Houston Federal Crime Lawyer

If you're currently involved in or are a target of a State or Federal criminal investigation, you may have already asked yourself some of these same questions:

With a criminal justice system that seems to favor the prosecution, will a good criminal defense attorney really make a difference?

Now more then ever before is this so true. With the recent advent of literally hundreds of new state and federal criminal codes and, in some cases, the adoption of the mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines, which can cause jail and prison sentences to be unfairly high, it is vital for any defendant facing criminal prosecution to secure an extremely reputable and proficient attorney.

Strategy, being detailed, and execution are the keys to a successful defense. An experienced Houston Federal Crime Lawyer who understands this can save clients from years of prison.

It's my first offense, I'll probably get probation - right?

Actually your first offense has little to do with it. Basically, in the federal system, the government will go to a book called the "United States Sentencing Guidelines" to determine your fate. The appropriate table pertaining to your case will be turned to, and then the row and column that matches the quantitative value and number of convictions will be selected and, for the most part, your sentencing range will have been determined.

It does not matter whether you have children, so both parents can face prison sentences. If there are no relatives to care for the children, the children could be placed in foster care through a governmental agency. It does not matter if you're pregnant, and it does not matter if you are 70 years old. If the "United States Sentencing Guidelines" state that you should go to prison, unless there is some type of legal maneuver or downward departure from sentencing presented and orchestrated by your attorney, you will go to prison. This is where a good attorney can make all the difference in world.

How do you know when to government is coming to arrest you?

Many times you don't and this is why you may want to retain a good attorney early on. Usually when prosecutors are ready to make arrests, they send sheriffs or marshals along with investigative agents, bright and early, to the residences or places of employment.

A favorite ploy of the government is to attempt to arrest you on a Thursday or Friday so that you will at least spend the weekend in jail or a detention center [a 90's term for "jail"], before you can be released on bail. If you catch a problem early enough, there is a good probability that, if you have retained a good attorney, this situation can be avoided.

What about the innocent person who's indicted - won't a trial bring out the truth?

Ideally that's how it should be but unfortunately, at least in the federal court system, it many times does not go this way. It's almost always the goal of the prosecutor to get the defendant to take a plea bargain. Why? Because it saves the prosecutor time and the government money.

The prosecutorial system is actually engineered to motivate a criminal defendant into taking a plea bargain by offering points off for cooperating. It is well known that a criminal defendant who chooses to take the case to trial risks receiving a much stiffer prison sentence as opposed to taking a plea bargain. It gets easier to see why the prosecutors are beating Vegas odds with a 95%+ federal conviction rate.

If you are currently under investigation for a federal crime contact us to speak with an expert Houston Federal Crime Lawyer at the Carroll & Becker Texas Attorney Law Firm.