Criminal Defense Lawyers

Kings County Federal Criminal Defense Lawyers

Last Updated on: 14th December 2025, 10:37 pm

Ninety-eight percent of federal criminal defendants plead guilty. That number should stop you cold. It means that out of every hundred people charged with federal crimes in Brooklyn, only two actually go to trial. Everyone else takes a deal. This isn’t because federal defendants are more guilty than state defendants. It’s because the federal system is designed – from investigation through sentencing – to produce guilty pleas. If you’re facing federal charges in Kings County, you need to understand that you’re playing a completely different game than anything you’ve seen in state court.

Welcome to Spodek Law Group. Our goal is to give you the truth about federal criminal defense in the Eastern District of New York – not the reassuring version, the real version. The federal courthouse at 225 Cadman Plaza East in Brooklyn looks like just another government building. What happens inside is anything but ordinary. Federal prosecutors have resources, time, and legal tools that state prosecutors can only dream about. If they’ve decided to charge you, they’ve already spent months building their case.

The Eastern District of New York covers approximately 8 million people across Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Nassau County, and Suffolk County. It’s one of the busiest federal districts in the country, handling everything from drug trafficking to white-collar fraud to terrorism. The prosecutors who work here are experienced, well-funded, and they don’t bring cases they expect to lose.

The 98% Reality – Why Almost Nobody Beats Federal Charges at Trial

Heres the uncomfortable truth that most defense lawyers wont tell you directly. When 98% of federal defendants plead guilty, it means the trial is almost never were the case gets decided. The real battle happens months or even years before anyone sets foot in a courtroom. It happens during the investigation. It happens during plea negotiations. It happens in motions practice. The trial, when it occurs at all, is usually just the final confirmation that negotiations failed.

Think about what that 98% number actualy means. Federal prosecutors arent offering plea deals because there generous. There offering deals because the system is structured to make trials nearly unwinnable for defendants. Mandatory minimum sentences hang over every decision. The sentencing guidelines, while technicaly “advisory,” create expectations that judges rarely deviate from. And the evidence the government has collected – through wiretaps, surveillance, informants, and sophisticated investigative techniques – is usualy overwhelming by the time charges are filed.

The 2% who go to trial? Some of them win. Some of them are making a principled stand. And some of them are making a terrible strategic mistake because nobody explained the actual odds. At Spodek Law Group, we beleive in fighting when fighting makes sense – but we also beleive in being brutaly honest about when it dosent.

This is why pre-indictment representation matters more in federal court then anywhere else. If you know your being investigated – if FBI agents have contacted you, if a federal grand jury has subpoenaed records, if business associates are suddenly unavailable – thats when your case can still be shaped. Once the indictment comes down, your options narrow dramaticaly.

Federal vs State – It’s Not Harder, It’s Different

People often describe federal court as “harder” then state court. Thats not quite right. Its not just harder – its a completly different system with different rules, different players, and different dynamics.

In state court, a criminal case typicaly starts with a police arrest. Officers see a crime, make an arrest, and hand the case to the district attorney. The investigation and the prosecution happen somewhat simultaneosly. In federal court, the process is reversed. The investigation comes first, often lasting months or years, conducted by agencies like the FBI, DEA, IRS, or Secret Service. Only after the investigation is essentialy complete does the prosecutor file charges.

This means something crucial: by the time you know your charged with a federal crime, the government has already finished building their case against you. Every witness has been interviewed. Every document has been collected. Every wiretap has been analyzed. Your playing catchup from moment one.

Heres another difference that trips people up. In federal court, the judge conducts jury selection – not the lawyers. In state court, attorneys for both sides question potential jurors directly, looking for bias, building rapport, trying to identify sympathetic jurors. In federal court, the judge asks the questions. Lawyers can submit suggested questions, but the judge controls the process. This means less opportunity to connect with jurors before trial and less ability to shape the panel in your favor.

Todd Spodek has practiced in both state and federal courts for years. The skills transfer, but the approach has to change. Federal practice requires different preparation, different strategy, and different expectations.

How Federal Investigations Actually Work in Brooklyn

If your being investigated by federal agents in Brooklyn, heres what that actualy looks like. The FBI, DEA, or whatever agency is leading the investigation has been working your case for a while – probly longer then you realize. Theyve obtained subpoenas for bank records, phone records, and email records. They may have gotten court authorization for wiretaps. Theyve interviewed witnesses, some of whom you thought were friends or business partners.

Federal agencies have resources that local police simply dont have. There not working dozens of cases at once like a typical detective. There focused on a smaller number of investigations and there building each one methodicaly. The evidence package they put together is usualy extensive and dificult to challenge.

Heres the trap that catches so many people: cooperating before you have representation. Federal agents are trained interrogators. There polite, there professional, and there absolutly trying to get you to say something incriminating. Everything you say – every word – becomes evidence. And unlike state court, were some police misconduct can get evidence thrown out, federal courts tend to be less forgiving of suppression motions.

The investigation is also were the government decides what charges to bring. Federal prosecutors have enormous discretion. They can charge the offense that carries mandatory minimums, or they can charge a lesser offense. They can add conspiracy charges that sweep in additional conduct and additional defendants. They can structure the case to maximize your sentencing exposure – and then offer a plea to something less terrifying.

This prosecutorial discretion is power, and its power thats exercised long before any trial. Understanding how prosecutors think, what evidence they need, and what might persuade them to bring lesser charges is essential to federal defense. Its not about tricks. Its about recognizing that the prosecution phase begins during investigation, not at indictment.

