Criminal Defense Lawyers

Ohio Federal Criminal Defense Lawyers

Ohio Federal Criminal Defense Lawyers

Welcome to Spodek Law Group. Our mission is to give you the unfiltered truth about federal criminal defense in Ohio – not the version that sounds reassuring, but the reality that might actually help you. Here’s what nobody tells you about federal court in Ohio: by the time you’re indicted, the fight is already over. Not because you can’t hire a good lawyer. Not because the system is broken. Because federal indictments aren’t the beginning of your case – they’re the END of the government’s 18-24 month secret investigation. You’re not starting a fight. You’re walking into an ambush prosecutors have been setting up for years while you had no idea anything was wrong.

Everyone thinks an indictment is like getting arrested in state court. The start of the legal process. Both sides gather evidence, build there cases, and then fight it out. Innocent until proven guilty, right? That mental model works in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas or Franklin County Municipal Court. It doesn’t work in the Northern District of Ohio (Cleveland, Akron, Youngstown) or the Southern District of Ohio (Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton). Federal prosecutors don’t bring charges until they’ve already won. By the time you see that indictment, the Assistant U.S. Attorney has spent months – often years – recording your phone calls, flipping your co-conspirators, analyzing your bank records, and building a case that survives every motion you haven’t thought of yet.

The numbers are brutal and nobody disputes them. In fiscal year 2023, roughly 98% of federal defendants never saw a jury trial. They pled guilty. Of the 2% who actually went to trial, 83% were convicted. Do the math. That’s an acquittal rate of about 0.34%. For every 1,000 people charged in federal court in Ohio, maybe three or four walk out after a trial acquittal. The rest either plead guilty or get convicted. Your odds are worse then playing craps. And this isn’t because federal defense attorneys are incompetent. It’s because prosecutors only indict when there confident those constitutional protections won’t save you.

Two Federal Districts, Two Identical Traps

Ohio has two federal judicial districts and people sometimes think geography matters. It doesnt. The Northern District covers Cleveland, Akron, Toledo, Youngstown – basically everything north of Columbus. The Southern District handles Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton and everything south. Both districts operate as conviction machines with functionally identical stats. There’s no “easier” district. There’s no judge shopping. Both districts share information through OCDETF – the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force – so you cant play them against each other.

The Northern District of Ohio, headquartered in Cleveland, handles alot of public corruption cases. Cuyahoga County has been a federal target for decades. The Southern District, based in Columbus with a major office in Cincinnati, runs heavy healthcare fraud prosecutions. But heres what matters more then the case types: both districts have the same conviction rate, the same trial rate, the same outcome. If your thinking “maybe I can get my case transferred” or “maybe the Southern District is more lenient” – stop. Your dealing with the same system wearing different zip codes.

You might be thinking – but I have rights. Discovery. Motions to suppress. The right to confront witnesses. Brady material. Giglio. Fourth Amendment protections. These constitutional safeguards exist. The problem is federal prosecutors only indict when there confident those protections wont matter. Let me be specific about what that means.

When an AUSA in Cleveland or Columbus decides to seek an indictment, they’ve already done the following:

• Reviewed all the evidence that discovery will force them to turn over
• Consulted with the case agent about whether your Fourth Amendment challenge has merit
• Identified which witnesses you’ll call and prepared to destroy there credibility
• Calculated your sentencing guidelines range under multiple scenarios
• Presented the case to there supervisor who signed off that it meets the threshold for prosecution

Your “rights” are real. There just irrelevant by the time your indicted because prosecutors have already built around them.

The conviction rate isn’t high because defendants dont have protections. Its high because prosecutors dont bring weak cases. They drop those before indictment. What reaches indictment is the case the AUSA believes will survive your best defense. Your constitutional rights exist within a system designed to only charge you once those rights can’t save you. Thats the trap. Both districts operate this way. Geography is irrelevant.

The Opioid Prosecution Machine

Ohio leads the nation in opioid prosecutions and this isn’t something to be proud of. Federal prosecutors in both NDOH and SDOH treat the opioid crisis as a conviction opportunity. If your caught with opioids in Ohio – fentanyl, heroin, prescription pills obtained illegally – the federal system treats you differently than almost anywhere else in the country. The prosecutorial machine here is systematic and brutal.

Heres the specific threshold that changes everything: 70 pills. If your caught with 71 fentanyl pills or more, federal prosecutors can charge you with trafficking instead of simple possession. That triggers a 5-year mandatory minimum under 21 USC 841. The threshold seems arbitrary. It isnt. It was specifically designed to capture street-level dealers in conspiracy charges with mandatory minimums that force cooperation. You cant negotiate below a mandatory minimum without providing “substantial assistance” – meaning you have to give up your supplier.

But wait it gets worse. Federal prosecutors in Ohio dont charge you with possesion of 71 pills. They charge you with conspiracy to distribute. Now there looking at your phone records. Your text messages. Every person you contacted in the past 18 months. Each one becomes a potential co-conspirator. The AUSA adds up the “reasonably forseeable” drug quantities from the entire conspiracy – not just what you personally possessed – and suddenly your facing 10, 15, 20 years. You went from “caught with pills” to “drug trafficking conspiracy” in the time it took prosecutors to pull your phone records.

