Criminal Defense Lawyers

Louisiana Federal Criminal Defense Lawyers

Louisiana Federal Criminal Defense Lawyers

Welcome to Spodek Law Group. Our goal is to give you the information you need to understand what you’re actually facing if federal agents have knocked on your door in Louisiana. Not the sanitized version. Not the version that makes you feel better. The truth.

Here’s what nobody tells you about federal criminal defense in Louisiana: you’re not dealing with one system. You’re dealing with three separate federal prosecution machines, each with different priorities, different judges, and different ways they’re going to come after you. The Eastern District in New Orleans hunts public corruption and cartel-connected drug trafficking. The Middle District in Baton Rouge runs a Medicare Fraud Strike Force with a 95% conviction rate. The Western District out of Shreveport prosecutes sprawling rural drug conspiracies. Your case lands in whichever district has jurisdiction, and that decision shapes everything that follows.

The federal conviction rate hovers around 99% when you count plea deals. At trial, the acquittal rate is 0.4%. That’s not a typo. In fiscal year 2022, only 290 out of 71,954 federal defendants walked out of court after a trial acquittal. The federal government doesn’t bring charges unless they’re confident they’ll win. They’ve often been investigating you for years before you knew anything was happening. By the time you’re indicted, they’ve already built their case. That’s the playing field.

Three Federal Districts, Three Different Fights

Louisiana isnt one federal court system. Thats the first thing you need to understand. The state is divided into three federal judicial districts, and each one operates like its own prosecution machine with distinct enforcement priorities.

The Eastern District of Louisiana covers New Orleans, the North Shore, and surrounding parishes. This district has earned a reputation as one of the most aggressive in the country for public corruption prosecutions. Federal prosecutors in New Orleans took down Governor Edwin Edwards, Congressman William Jefferson, and Mayor Ray Nagin. There all serving or served federal time. The Eastern District also sits at ground zero for Gulf Coast drug trafficking – more on that in a minute. If your facing charges in EDLA, your dealing with prosecutors who’ve built careers destroying powerful people.

The Middle District of Louisiana operates out of Baton Rouge. Heres were things get interesting for healthcare providers and business owners. The DOJ deployed a Medicare Fraud Strike Force team to Baton Rouge in 2009, and that unit has achieved a 95% conviction rate. There responsible for prosecuting schemes worth hundreds of millions of dollars. If your a doctor, clinic owner, or anyone in healthcare who’s recieved a target letter from the Middle District, understand that your facing a specialized prosecution team thats been doing this for over fifteen years.

The Western District of Louisiana covers Shreveport, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe, and Alexandria – basicly everything west of Baton Rouge. This district handles alot of drug conspiracy cases involving rural distribution networks, firearms trafficking, and violent crime. The Western District might feel less intimidating then the New Orleans federal court, but dont let that fool you. Federal is federal. The same sentencing guidelines apply. The same mandatory minimums apply. The same 85% of your sentence with no parole applies.

The Numbers They Dont Put on Billboards

OK so heres the thing about federal court that most defense websites wont tell you directly. The conviction rate isnt just high. Its overwhelming. And understanding exactly how overwhelming it is changes how you should approach your case.

According to federal data, approximately 90% of federal defendants plead guilty. Another 8% or so have there cases dismissed at some point. Only about 2% actually go to trial. Of that 2%, the overwhelming majority are convicted. The acquittal rate – people who went to trial and won – sits at roughly 0.4%.

Think about what that means. For every 1,000 people charged in federal court, maybe 4 are aquitted at trial. Maybe. The rest either plead guilty, get dismissed (rare), or get convicted at trial.

Now heres were this gets uncomfortable for anyone whos thinking “but Im innocent” or “my lawyer will fight this.” Federal prosecutors dont bring weak cases. They have virtually unlimited investigative resources. The FBI, DEA, IRS, HSI, ATF – these agencies spend months or years building cases before anyone gets charged. By the time you recieve that target letter or get that knock on your door, theyve already reviewed your bank records, your emails, your text messages, and probably interviewed people who know you.

Your state court lawyer – the one who handled your DWI or that assault charge – probly has no idea how different this is. State prosecutors juggle thousands of cases and regularly dismiss or plea down because they dont have resources. Federal prosecutors cherry-pick winners. Thats the reality your walking into.

Why New Orleans is Ground Zero

Look, if your facing federal drug charges in Louisiana, you need to understand something that most federal defense content completly ignores. New Orleans isnt just another city with a federal court. Its become a major hub for Mexican drug cartel operations in the United States.

