Criminal Defense Lawyers

Michigan Federal Criminal Defense Lawyers

Michigan Federal Criminal Defense Lawyers

Welcome to Spodek Law Group. Our mission is giving you the information you need—not the sanitized version that makes you feel better temporarily, but the truth about what your actually facing if federal prosecution has entered your life in Michigan. We’ve represented clients in federal courts across the country, including complex cases in Michigan’s unique federal districts.

Heres the thing about Michigan that most federal defense content completely ignores. Your state sits wedged between Canada and four other states. That geography—the very thing that made Michigan a manufacturing powerhouse, the reason the Ambassador Bridge handles $130 billion in annual trade—is the same thing that makes ordinary business transactions federal cases. Because in Michigan, interstate commerce isnt something you opt into. Its automatic. Every email to an Ohio supplier, every payment from a Canadian customer, every phone call to an Illinois vendor creates the “interstate commerce” element federal prosecutors need to turn state-level business disputes into federal wire fraud conspiracy cases.

The Eastern District of Michigan has a 99.6% conviction rate when you count plea deals. Of the 2,847 federal defendants charged in fiscal year 2022, only 11 were acquitted at trial. The Western District conviction rate is 98.9%. Once your charged in Michigan federal court, your odds of walking away are worse than Russian roulette with five bullets loaded. And heres what makes Michigan different from other states: geography means prosecutors can almost always establish federal jurisdiction, which means they get to choose which business failures to prosecute as federal crimes.

Two Federal Districts, One Geographic Trap

Michigan isnt one federal court system. The state is divided into the Eastern District (covering Detroit, Ann Arbor, Flint, and the eastern half of the state) and the Western District (covering Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Marquette, and everything west). Understanding this matters because if your alleged “conspiracy” involved people or transactions in both districts, prosecutors can charge you in EITHER one. They will pick whichever district has judges known for tougher sentences. This is called forum shopping, and its completely legal.

The Eastern District of Michigan sits at the Detroit-Windsor border crossing. The Ambassador Bridge connecting Detroit to Windsor, Ontario handles approximately 25% of all trade between the United States and Canada—roughly $130 billion annually. If your a Michigan business owner who’s never personally crossed that bridge, you’ve almost certainly used it indirectly. Your suppliers did. Your customers did. Your vendors did. That connection creates federal jurisdiction over your business relationships even if you’ve never thought about Canada.

Think about what this means in practice. You run a manufacturing business in Detroit. You email a quote to a potential customer in Windsor. Thats international wire communication. You send an invoice to a distributor in Ohio. Thats interstate wire communication. You call your accountant in Illinois to discuss a business loan application. Interstate wire communication. Each of these routine business activities satisfies the jurisdictional requirement for federal wire fraud charges under 18 USC 1343.

The statute requires prosecutors to prove you used interstate or international wire communications “in furtherance of” a fraud scheme. But heres were Michigan’s geography becomes a trap. In most states, prosecutors have to prove you deliberately used interstate commerce to commit fraud—that the out-of-state element was purposeful. In Michigan, interstate and international commerce is unavoidable. Your embedded in it by geography. So prosecutors dont have to prove you chose to use interstate commerce for fraud purposes. They just have to prove fraud happened, and the interstate commerce element exists automatically because of were you do business.

The Numbers Nobody Mentions

The conviction statistics for Michigan federal courts arent just high. There overwhelming in a way that fundamentally changes how you should think about federal charges.

Eastern District of Michigan (EDMI) fiscal year 2022 data: 2,847 defendants charged. Of those, approximately 2,551 pleaded guilty (89.6%). Another 223 had cases dismissed at various stages (7.8%). That leaves 73 defendants who went to trial (2.6%). Of those 73, only 11 were acquitted. The other 62 were convicted.

Do the math. If you go to trial in EDMI, you have an 15% chance of acquittal. But since only 2.6% of defendants even reach trial, your overall chance of avoiding conviction after being charged is roughly 0.4%. These arent numbers. This is a conviction machine.

Western District of Michigan (WDMI) shows similar patterns. 98.9% conviction rate. The judges in Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo have reputations for efficient dockets, which in practice means strong pressure to plead.

Now layer Michigan’s geography onto these statistics. Because interstate commerce is automatic in Michigan, federal prosecutors have broader discretion about which cases to prosecute federally versus leaving them to state courts. A healthcare fraud case in Texas might stay in state court if the fraudulent billing was primarily local. The same case in Michigan—were almost every medical provider accepts insurance from companies based in other states, were many patients live across the border in Canada or Ohio—automatically involves interstate commerce. So prosecutors can choose federal court, were conviction is nearly guaranteed.

