To get a professional consultation about Federal Crime in Bucks County, contact an experienced Federal Crime lawyer.
Generally the dividing line between what constitutes a federal crime and what doesn’t, runs along a clear and understandable boundary.
On one side of the line, you have white collar non-violent crimes where the alleged actor defrauds or attempts to defraud a victim or victims of money. Those usually rise to Federal Crimes for reasons we’ll discuss momentarily. On the other side of the line we have the physical crimes against the person such as assault, robbery or murder. These are almost always crimes which are considered State crimes.
In Pennsylvania, as in every other State, a crime committed in your state becomes a Federal crime based on the exact same legal standard. In other words, a state can’t create a law that inhibits the established legal precedent that the crime is in fact a Federal crime. So what is the general character of a criminal offense that makes is subject to Federal criminal law?
Fundamentally, if Federal Law says it’s a federal crime, it will be prosecuted as a federal crime. This includes crimes allegedly committed on Federal property, or crimes which use electronic or physical means to cross state lines in the completion of the crime. Often your white collar crimes are Federal because they use transmitting utilities across state lines such as computer to computer, phone to phone, or bank wire to bank wire.
The Constitution itself established the original legal precedent for types of Federal Crimes. Obvious crimes dating back to the formation of the country included clearly Federal crimes such as treason and piracy on the high seas. Now without question the most common type of Federal crime is white collar crimes such as drug trafficking, tax evasion, racketeering, and the use of computer wire for embezzlement. A person can safely assume now that if there is any state to state communication involved in the undertaking of a criminal enterprise it will be considered a Federal crime. Again, this is why white collar crimes are often federal.
With regard to seeking out legal representation for a white collar crime, there are a couple things to be aware of generally. First, a lawyer has to actually be sworn in to practice in a Federal Court and many aren’t. So check that ahead of time along with the date they were sworn in. Federal Court is generally considered stricter in how the cases are handled in the courtroom. Also lawyers with an extensive and successful practice history in Federal Court generally have better relationships with and knowledge of the people who handle the prosecution of Federal crimes.
This is vitally important for your defense because relationships and reputation matter more in Federal cases. This is due to the relatively less frequent prosecutions and trials and decidedly smaller overall case load. Your ability to avoid or greatly lessen punishment can hinge to a large extent on your choice of attorney.