The Mandatory Minimum Trap

Mandatory minimum sentences exist in nearly 30% of federal cases. For drug trafficking, that number is much higher – over 75% of mandatory minimums are imposed in drug cases. If your charged with a federal crime that carries a mandatory minimum, the judge has no power to go below that number, no matter how sympathetic your circumstances might be.

Heres how prosecutors use mandatory minimums as leverage. Say your charged with drug trafficking and the amount involved triggers a ten-year mandatory minimum. The prosecutor offers you a plea to a charge that carries a five-year maximum. What do you do? Fight and risk a decade in federal prison, or take the deal and know exactly what your facing?

Most people take the deal. Thats rational. But it also means the prosecutor – not the judge – is effectivly setting your sentence. The “bargaining” in plea bargaining isnt really negotiation between equals. Its the government offering to not destroy your life quite as completly if you agree to skip the trial.

Mandatory minimums also create pressure to cooperate against others. The federal system has whats called a “safety valve” that allows some defendants to get below mandatory minimums if they meet certain criteria – including providing all information they have about the offense. And prosecutors can file motions for “substantial assistance” that allow judges to depart below mandatory minimums if the defendant has meaningfuly helped the government.

This creates a race to cooperate. Multiple defendants in a conspiracy all face the same calculation: cooperate early and maybe get a reduced sentence, or hold out and watch others cut deals that leave you holding the bag. Federal defense in these situations requires careful strategic thinking about timing, leverage, and the relative positions of co-defendants.

Double Jeopardy Doesn’t Protect You Like You Think

Most people believe that if there acquitted of a crime, they cant be prosecuted again. Thats generaly true within a single court system. But federal and state courts are considered separate sovereigns, and the Double Jeopardy Clause dosent prevent both from prosecuting you for the same conduct.

This is called the “dual sovereignty” doctrine, and it means that being acquitted in state court does not protect you from federal prosecution. In fact, a high-profile acquittal in state court can actually trigger federal interest. If the feds think the state prosecution failed due to inadequate evidence presentation or other problems, they might decide to take there own shot.

The reverse is also true. A federal conviction dosent prevent state prosecution, though as a practical matter, states rarely pile on after the feds have already imposed sentence. But the possibility exists, and in politically charged cases, it sometimes happens.

What does this mean for your defense strategy? It means that even if you beat state charges, you need to consider wheather the conduct might attract federal attention. It means that plea negotiations in state court should account for potential federal exposure. And it means that the “victory” of acquittal might not be as final as you expect.

What Federal Defense Actually Looks Like

If your facing federal charges in Kings County, heres what effective defense actually looks like. Its not Perry Mason moments in the courtroom. Its eighteen months of intensive work before anyone even thinks about trial.

First, theres the investigation phase. If your aware that federal agents are sniffing around, you need representation immediately. An experienced federal defense attorney can sometimes engage with prosecutors before charges are filed, presenting information that might change the charging decision or at least shape it favorably.

Second, theres grand jury practice. Federal felony charges require grand jury indictment. While grand juries are largely controlled by prosecutors, there are sometimes opportunities to influence the process. A lawyer might present exculpatory evidence, submit a letter to the grand jury, or at minimum prepare you for testimony if your called.

Third, theres discovery. Federal discovery rules are actually more defendant-friendly then state rules in some ways. You get more material, and you get it earlier. But the volume can be overwhelming – thousands of pages of documents, hours of recorded calls, gigabytes of electronic evidence. Reviewing and understanding all of it is essential.

Fourth, theres motions practice. Suppression motions, motions to dismiss, motions to sever defendants – the pre-trial phase is were many cases are actualy won or lost. A succesful suppression motion might eliminate key evidence. A motion to sever might let you dissociate from more culpable co-defendants.

Fifth, theres plea negotiation. This is were most cases resolve. The goal is to get the best possible deal given the evidence, the charges, and your circumstances. Sometimes that means cooperation. Sometimes it means holding firm and calling the government’s bluff. Always it means understanding exactly what your giving up and what your getting in return.

Sixth – and only if everything else fails – theres trial. Federal trials are formal, proceduraly rigorous, and unforgiving. The 2% of cases that go to trial are hard-fought on both sides. If you find yourself there, you want an attorney who has actually tried federal cases, not just talked about them.

What Spodek Law Group Brings to Federal Defense

Todd Spodek has represented clients in the Eastern District of New York on matters ranging from white-collar fraud to drug charges to public corruption. He understands how EDNY prosecutors think, what evidence they need, and were cases can be challenged. That experience dosent guarantee outcomes – nobody can do that – but it means your not working with someone learning federal practice on your case.

Spodek Law Group approaches every federal case with the same methodology. First, we get the facts. Not just your version – all the facts we can find. Second, we identify the legal issues. Constitutional challenges, evidentiary problems, procedural defects. Third, we develop a strategy that accounts for the reality of the 98% plea rate while remaining ready to trial if thats the right call.

The federal system is designed to make you feel powerless. The resources arrayed against you are enormous. The potential penalties are terrifying. The complexity is intentional. But having an experienced federal defense attorney changes the dynamic. It means someone is advocating for you, looking for weaknesses in the government’s case, and negotiating from a position of knowledge rather then desperation.

If your being investigated or have been charged with federal crimes in Brooklyn, time is not on your side. Every day that passes without representation is a day the government continues building its case while you do nothing. Call Spodek Law Group at 212-300-5196. The consultation is confidential. The advice is real. And the earlier you call, the more options you’ll have.