federal criminal prosecutions across Nassau and Suffolk Counties. If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance federal agents have either contacted you, arrested you, or arrested someone you care about. What happens next will be fundamentally different from anything you’ve experienced with state criminal charges.

Federal cases on Long Island proceed through the Eastern District of New York, which covers not just Nassau and Suffolk but also Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. That’s roughly 8 million people under one federal district. The Long Island Criminal Division operates out of Central Islip, and the prosecutors who work there handle everything from the initial investigation through sentencing and appeals. They don’t hand cases off to other attorneys. The same federal prosecutor who’s building a case against you now will likely be the one standing at trial.

Here’s something most people don’t realize about federal criminal cases: only about 2% actually go to trial. That sounds like it might be good news until you hear the rest. Of those cases that do go to trial, the conviction rate exceeds 98%. Those numbers tell you something important about how federal prosecution works. By the time they charge you, they’ve already won.

Federal Court Comes to Your Neighborhood

Long Island isnt some quiet backwater when it comes to federal criminal prosecution. The feds have been extremly active here, particularly over the last decade. Between the MS-13 gang cases, massive public corruption prosecutions, and ongoing financial crimes, the Central Islip courthouse sees serious federal action constanty.

Heres the thing that surprises people. Your probably thinking federal crimes means bank robbery or terrorism or something you see in movies. But federal charges on Long Island often involve:

• Healthcare fraud
• Tax evasion
• Narcotics trafficking
• White-collar crimes that dont make the evening news

The FBI maintains a major presence on Long Island. So does the DEA. And when there investigating, they take there time.

The Eastern District of New York handles aproximately 2.8 million residents of Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Thats a huge population, and the federal prosecutors have alot of discretion about which cases they take. When they decide your case is worth pursuing, its because they belive they can win. Federal prosecutors dont file charges to see what happens. They file charges when their ready to convict.

The Central Islip Courthouse – Where Federal Cases Are Decided

If you’ve never been to the federal courthouse in Central Islip, its an imposing building. Theres nothing else like it on Long Island in terms of scale. This is were federal defendants face trial, were plea hearings happen, and were sentences get handed down. The building houses multiple courtrooms, judge’s chambers, and the offices for the U.S. Attorney’s Long Island Criminal Division.

Your case will be assigned to a federal judge who handles everything from arraignment through sentencing. Unlike state court were you might see different judges at different stages, federal court keeps one judge on your case the whole time. These judges have lifetime appointments, and they’ve seen every type of federal case imaginable. Your not going to surprise them with excuses or explanations theyve heard before.

The process moves differently than state court too. Theres something called the Speedy Trial Act that says your supposed to go to trial within 70 days of indictment. Sounds fast right? In reality, cases routinly take years. Defense attorneys request extensions, prosecutors need more time to prepare, evidence issues come up. That 70-day clock gets paused and restarted so many times it basicly becomes meaningless. Your case could easily drag on for two years or more while your out on bail wondering what there doing.

Why Federal Charges Are Different Than State

The federal system operates completly differently from New York state courts. When your facing state charges in Nassau or Suffolk County, you deal with the local DA’s office, local judges, and state sentencing guidelines. Federal charges mean federal rules, federal guidelines, and federal prison.

Heres an uncomfortable truth that nobody wants to hear. Federal prison time is real time. In the state system, you might serve a fraction of your sentence with good behavior, early release programs, and parole. The federal system eliminated parole back in 1984. You have to serve at least 85% of whatever sentence you get. If the judge gives you ten years, your doing at least eight and a half. Theres no getting around that math.

Federal sentencing guidelines create another major difference. These guidelines use a grid system that calculates your sentence based on two things:

• The offense level
• Your criminal history

Prosecutors can argue for adjustments that increase the offense level. Cooperating with the government can reduce it. But the guidelines create a range, and while judges can deviate from that range, they usually dont deviate much. By the time your standing before a federal judge for sentencing, a number has basicly already been calculated.

The evidence standards work differently too. Federal prosecutors have access to tools that state prosecutors simply dont have:

• Wiretaps that last for months
• Grand jury subpoenas that compel testimony
• The ability to flip witnesses with cooperation agreements

When the feds build a case, there building it to be airtight.

The Investigation You Didn’t Know About

OK so heres something that keeps federal defense lawyers up at night. Federal investigations can run for years before you have any idea your a target. The FBI might be listening to your phone calls, reviewing your bank records, interviewing people you know, and building a case against you while your going about your normal life completly unaware.

