A federal case is not a bigger state case. It is a different system, with different players, different rules, and different math. Brian Foley explains in this video.
The cases
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas — headquartered in Houston — prosecutes drug trafficking and conspiracy, felon-in-possession and other firearms offenses, illegal reentry and alien smuggling, wire, bank, and healthcare fraud, PPP and tax fraud, money laundering, and child exploitation. Investigations are run by the DEA, FBI, HSI, ATF, IRS-CI, and the Postal Inspection Service, often for months before anyone is arrested.
The stages
Investigation. You may learn of it through a target letter, a grand jury subpoena, agents at your door, or a search warrant. This is the stage where a lawyer can do the most.
Arrest and detention. Initial appearance, detention hearing, arraignment — within days, with a presumption of detention in many drug and gun cases.
Discovery and motions. Federal discovery is broad but slow; motions to suppress are litigated before a magistrate or district judge.
Plea or trial. Roughly 97% of federal cases resolve by plea, because the Guidelines and mandatory minimums make trial risk enormous. A plea agreement's terms — the offense level, acceptance-of-responsibility credit, cooperation under § 5K1.1 — are negotiated in detail.
Sentencing. The U.S. Probation Office prepares a Presentence Report calculating the Guidelines range. The defense objects, argues for variances under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), and presents mitigation. The judge decides.
Why preparation is different
Federal prosecutors do not file cases they expect to lose. The defense work happens before indictment (persuading the government not to charge, or to charge less), at detention, in the Guidelines calculation, and at sentencing — where a two-level difference can mean years. Brian Foley and Luis Baez bring the experience of having been prosecutors to the federal side of the courthouse. See our federal criminal attorney page or call or text (713) 703-1718.