Denver Federal Criminal Defense Attorney

federal crimes are different from State
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crimes in three primary ways the first
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one would be What’s called the federal

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sentencing guidelines sentences in the
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federal system are controlled by the
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federal sentencing guidelines which have
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very little ability for someone charged
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with a crime to get probation and
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they’re very harsh guidelines for what a
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judge should use to impose a sentence
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they’re not mandatory but they’re used
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as a guidepost for federal judges in
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sentencing the second area that’s very
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very different is how bail is arranged
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in fed in the federal system in the
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federal system you are arrested and
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there is not a money bail associated
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with your case until you have what’s
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called A detention hearing and that
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detention hearing happens usually within
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about a week of when you’ve been
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arrested so a person will be arrested
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for a federal case and usually appear in
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court within a couple of days but then
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the bail hearing will be spent three to
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five days down the road from there and
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that’s where a judge determines either a
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person gets out or they stay detained
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pending resolution of the case either a
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trial or a plea agreement and the third
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area is the amount of resources that the
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federal government has
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states have budgets and restrictions on
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the amount of funds they can spend on
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law enforcement the federal government
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doesn’t have that they have unlimited
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resources they have very large
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prosecutorial offices they have the FBI
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the ATF Homeland Security
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enormous bureaucracies and agencies that
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prosecute the cases so when you’re up
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against the federal government their
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cases are very very well prepared
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because they have so many resources

with the federal crime you have to get a
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lawyer who has experience in federal
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court because it’s so much different
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than a state prosecution you need to
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have people who are familiar with an
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attorney who’s familiar with the
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sentencing guidelines the bail Reform
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Act and also the U.S attorney’s office
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if I practice somewhere outside of
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Colorado on a federal case I always get
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local Council because that’s invaluable
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to know how each U.S attorney’s Office
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functions