DEA operations revealed that two of Mexicos most dangerous transnational criminal organizations – the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel – are using New Orleans as a primary entry point for drugs coming into the country. As border enforcement has tightened, these organizations shifted to boat trafficking through the Gulf, and New Orleans sits right there at the Mississippi River delta.

The numbers since January 2025 alone are staggering. DEA agents working in New Orleans have seized nearly $10 million in assets, 20 kilograms of fentanyl, 140 kilograms of cocaine, and approximately 400 kilograms of marijuana. Theyve made around 400 arrests. And thats just what theyve caught.

The Gulf Cartel is also operating, running a pipeline from Houston into Louisiana. In April 2025, FBI agents arrested six individuals in New Orleans including an El Salvadoran national with alleged ties to the Gulf Cartel. There moving fentanyl, cocaine, and heroin through this corridor constantly.

Heres what this means for you if your caught up in any drug case in the Eastern District. Prosecutors are going to try connecting your case to larger cartel operations. Even if your a low-level player, they want information about your sources, your distribution network, who’s above you. This gives you potential leverage for cooperation – but it also means there looking at potential conspiracy charges that can dramatically increase your exposure. A simple possession with intent case can become a massive drug trafficking conspiracy with mandatory minimums of 10 years or more if they can tie you to a cartel supply chain.

The Corruption Capital Problem

Louisiana has a corruption problem. Everyone who lives here knows it. But heres the specific data that matters if your a public official, government contractor, or anyone doing business with the state or local goverments.

Analysis shows Louisiana ranks fourth nationally in federal corruption convictions. The Eastern District of Louisiana – just the New Orleans area – recorded 430 public corruption convictions between 2004 and 2023. Thats an annual conviction rate of 1.29 cases. Statewide, Louisiana leads all states with 2.00 corruption convictions per 10,000 residents.

The feds have taken down governors, congressmen, mayors, judges, police officers, school board members, and every level of public official in between. Former US Attorney Jim Letten became nationally famous for his “successful prosecutions of public servants.” The New York Times called him “a popular crusader against the crooked traditions of Louisiana public servants.”

If your involved in any government-connected work – construction contracts, consulting, anything were public money flows – and federal agents start asking questions, understand that you are operating in a jurisdiction with a long and successful history of corruption prosecutions. There not going to be intimidated by your position. There not going to be impressed by who you know. The Eastern District has already sent a governor to prison. Your not special.

And heres the kicker for public corruption cases. These often start as civil investigations – audits, whistleblower complaints, inspector general reviews. By the time it becomes criminal, youve often already talked to investigators thinking it was just administrative. Every statement you made becomes potential evidence. Every document you provided can be used against you. The shift from civil to criminal can happen without anyone telling you its happening.

Healthcare Fraud: The Strike Force Reality

If your a healthcare provider in Louisiana – doctor, nurse practitioner, clinic owner, billing manager, pharmacist – listen carefully to this section. The Middle District of Louisiana hosts a specialized Medicare Fraud Strike Force thats been operating since 2009.

This isnt just regular federal prosecution. This is a dedicated team of prosecutors, FBI agents, OIG investigators, and forensic accountants who do nothing but healthcare fraud cases. The Medicare Fraud Strike Force has charged more then 80 defendants since its creation. There conviction rate is 95%. Theyve sent nearly 50 of those defendants to federal prison.

The schemes there prosecuting involve hundreds of millions of dollars. In one case, they convicted a clinic CEO for a $1.8 million Medicaid fraud scheme involving false diagnoses of children. He got 82 months. In another, three Baton Rouge residents were sentenced for using stolen identities of medical professionals to obtain controlled substances and submitting false applications for PPP loans and EIDL funds.

Heres what healthcare providers get wrong. They think because there documentation looks complete, there protected. They think becuase the billing software generated the codes automaticaly, they didnt do anything wrong. They think because everyone in there specialty bills the same way, its normal practice.

None of that matters if the Strike Force decides your billing patterns dont match what they consider medically neccesary. There going to bring in expert reviewers. There going to compare your billing to statistical norms. There going to interview your patients. And if the numbers dont add up, your looking at federal healthcare fraud charges with potential sentences of 10 years per count – or 20 years if serious injury resulted, or LIFE if death resulted from the fraud.

The Proffer Paradox That Destroys Cases

Lets talk about cooperation. Becuase alot of people facing federal charges think there path forward is to cooperate with prosecutors, provide information, and earn a reduced sentence through a 5K1.1 motion. Sometimes thats exactly right. And sometimes its a trap that destroys your case completly.

Heres the paradox. To get cooperation credit, you have to proffer first. A proffer is basicly a meeting were you tell prosecutors everything you know. You answer there questions. You give them information. In exchange, they sign a letter saying they wont use your exact words against you at trial.