And heres the cruelest part of the opioid prosecution machine in Ohio. Cooperation is the only way to get below the mandatory minimum. But prosecutors only value your cooperation if you can give them someone higher up the chain. If your a street-level dealer, you probably dont know the supplier’s supplier. You know the guy who sold to you. Maybe. If he’s careful you dont even know his real name. So your cooperation is worthless. Your facing 10-15 years with an 85% mandatory minimum – meaning youll serve 8.5 to 12.75 years actual time – and you have nothing to trade. The system is designed to produce this outcome. Ohio leads the nation in opioid prosecutions. Your not unlucky. Your targeted.

The Investigation You Don’t See

This is the part that should terrify you more then anything else in this article. Federal investigations in Ohio are secret. Not “discrete” or “confidential” – secret, as in you have no idea there happening. By the time you learn your under investigation, the investigation is usually over and indictment is imminent. The time lag between “we’re investigating” and “your indicted” can be years. And during those years, your making it worse without knowing it.

Let me give you the specific example that proves this. The Cuyahoga County public corruption investigation. Federal prosecutors and FBI agents spent 2019 through 2022 investigating corruption in Cuyahoga County government – thats Cleveland and the surrounding area. They used wiretaps. They flipped early cooperators. They built a RICO case involving county commissioners, judges, contractors, and council members. The indictments started coming in 2022 and continued into 2023. Over 75 defendants were charged. County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora got 28 years. Former Auditor Frank Russo got nearly 22 years. Contractors, attorneys, businesspeople – everyone who thought they were just “doing business the way its always been done” ended up in federal prison.

Heres what should keep you up at night about that case. If you were part of that system in 2019 – paying kickbacks, receiving bribes, rigging contracts – you were under federal investigation for THREE YEARS before you knew anything was wrong. The people who got indicted in 2023 were being recorded in 2020. There bank records were being analyzed in 2021. There co-conspirators were flipping in 2022. And they had no idea. They kept doing what they were doing because they didnt know the investigation existed. By the time they learned – indictment day – it was over. The evidence was gathered. The cooperators were locked in. The case was built.

How long have they been watching you? If your involved in anything that could attract federal attention – healthcare billing, government contracts, drug distribution, financial transactions – you might be 18 months into an investigation you dont know exists. The investigation you dont see is the one that destroys you. Early intervention doesn’t mean hiring a lawyer after your arrested. It means hiring one during the secret investigation phase. But you cant hire a lawyer for an investigation you don’t know is happening. Thats the trap. And it works exactly as designed.

Public Corruption: When The County Itself Is Criminal

The Cuyahoga County corruption case isnt just one example. Its a blueprint for understanding how federal prosecutors approach systemic corruption in Ohio. And the scale should frighten anyone involved in government contracting, public employment, or political systems in Ohio. This wasnt a case about one bad commissioner taking a bribe. This was about institutional capture – were the county government itself became a criminal enterprise.

75 defendants. County commissioners. Judges. Auditors. Contractors. Businesspeople. Attorneys. The entire system. Federal prosecutors didnt just take down individuals – they dismantled the operational structure of county government. The investigation revealed that for years, contractors couldnt get work in Cuyahoga County without paying bribes. Judges were selling verdicts. Auditors were taking kickbacks to approve inflated invoices. It was systemic. And federal investigators spent years wiretapping, building org charts, and flipping cooperators before anyone outside the investigation knew what was happening.

Heres what this reveals about federal prosecutions in Ohio. When the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office decide to target an institution – not just a person, but a whole system – they have the resources and patience to take as long as needed. State authorities in Ohio couldnt or wouldnt prosecute there own. The political connections were too deep. The relationships too entrenched. So federal prosecutors stepped in and did what state prosecutors wouldnt: they treated the county government like a RICO enterprise and prosecuted it as organized crime.

If your a public official, government contractor, or anyone doing business were public money flows in Ohio, understand that your operating in a jurisdiction were federal prosecutors have already demonstrated there willing to take down entire governmental systems. Not just the obvious cases. Not just the egregious bribes. They’ll build conspiracy cases that capture everyone who “went along” with how things were done. Dimora got 28 years not because he was the worst offender – but because he was at the center of the conspiracy web. People on the edges of that web still got 5, 8, 12 years. For doing what everyone around them was doing. The “everyone does it” defense doesnt work in federal court. It makes the conspiracy charge easier to prove.

Where You Actually Go: Elkton, Prison Riots, and 85%

Lets get concrete about what happens if your convicted in federal court in Ohio. Not abstract “you could face prison time.” Actual facilities. Actual conditions. Actual time served. Because alot of people facing federal charges think prison is prison – and they have no idea what federal time actually means.