They use cooperating witnesses extensively. Someone you know, maybe someone who worked with you or for you, might have gotten in trouble with the feds themselves. To save their own skin, they agreed to help build a case against you. That means there recording conversations, keeping notes on meetings, and reporting everything back to federal agents. You have no idea this is happening because cooperating witnesses dont exactly announce themselves.

The surveillance capabilities are extensive:

• Federal agents can get warrants for GPS tracking on your vehicle
• They can monitor your electronic communications
• They can put you under physical surveillance for extended periods

All of this happens before you ever know your being investigated. By the time agents show up at your door, they already know more about your activities then you probably remember yourself.

This is why talking to federal agents without a lawyer is so dangerous. They already have information. When they ask you questions, there not trying to understand what happened. There testing whether you’ll lie to them. And lying to federal agents is itself a crime, even if you never did whatever there investigating.

What Federal Prosecutors Do Differently

Federal prosecutors, called Assistant United States Attorneys or AUSAs, work differently than local district attorneys. They have smaller caseloads which means more time to focus on each case. They have access to federal investigative resources. And they have the backing of agencies like the FBI, DEA, IRS Criminal Investigation, and others.

Heres what makes federal prosecution especially effective. The same AUSA who works with agents during the investigation phase is usually the same one who handles the trial and sentencing. They know every piece of evidence because theyve been involved from the beginning. They know every witness because theyve prepped them personally. This continuity gives federal prosecutors a significant advantage.

Federal prosecutors also have something called the ability to “charge up.” If there investigating you for one thing and discover evidence of something else, they can add those charges. They can also bring in charges that carry mandatory minimum sentences, which creates enormous pressure to plead guilty and cooperate. A defendant facing a 10-year mandatory minimum on drug charges has strong motivation to help the government build cases against other people.

The conviction rate tells the story. When federal prosecutors decide to charge someone, they win more then 90% of the time through guilty pleas and another significant percentage at trial. Combined, the overall conviction rate once charges are filed approaches 98%. These are not numbers you want to bet against.

MS-13 and the Reality of Federal Gang Cases

Long Island has become ground zero for federal MS-13 prosecutions, and the cases that have come through Central Islip courthouse are nothing short of horrific. This isnt some minor gang activity. Were talking about murders, dismemberments, and violence that shocked communities across Nassau and Suffolk Counties.

The case of Alexi Saenz, known as “Blasty,” stands out. This MS-13 leader was sentenced to 68 years in federal prison after being convicted in eight murders. Eight. The violence associated with MS-13 on Long Island led to one of the largest federal gang prosecution efforts in the country.

Remember Kayla Cuevas and Nisa Mickens? Two teenage girls murdered by MS-13 members in Brentwood in 2016. Those killings brought national attention to gang violence on Long Island and intensified federal prosecution efforts. The cases that followed involved RICO charges, which allow prosecutors to treat gang activity as organized crime and impose much longer sentences.

The federal approach to MS-13 combines multiple agencies working together. The Long Island Gang Task Force brings together:

• FBI
• DEA
• Nassau County Police
• Suffolk County Police
• Other federal and local agencies

When they take down MS-13 members, they dont just charge them with state crimes. They use federal RICO statutes that carry much heavier penalties. A gang member who might get 15 years in state prison could get 40 or 50 years in federal court.

Since 2010, federal prosecutors in the Eastern District have charged MS-13 members in connection with more then 70 murders. Thats an extraordinary number for a suburban area, and it reflects how seriously the feds have pursued these cases.

When Long Island’s Own Leaders Became Federal Defendants

If you want to understand how federal prosecution works, look at what happened to Suffolk County’s own law enforcement leadership. This story is almost too ironic to believe, but its completly true and it happend right here on Long Island.

James Burke was the Chief of the Suffolk County Police Department. In 2012, he beat up a man named Christopher Loeb who had stolen a duffel bag from Burke’s car. That bag contained some items Burke didnt want becoming public. After the beating, Burke tried to cover it up and obstruct the federal investigation that followed.

Heres the kicker. Burke had previously kicked the FBI off the Gilgo Beach serial murder investigation, telling them Suffolk County could handle it themselves. Then the FBI turned around and investigated Burke himself. The hunter became the hunted. Burke was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for violating Loeb’s civil rights and for obstruction of justice.

But the case didnt stop there. Federal investigators kept pulling the thread. Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota had been involved in covering up the Burke assault. Spota wasnt just any prosecutor – he ran the office that was supposed to prosecute crimes like this. Even more ironically, Spota’s chief of the “Government Corruption Bureau,” Christopher McPartland, was also charged.

