NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED FEDERAL LAWYERS
Can you go to prison for crossing state lines for domestic violence
|Thanks for visiting Spodek Law Group. We’re a second-generation law firm managed by Todd Spodek – with over 40 years of combined experience handling federal criminal cases. Our firm is known for taking on cases others say are unwinnable, like Anna Delvey’s trial that became a Netflix series, the Ghislaine Maxwell juror misconduct case, and Alec Baldwin’s stalking case. If you’re looking at federal charges for crossing state lines during a domestic violence incident, you need to understand what you’re facing and why this isn’t just another assault charge.
Yes – you can go to federal prison for crossing state lines for domestic violence. The federal statute is 18 U.S.C. § 2261, and prosecutors use it when someone travels across state lines with intent to injure, harass, or intimidate a spouse or intimate partner, or when someone causes a victim to cross state lines through force or coercion. People don’t realize how easily this becomes a federal case. Drive your girlfriend from New Jersey to New York and assault her there? Federal. Send threatening texts from Pennsylvania then show up in Delaware? Federal. The interstate element transforms what might be a state misdemeanor into years in federal prison.
When State Lines Trigger Federal Jurisdiction
Federal law kicks in two ways under 18 U.S.C. § 2261. First – when you travel across state lines with intent to kill, injure, harass, or intimidate a spouse or intimate partner, then commit violence against that person. Second – when you cause someone to travel across state lines by force, coercion, or fraud, then commit violence.
The sentencing ranges aren’t trivial. Federal law provides up to 5 years if no serious injury occurs. That jumps to 10 years if serious bodily injury results or if you used a dangerous weapon. It goes to 20 years for permanent disfigurement or life-threatening bodily injury. If death results, you’re looking at life in prison or any term of years. These aren’t theoretical maximums – federal judges actually impose them.
Lawrence Florentine learned this in 2024. The Rock Hill man got 30 years in federal prison after being convicted of interstate domestic violence resulting in the death of his wife, Nicole Zahnd Florentine. The case involved use of a firearm, obstruction of justice, and use of fire. That’s what happens when the worst outcome occurs.
How Federal Prosecutors Prove the Interstate Element
People think crossing state lines is hard to prove. It’s not. Federal prosecutors use phone records showing your location, GPS data from your car or phone, credit card receipts from different states, toll booth footage, and witness testimony.
Michael Lee Johnson got convicted in November 2024 after sending a threatening Facebook message before attacking his girlfriend – throwing her into a wall, strangling and suffocating her. He was sentenced in June 2025 in Detroit federal court. The interstate element wasn’t hard to prove once prosecutors had phone records and witness testimony placing him in different locations.
The government doesn’t need much. You don’t have to cross state lines with a detailed plan to commit violence. Intent can be inferred from your conduct. Send angry messages, drive across state lines, then assault someone shortly after arriving? That’s enough. The prosecution will argue you had the intent when you traveled, even if you claim you just wanted to talk.
What You’re Actually Facing in Federal Court
Federal sentencing works differently than state court, and not in your favor. There’s no parole in the federal system. If you get 10 years, you serve at least 85% of that – around 8 and a half years minimum. Federal judges use the sentencing guidelines to calculate your range based on offense level and criminal history. For interstate domestic violence under guideline §2A2.2, the base offense level depends on the degree of injury.
Anthony John Maldonado got 15 months followed by three years of supervised release in June 2025 after pleading guilty to assaulting his partner in Eastern Washington. That’s the lower end – because he pleaded guilty, accepted responsibility, and the injury level wasn’t as severe. But research shows that strangulation is one of the most accurate predictors for subsequent homicide of domestic violence victims, which is why federal prosecutors and judges take these cases seriously even when the immediate injury seems less severe.
Enhancement factors stack on additional prison time. If you used a firearm – add years. If the victim suffered serious bodily injury – add more. If you violated a protective order – add more. If you have prior convictions for crimes of violence or domestic abuse – your criminal history category increases, which means a higher guideline range. The sentencing table is unforgiving when enhancements pile up.
In Western Michigan during 2024, six defendants got sentenced for domestic violence-related federal offenses in just six months. Jason Michael Noguess got 33 months for assault by suffocation of an intimate partner in November 2024. Jaden Plank got 37 months for assault by strangulation in September 2024. These weren’t death cases. These weren’t permanent disfigurement cases. These were assault cases that became federal cases because of jurisdiction, and the defendants served real federal time.
Why Federal Prosecutors Take These Cases
State prosecutors might offer probation or short jail sentences for domestic violence. Federal prosecutors don’t work that way. The U.S. Attorney’s Office takes these cases to ensure serious prison time. They have resources state prosecutors don’t have – FBI agents who track your movements, digital forensics experts who pull every text and email, witnesses who cooperate because federal charges are terrifying.
Federal conviction rates are over 90%. Once you’re indicted federally, the odds aren’t good. The government doesn’t bring weak cases. They’ve already built the evidence before the indictment. They’ve got your phone records, your credit card statements, your social media posts, and witness statements. They know they can prove you crossed state lines and committed violence.
Daniel Vincent Olguin got three years in federal prison in October 2024 after being sentenced in New Mexico for domestic assault by a habitual offender. The “habitual offender” enhancement matters – it shows prosecutors don’t just go after the most serious injury cases. They target repeat offenders who keep showing up in the system, and federal sentences stick in ways that state probation doesn’t.
If you’re being investigated for or charged with interstate domestic violence, understand that federal court operates on a different level than state court. The resources against you are substantial. The sentencing consequences are severe. The federal system doesn’t offer the same plea bargain flexibility that state courts might. At Spodek Law Group, we’ve handled high-stakes federal criminal cases and we understand how federal prosecutors build these cases and where the defenses exist. We’ve worked cases where the interstate element was disputed, where the intent wasn’t clear, where the injury level was contested. These cases require defense attorneys who know federal criminal procedure and federal sentencing.
Can you go to prison for crossing state lines for domestic violence? Absolutely. You can go to federal prison for years, sometimes decades. The question isn’t whether it’s possible – it’s what you do now to protect yourself against a federal prosecution that has massive resources and an over 90% conviction rate.