Ohio has FCI Elkton – the Federal Correctional Institution in Elkton, Ohio, about an hour west of Pittsburgh. Its a low-security federal prison. If your convicted of a non-violent federal offense in Ohio, theres a good chance youll be designated to Elkton. Heres what you need to know about that facility. During COVID-19, FCI Elkton had one of the highest death rates in the federal prison system. As of April 2020, at least 7 inmates had died from COVID. The facility was sued for deliberate indifference to inmate health. In 2020, staff assaults and inmate assaults were documented at levels that prompted investigations. This isnt some country club “federal prison camp” – this is a facility with documented safety problems.

And heres the part about federal sentencing that people from state court dont understand. There is no parole in the federal system. 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. If your sentenced to 20 years, your doing at least 17 years. The good time credit is capped at 15%. There is no early release for overcrowding like some state systems. There is no parole board that can let you out after a third of your sentence. Federal time is real time.

Do the math on what this means. If your facing sentencing guidelines of 10-12 years and you take a plea deal for 10 years, your doing 8.5 years minimum at a place like FCI Elkton. Thats 102 months. 3,102 days. At a facility that had COVID deaths, documented assaults, and ongoing safety concerns. Your state court lawyer who thinks “10 years but probably out in 5 with good behavior” – he has no idea what hes talking about. Federal is different. Your doing 85%. At Elkton. Or FCI Morgantown in West Virginia. Or wherever the Bureau of Prisons designates you, which you have zero control over.

The 85% rule changes the entire calculation around trial vs plea. If the government is offering 10 years and your guidelines are 15-20 years, that “bad” plea offer suddenly looks different when you realize trial risk could mean 17-20 years at 85% – were talking about 14.5 to 17 years actual incarceration. Your 50 years old when sentenced, your 67 when you get out. If you survive. The physical reality of federal prison in Ohio isnt abstract. Its FCI Elkton during a pandemic. Its 85% with no parole. Its real.

What Actually Works in Ohio Federal Court

After everything Ive laid out – the 98% plea rate, the multi-year secret investigations, the opioid prosecution machine, the mandatory minimums, the 85% rule, FCI Elkton – you might be wondering what an experienced federal criminal defense attorney can actually do against this system. The honest answer is: it depends on when you call.

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 the AUSA, present mitigating information, and shape the narrative before the government commits to an indictment. Once your indicted, the leverage shifts dramatically against you. But if you know your under investigation – maybe you recieved a target letter, maybe agents showed up asking questions, maybe your business partner got indicted and you know your name came up – calling a federal defense attorney immediately gives you options you wont have later.

Target letters in Ohio federal court typically give you 30-45 days to respond before the government seeks an indictment. That window is your only chance to present a defense BEFORE charges are filed. But heres the reality most people dont understand: that target letter is usually the end of an 18-24 month investigation. Your response window is 2% of the investigation length. The AUSA has already built the case. Your response isnt going to make them say “oh we got it wrong, never mind.” But an experienced attorney who knows the specific AUSA, who understands the district’s priorities, who can present cooperation possibilities or mitigating factors – sometimes that prevents indictment. Sometimes.

If your already indicted, the path forward is about minimizing damage. Understanding the Federal Sentencing Guidelines is critical. Calculating offense levels, criminal history categories, specific offense characteristics, adjustments, departures – this is technical work that requires someone whos done it hundreds of times in the specific districts. The difference between guidelines ranges can be decades. An attorney who knows how judges in NDOH and SDOH calculate departures can mean the difference between 8 years and 15 years. Thats not hyperbole. Thats sentencing reality.

Cooperation is sometimes the only way to avoid mandatory minimums in Ohio opioid and conspiracy cases. But cooperation done wrong can make everything worse. If you proffer too early – before your attorney has reviewed all the discovery and investigated what the government actually has – you give up defenses and lock yourself into a cooperation agreement you might not be able to fulfill. If you proffer too late – after indictment when the government doesnt need your information anymore – your cooperation is worthless. Timing matters. An attorney who understands cooperation strategy in Ohio federal court knows when to proffer, what information is valuable, and how to protect you during the process.

Todd Spodek and the Spodek Law Group have represented clients in federal courts across the country, including complex cases in Ohio’s Northern and Southern Districts. We understand that federal defense isnt about Hollywood courtroom moments. Its about meticulous preparation, strategic positioning during investigations, understanding when to fight and when to negotiate, and knowing the specific judges and AUSAs who will handle your case. The federal system in Ohio is designed to produce guilty pleas through overwhelming force. Fighting that system requires experience, not optimism.

If your facing federal charges in Ohio – or if youve been contacted by federal agents and charges seem likely – dont wait. The investigation has been running for months or years while you didnt know. Every day you delay is a day prosecutors get stronger and your options get narrower. Call 212-300-5196 for a consultation. We’ll give you an honest assessment of were you stand, what your options actually are, and whether early intervention can still make a difference. This is serious. The federal government in Ohio has unlimited resources, years of patience, and a 98% conviction rate. Treat it that way.