Updated October 2026 | The Bulldog Law | Federal Criminal Defense in California

A federal crime is an offense defined by a statute of the United States Congress and prosecuted by the United States Attorney in a federal district court. Congress can criminalize only what the Constitution lets it regulate, so federal crimes attach to a federal hook: crossing state or national lines, using the mail, the internet, or the banking system, defrauding or stealing from a federal agency or program, harming a federal officer, conduct on federal land, or a subject Congress regulates nationally, such as controlled substances, firearms, and immigration. Most crimes are state crimes; a murder, an assault, a theft, or a DUI is prosecuted by the district attorney in superior court. The same conduct is often both, and a case becomes federal when a federal agency investigates it and a federal prosecutor charges it. Federal court is a different system: Sentencing Guidelines, mandatory minimums, no parole, 85 percent of the sentence served, and a conviction rate above 90 percent.

The Bulldog Law's attorneys practice in both systems, and the question of which one a client is in, or is about to be in, is the first thing we settle. A client who received a letter from an Assistant United States Attorney, who was visited by two FBI agents, whose accounts were frozen by a federal seizure warrant, or whose co-defendant was arrested by the DEA is in a federal case whether or not charges have been filed, and the rules, the timeline, and the stakes are different from the state case the same conduct would have produced. What follows is what makes a crime federal, the offenses that most often are, how to tell which court you are in, how a state matter becomes federal, and what changes when it does. Call (888) 928-1609 or message our team.

What makes a crime federal

The United States has no general police power. The states do, and California's Penal Code defines the ordinary crimes. Congress legislates under enumerated powers, principally the power to regulate interstate commerce, to tax, to spend, to control the borders and immigration, to run the mails, and to protect federal property, officers, and programs, and every federal criminal statute is tied to one of them. 18 U.S.C. 3231 gives the district courts jurisdiction over all offenses against the laws of the United States. The practical result is a set of hooks that pull conduct into federal court:

Crossing lines. Interstate or foreign transportation of stolen property, drugs, firearms, people, or money; travel across state lines to commit a crime; kidnapping across state lines; and, since the internet, nearly any communication, because an email or a text routed through a server in another state is an interstate wire.

Federal instrumentalities. The mail, which makes a fraud scheme mail fraud under 18 U.S.C. 1341; the wires, which make it wire fraud under 1343; the banking system, which makes a deposit structuring and a transaction money laundering; and federally insured banks, which make a bank robbery federal.

Federal victims and programs. Fraud against Medicare, the SBA, the IRS, Social Security, or any federal program; theft of federal property; assault on or threats against a federal officer; and false statements to a federal agent under 18 U.S.C. 1001.

Federal land and jurisdiction. Crimes on military bases, in national parks, in federal buildings, on tribal land in some circumstances, and aboard aircraft, where ordinary offenses, assault, theft, DUI, become federal because of where they occurred.

Nationally regulated subjects. Controlled substances under the Controlled Substances Act, firearms under the Gun Control Act, immigration offenses, counterfeiting, tax, securities, and child exploitation, where Congress has chosen to legislate comprehensively and the federal statute applies regardless of borders.

The common federal crimes

Our attorneys cover the most common of these in depth: RICO, money laundering, structuring, felon in possession under 922(g), and the wire fraud, drug conspiracy, and other federal charges that make up most of the Central District's docket. The mandatory minimums attached to the drug, firearm, and exploitation statutes are the single largest difference between the two systems.

How to tell which court you are in

The agency. Federal cases are investigated by federal agencies: the FBI, DEA, ATF, Homeland Security Investigations, the IRS Criminal Investigation division, the Secret Service, the Postal Inspection Service, and the inspectors general of federal departments. A local police department or sheriff investigating a case for the district attorney is a state case. Joint task forces complicate the picture: local officers deputized as federal task force officers investigate federal cases, and a traffic stop by a deputy can be the opening of a DEA investigation.

The prosecutor and the courtroom. An Assistant United States Attorney prosecutes in a United States District Court, before a United States District Judge or Magistrate Judge; a Deputy District Attorney prosecutes in the Superior Court of California. California has four federal districts: the Central District in Los Angeles, with courthouses in Los Angeles, Santa Ana, and Riverside; the Eastern District in Sacramento and Fresno; the Northern District in San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose; and the Southern District in San Diego. A defendant arrested on a federal charge in Los Angeles is held at the Metropolitan Detention Center and appears at the Roybal courthouse downtown.

The charging document. A federal case begins with a complaint sworn by an agent, an information, or an indictment returned by a grand jury, which the Fifth Amendment requires for every federal felony, and the document cites the United States Code. A state case begins with a complaint citing the Penal Code, the Health and Safety Code, or the Vehicle Code. The caption reads United States of America v. the defendant, not The People of the State of California.

Before charges. Many federal cases announce themselves before any document is filed: a target letter from the U.S. Attorney's office advising that the recipient is a target of a grand jury investigation; a grand jury subpoena for records or testimony; a visit from agents who want to talk; a search warrant executed by a federal agency; a seizure of accounts or property. Each is the moment to retain federal counsel, because the pre-indictment period is where federal cases are shaped, and our page on the role of a federal defense lawyer describes what happens in it.