But heres what that letter dosent protect you from. They CAN use everything you told them to find other evidence against you. They CAN use your statements to impeach you if you testify and say something different. They now know every defense you were planning to use. If you misremember a date or get a detail wrong, that becomes a “lie” that destroys your credibility. And if you proffer and then decide not to cooperate – maybe you cant deliver what you promised, maybe you fail a polygraph, maybe your information turns out to be useless – youve made everything dramaticaly worse.

Practitioners say it constantly: “Profferring too early – before your attorney has fully investigated the case and reviewed all available evidence – is almost always a mistake.” And yet clients rush into proffers becuase theyre scared and they think cooperation is there only option.

In Louisiana RICO cases and major drug conspiracies, cooperation can be absolutly critical becuase the sentences are so harsh – were talking life sentences or 30+ years. Some defendants facing life guidelines ended up with 15-20 years becuase they provided extensive cooperation including testimony at trial. But that only works if you actualy have valuable information, if you can deliver it consistantly, and if your prepared for the years of follow-up that cooperation requires.

Never proffer without understanding that your betting everything on cooperation working out. And never proffer before your attorney has thoroughy investigated what the goverment actualy has against you.

Where You Actualy Go: Pollock, Oakdale, and 85%

Lets get concrete about what happens if your convicted of a federal crime in Louisiana. Not the abstract “you could face prison time.” Were talking about were you actualy go, what those facilities are actualy like, and how much of your sentence youll actualy serve.

Louisiana has four federal prison facilities plus two prison camps. The two major complexes are the Federal Correctional Complex at Oakdale and the Federal Correctional Complex at Pollock.

Oakdale, in central Louisiana, includes a detention center, a low-security FCI, and a minimum-security camp. If your awaiting trial and dont make bail, you could end up at FDC Oakdale. If your convicted and recieve a low-security designation, youll likely serve time at FCI Oakdale.

Pollock is different. The Federal Correctional Complex at Pollock includes a medium-security FCI, a minimum-security camp, and USP Pollock – a high-security United States Penitentiary. Louisiana Senators wrote that “USP Pollock is one of the most dangerous facilities in the nation.” This isnt hyperbole. This is the assessment from United States Senators Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy based on violence data from the facility.

If your convicted of a violent federal offense in Louisiana, or if your security classification requires high-security placement, you could end up at USP Pollock serving your sentence alongside some of the most dangerous federal inmates in the country.

And heres the part that makes federal sentences hit different then state sentences. Theres no federal parole. That program ended in 1987. You will serve a minimum of 85% of your sentence. If your sentenced to 10 years, your doing at least 8.5 years. The good time credit is capped. There is no early release for overcrowding. Federal time is real time.

What Actualy Helps in Louisiana Federal Court

After everything Ive described – the 99% conviction rate, the specialized prosecution teams, the cartel connections, the dangerous prisons, the mandatory minimums – you might be wondering what actualy works. What can a federal criminal defense attorney do against this system?

First, early intervention matters enormously. If your being investigated but havent been charged yet, an experienced federal attorney can sometimes prevent charges from being filed at all. They can communicate with prosecutors, present mitigating information, and shape the narative before the goverment commits to an indictment. Once your indicted, the leverage shifts dramaticaly against you.

Second, understanding the specific district and there priorities matters. What works in the Eastern District might not work in the Middle District. An attorney who’s appeared before the specific judge assigned to your case, who knows how the AUSA on your case operates, who understands the local dynamics – that experience is invaluable.

Third, if your going to cooperate, having an attorney who understands cooperation strategy is critical. Timing matters. Preperation matters. Understanding what information is actualy valuable to the goverment matters. A proffer done right can take decades off a sentence. A proffer done wrong can add charges and eliminate defenses.

Fourth, sentencing in federal court is were experienced defense attorneys earn there fee. The Federal Sentencing Guidelines are complicated. Calculating offense levels, criminal history categories, specific offense characteristics, adjustments, departures – this is technical work that requires expertise. The difference between guidelines ranges can be years or decades of your life.

Todd Spodek and the team at Spodek Law Group have represented clients in federal courts across the country, including complex cases in Louisiana. We understand that federal defense isnt about Perry Mason moments in the courtroom. Its about meticulous preperation, strategic positioning, and knowing exactly when to fight and when to negotiate.

If your facing federal charges in Louisiana – or if youve been contacted by federal agents and charges seem likely – dont wait. The federal goverment has been building there case for months or years. Every day you delay is a day they get stronger. Call 212-300-5196 for a consultation. We’ll give you an honest assessment of were you stand and what your options actualy are.

This is serious. Treat it that way.