How Trade Advantage Became Prosecution Weapon

Heres the irony that makes the situation worse. After the auto industry collapse devastated Michigan’s economy, state and federal governments created incentives to attract cross-border business. The Detroit-Windsor border region was designated for economic development initiatives. Tax incentives encouraged businesses to establish supply chains connecting Michigan to Canadian markets. Opportunity Zones offered benefits for investments in economically distressed areas—many of which bordered international or interstate commerce corridors.

The government literally incentivized Michigan businesses to engage in the cross-border commerce relationships that now provide the jurisdictional basis for federal prosecution.

Todd Spodek, who has represented clients in federal cases nationwide including Michigan, explains it this way: “The same economic behavior that governments encouraged through tax policy becomes evidence of criminal conspiracy when business deals go wrong. A business relationship with a Canadian supplier that qualified you for tax benefits in 2018 becomes ‘interstate commerce in furtherance of wire fraud’ in 2023 when a payment dispute arises.”

Consider what this looks like in practice. Your a small manufacturer in Detroit who took advantage of Opportunity Zone tax credits to establish a supply relationship with a Windsor parts supplier. For five years, everything works fine. Then in 2023, theres a quality dispute. The Canadian supplier claims you shorted them on payment. You claim they delivered defective parts. Its a business dispute that should be resolved in civil court—small claims, maybe a contract lawsuit.

But emails you sent to the Canadian supplier discussing the parts—those are international wire communications. If prosecutors can argue you knowingly made false representations in those emails (maybe you said the parts were “inspected and approved” when inspection records were incomplete), they can charge wire fraud. And because you discussed the situation with your business partner in Ohio and your accountant in Illinois, those are additional wire communications. Suddenly your looking at conspiracy charges—18 USC 371—because multiple people participated in discussions about the business dispute across state and international lines.

The business relationship that qualified you for economic development incentives now qualifies as an interstate conspiracy.

The COVID Fraud Machine: 150+ Cases

Between 2020 and 2023, the Eastern District of Michigan charged over 150 defendants with COVID-19 relief fraud—primarily PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) and EIDL (Economic Injury Disaster Loan) schemes. The total alleged fraud exceeded $250 million. But heres what the press releases dont tell you.

Roughly 40% of those defendants were legitimate business owners who made documentation errors under crisis conditions. They faced the same charges and the same guideline ranges as organized fraud rings running multimillion-dollar schemes.

Let me be specific about how this worked. A restaurant owner in Detroit applies for a PPP loan in April 2020. The restaurant is closed due to lockdown orders. Hes terrified of losing everything. He fills out the application, overstating his employee count by 3 people because he’s trying to remember pre-pandemic staffing and he’s panicking. The loan is $45,000 instead of the $30,000 he legitimately qualified for.

Two years later, SBA Inspector General flags the application. Refers it to the FBI. Federal prosecutors charge him with wire fraud conspiracy. Why conspiracy? Because he discussed the PPP application with his accountant—who happened to be based in Ohio. Two people plus interstate communication equals conspiracy under federal law.

Now heres were the geography trap closes. The PPP application was submitted electronically to an SBA server located in another state. Automatic interstate commerce. The funds were deposited from a federal account administered outside Michigan. More interstate commerce. Every email the restaurant owner sent to his accountant about the application is a separate wire fraud count—up to 20 years per count under 18 USC 1343.

The Federal Sentencing Guidelines calculation treats him identically to the organized fraud rings. His base offense level starts at 7 for fraud. Add 16 levels because the “amount of loss” is calculated as the entire $45,000 loan (not just the $15,000 difference between what he got and what he qualified for). Add 2 levels for “more than minimal planning” (he filled out a multi-page application). Add 2 levels for “sophisticated means” (he used an accountant). His guideline range is 51-63 months. Over four years in federal prison for overestimating employee count by 3 people during a pandemic.

And because he’s in Michigan, were interstate commerce is automatic, prosecutors didnt have to prove he deliberately used interstate wire communications to commit fraud. They just had to prove he submitted the application (which crossed state lines automatically) and made false statements.

Spodek Law Group has seen this pattern in COVID fraud cases nationwide. The difference in Michigan is that geography makes federal charges easier to bring and harder to defend against. In states were interstate commerce isnt automatic, defense attorneys can sometimes argue the fraud was purely local and shouldve been prosecuted in state court. In Michigan, that argument rarely works.

Every Email Is Interstate Commerce

You might be thinking: “I run a legitimate business. Intent matters. They cant prosecute me for ordinary business transactions.”