How a state matter becomes federal

The same conduct is frequently chargeable in both systems, and the choice of forum is made by prosecutors. A drug seizure by local police becomes a federal case when the quantity crosses the thresholds the U.S. Attorney's office uses, when the investigation reveals an interstate or international source, or when a task force was involved. A fraud reported to local police becomes federal when the loss is large, the victims are in many states, or a federal program was defrauded. A felon-in-possession arrest becomes federal under programs like Project Safe Neighborhoods, by which U.S. Attorney's offices adopt state gun cases to take advantage of the federal sentence. And a case that a district attorney declines or loses can be taken federally, because the state and the federal government are separate sovereigns. The Department of Justice's Petite policy discourages federal prosecution after a state prosecution for the same conduct without a substantial federal interest, and California's Penal Code 656 bars a state prosecution after a federal acquittal or conviction for the same act, but the double jeopardy protection does not run from state to federal, and our attorneys treat a state case with federal hooks as one that may not stay in state court.

What changes when a case is federal

Sentencing. Federal sentences are calculated under the United States Sentencing Guidelines, an advisory but heavily followed grid driven by offense level and criminal history, as our page on federal sentencing explains, and statutory mandatory minimums override the guidelines for drug, firearm, and exploitation offenses. There is no parole in the federal system; a defendant serves the full sentence less good-time credit of about 15 percent, with earned-time reductions under the First Step Act for some. A ten-year federal sentence is roughly eight and a half years in custody; the same number in California state court, for a non-violent offense, may be half that.

Detention. Federal pretrial release is governed by the Bail Reform Act, and for drug offenses carrying ten-year maximums and most firearm and violent offenses, a presumption of detention applies that the defendant must rebut. Money bail is uncommon; release is on conditions and an unsecured or property-secured bond, or the defendant is detained until trial, which for many federal defendants means a year or more in custody before a case is resolved.

Process and odds. Federal cases are investigated for months or years before charges, so the prosecution arrives with the evidence assembled. Discovery is narrower than in California state court. The Speedy Trial Act sets a 70-day clock that is routinely extended. Federal juries convict at rates the Sentencing Commission reports above 90 percent of the cases that go to trial, and about 97 percent of federal convictions come by plea, because the guidelines reward acceptance of responsibility and punish going to trial and losing. The federal defense is therefore front-loaded: the pre-indictment negotiation, the charge bargaining that determines which statute and which mandatory minimum apply, the suppression and dismissal motions, and the sentencing presentation.

Collateral. A federal felony conviction carries the same civil consequences as a state one, with federal restitution orders that are enforced for twenty years and a supervised release term after custody that functions like parole with a federal probation officer. For non-citizens, the immigration consequences are determined by the federal statute of conviction, and federal drug, fraud over $10,000, and firearm convictions are aggravated felonies in nearly every case. Our list of California felonies covers the state side of the same conduct, and the comparison is often the argument for keeping a case in state court when the choice exists.

Frequently asked questions

What is a federal crime?

An offense defined by a federal statute, enacted by Congress, and prosecuted by the United States in federal district court. Federal crimes generally involve something that connects the conduct to the national government: crossing state or national borders, using the mail, the internet, or the banking system, defrauding or stealing from a federal agency, harming a federal officer, conduct on federal property, or a subject Congress has chosen to regulate nationally, such as immigration, firearms, and controlled substances. The same act can be both a state and a federal crime, and either or both governments may prosecute.

What makes a crime federal instead of state?

Jurisdiction. Congress can only criminalize conduct it has constitutional power to regulate, so federal statutes attach to interstate commerce, federal property, federal programs, the mails and wires, the borders, and federal officials. A bank robbery is federal because the bank is federally insured; a wire fraud is federal because a phone call or email crossed state lines; a drug sale is federal because Congress regulates controlled substances under the commerce power. Most crimes, including most murders, assaults, thefts, and DUIs, are purely state offenses.

How do you know if your case is federal?

By who arrested you and where you appear. Federal cases are investigated by federal agencies, the FBI, DEA, ATF, HSI, IRS, Secret Service, Postal Inspectors, and prosecuted by an Assistant United States Attorney in a United States District Court. The charging document is a federal complaint, information, or indictment citing a title and section of the United States Code, such as 21 U.S.C. 841. A case investigated by local police and prosecuted by a district attorney in superior court is a state case, even if the conduct could also have been charged federally.

Are federal crimes worse than state crimes?

Usually, in consequences. Federal sentences are governed by the Sentencing Guidelines and statutory mandatory minimums, there is no parole, and defendants serve at least 85 percent of the sentence. Federal prosecutors have more resources, build cases for months or years before charging, and win at trial far more often than state prosecutors. Federal conviction rates exceed 90 percent, and most cases end in a guilty plea. The same conduct charged in state court in California often carries a shorter sentence, more probation eligibility, and more diversion options.

Can you be charged in both state and federal court for the same act?

Yes. Under the dual sovereignty doctrine, the state and the federal government are separate sovereigns, and the Double Jeopardy Clause does not bar both from prosecuting the same conduct. It happens rarely in practice because of Department of Justice policy and prosecutorial coordination, but it is lawful, and a state acquittal does not prevent a federal charge. California has a statute, Penal Code 656, that bars a state prosecution after a federal conviction or acquittal for the same act, but nothing bars the federal government from prosecuting after a state case.

Related reading from our attorneys

• Federal criminal defense: wire fraud, RICO, and drug conspiracy
• Mandatory minimum sentences in federal and California courts
• Indictments: what being indicted means

Agents at the door, a target letter, or a federal arrest? The federal case starts before the charge does

The Bulldog Law's federal criminal defense attorneys represent clients in the Central, Eastern, Northern, and Southern Districts of California from the first contact with agents through sentencing, with the immigration consequences analyzed in-house. Visit our criminal defense page, call (888) 928-1609, or reach us online.