Let that sink in. The District Attorney and his Government Corruption Bureau chief were convicted of corruption.

• Spota received 5 years in federal prison
• McPartland got the same – 5 years

These were the people who spent their careers prosecuting others, and they ended up as federal defendants in the same courthouse where they once appeared as prosecutors.

This cascade shows exactly how federal investigations work. One case leads to another. Burke’s prosecution led to Spota’s prosecution. When the feds start pulling threads, the whole tapestry can unravel. And it all happened in Central Islip federal court.

Never Talk to Federal Agents Without a Lawyer

This might be the most important section of this entire article, so pay attention. If federal agents want to talk to you, your instinct will be to cooperate. You’ll think that explaining your side of the story will clear things up. You’ll assume that refusing to talk makes you look guilty. Every single one of these instincts is wrong.

Speaking to federal agents without a lawyer present seems cooperative but actually builds the case against them. Thats not a typo. What you say will be used to fill in gaps in their investigation. It will be compared against other evidence they have. And if you say anything thats not 100% accurate, you’ve just committed a federal crime.

Federal agents are not there to help you. There not neutral fact-finders trying to determine what happened. They already have a theory about what happened, and there testing whether you’ll confirm it or lie about it. Either way, you lose:

• If you confirm their theory, you’ve just helped them convict you
• If you lie, you’ve just added a false statements charge to whatever else there investigating

The moment federal agents contact you, the only appropriate response is to say you want to speak with an attorney. You dont have to be rude about it. You can be polite. But you need to clearly state that you want a lawyer present before answering any questions. Then stop talking. Dont make small talk. Dont answer “just a few basic questions.” Dont explain why you need a lawyer. Just stop talking.

Some people worry that asking for a lawyer makes them look guilty. Federal agents expect people to ask for lawyers. Its your constitutional right. Nobody at the U.S. Attorney’s office is going to be surprised or offended. What they will do is stop questioning you until you have representation, and thats exactly what you want.

What Happens After Federal Arrest on Long Island

If you’ve been arrested on federal charges, heres what happens next. You’ll be taken before a federal magistrate judge for an initial appearance, usually within 24 hours of arrest. At this appearance, the judge will inform you of the charges against you, discuss your right to counsel, and address the question of detention versus bail.

Federal bail works differently than state bail. The government can argue for detention, meaning you stay in custody pending trial. Detention decisions are based on factors like:

• Flight risk
• Danger to the community
• The seriousness of the charges

For some offenses, there’s a presumption of detention that you have to overcome. Drug trafficking charges, for example, carry this presumption.

After the initial appearance, your case moves toward indictment. The government will present evidence to a grand jury, which decides whether there is probable cause to charge you. Grand jury proceedings are secret, and you have no right to be present or to present your own evidence. If the grand jury returns an indictment, you’ll be arraigned on those charges.

Then comes the discovery process, where your attorney receives the evidence the government has gathered. This can include documents, recordings, witness statements, and other materials. Federal discovery rules are more limited then state rules, so you might not see everything the government has until trial.

Throughout this process, plea negotiations are happening. The vast majority of federal cases end in guilty pleas, often as part of cooperation agreements. These negotiations can determine your sentence just as much as any trial outcome. Understanding what the government wants and what they’re willing to offer requires experienced federal defense counsel.

Finding the Right Federal Defense Lawyer

Not every criminal defense lawyer handles federal cases. Federal court requires specific knowledge of federal procedures, federal sentencing guidelines, and the way federal prosecutors operate. You need someone who actually practices in federal court, not someone who primarily handles state matters and occasionally takes a federal case.

Look for attorneys with experience in the Eastern District of New York specifically. Federal districts have their own local rules, their own procedures, and their own courthouse culture. An attorney who knows the judges, knows the prosecutors, and knows how things work in Central Islip has advantages that someone unfamiliar with the district simply doesnt have.

Ask about their federal caseload:

• How many federal cases have they handled?
• What types of cases?
• Have they taken federal cases to trial, or do they only negotiate pleas?

Trial experience matters because the threat of trial affects plea negotiations. Prosecutors treat attorneys who actually try cases differently than attorneys who always plead.

The stakes in federal cases are simply higher. Federal sentences are longer, federal prison conditions are often worse, and the impact on your life is more severe. This is not the time to choose an attorney based on cost alone or to use someone because they handled your brothers DUI case. Federal charges require federal experience, and getting that experience is worth whatever it costs.

Your future, your family, and your freedom are all at stake. The federal criminal justice system is designed to convict, and the people who work in that system are very good at what they do. Your only real protection is having someone equally skilled working for you.