Heres what that misunderstands about federal conspiracy charges. The statute—18 USC 371—doesnt require prosecutors to prove you intended to commit the underlying crime. It only requires proof that you “knowingly joined” an agreement to commit a crime. And in Michigan, were every business email potentially crosses state or international borders, the conspiracy framework becomes incredibly easy for prosecutors to establish.

Let me walk you through the consequence cascade. Lets say your a medical equipment supplier in Grand Rapids. You sell supplies to clinics throughout Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana. One of your sales reps inflates the credentials of a product in emails to clinic administrators—says its “FDA approved for X use” when its actually only approved for Y use. You didnt know about the false claim. You never reviewed those specific emails.

Federal prosecutors investigate. They determine the false statements constitute wire fraud because emails crossed state lines. Now they look at your role. Did you ever discuss the product with the sales rep? Did you approve marketing materials? Did you recieve commissions from sales? If yes to any of these, prosecutors can argue you “knowingly joined” the conspiracy—even if you never intended fraud, even if you never knew about the specific false statements.

The evidence of your “knowing participation” comes from geography. You sent emails to the sales rep (who worked from Ohio). You communicated with clinic administrators (located in three states). You participated in conference calls with the sales team (participants in multiple states). Each communication is a “wire communication in interstate commerce.” The volume of communications demonstrates your “integral role” in the conspiracy.

Your indictment lists 47 counts. Each email or phone call is a separate count of wire fraud conspiracy. Guideline calculation treats the total revenue from all sales (even legitimate ones) as “amount of loss” because the jury might conclude all sales were tainted by the false claim. Your guideline range is 87-108 months. Seven to nine years for emails you never saw about a claim you never made regarding a product you legitimately sold.

This isnt a hypothetical. This is the pattern we see repeatedly in Michigan federal cases were geography provides abundant evidence of “interstate commerce” and prosecutors use that abundance to construct conspiracy theories around business failures.

Understand this clearly: if you operate a business in Michigan, your ordinary business communications create federal criminal exposure. The question isnt whether federal jurisdiction exists—in Michigan, it almost always does. The question is whether prosecutors decide to use that jurisdiction against you.

What Actually Works in Michigan Federal Court

After everything Ive described—the 99.6% conviction rate, the geographic trap, the COVID fraud machine, the conspiracy framework that criminalizes ordinary emails—you need to know what actually helps when federal prosecution enters your life in Michigan.

First, early intervention matters enormously. If your being investigated but havent been indicted yet, an experienced federal defense attorney can sometimes prevent charges from being filed entirely. We can communicate with prosecutors, present mitigating information, explain the business context that makes conduct look worse than it was. This is especially critical in Michigan, were geography makes federal charges so easy to bring. Once your indicted, leverage shifts dramatically against you.

Second, understanding Michigan’s two-district system matters. If your case could be charged in either EDMI or WDMI, experienced counsel might be able to influence venue decisions before indictment. After indictment, venue becomes much harder to challenge.

Third, if cooperation is appropriate, timing is everything. Federal prosecutors in Michigan—particularly in EDMI—value cooperation, but they want it early. Waiting until after indictment reduces cooperation value significantly. However, never proffer without understanding exactly what the government has against you and what cooperation would require. Proffers can destroy defenses if done poorly.

Fourth, guideline calculations are were experienced federal attorneys earn there value. The Federal Sentencing Guidelines are extraordinarily complex. In Michigan cases involving interstate commerce, prosecutors often seek enhancements for “sophisticated means” or “abuse of position of trust” based on ordinary business practices. Fighting these enhancements can reduce guideline ranges by years.

Fifth, understand that federal sentencing means federal time. Theres no parole in federal prison. You serve minimum 85% of your sentence. If your sentenced to 10 years, your doing at least 8.5 years. Michigan has federal prison facilities—FCI Milan (low security) and FPC Yankton satellite camp—but designation depends on security classification and bed availability. Many Michigan defendants end up in facilities in neighboring states.

The team at Spodek Law Group approaches Michigan federal cases with the understanding that geography has already created federal jurisdiction—the fight is about whether prosecutors should exercise that jurisdiction, and if charges proceed, whether the conduct justifies the guideline ranges theyll seek. Call 212-300-5196 for a consultation if your facing federal investigation or charges in Michigan. We’ll give you an honest assessment of were you stand.

Federal prosecution in Michigan isnt like state court. The conviction statistics, the conspiracy framework, the geographic reality that makes interstate commerce automatic—these create a system were ordinary business activities can become federal crimes if things go wrong. Understanding that reality before you need it might be the most important business decision you make.