If you're on our website, it's because you're facing serious federal charges – and need the best Chattanooga federal criminal defense attorney in your corner. At Spodek Law Group, we know exactly what that means, and we take it deadly serious. The stakes are enormous – you’re up against the entire weight of the U.S. government, prosecutors with unlimited resources, federal judges who lean on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and a sentencing system designed to intimidate. Federal is not the same as state, anyone who’s telling you that doesn’t understand. This isn’t Hamilton County General Sessions. This is the Eastern District of Tennessee. And you need a law firm that gets it.

The Stakes of Facing Federal Charges in Chattanooga

Federal criminal cases in Chattanooga aren’t numbers on paper – they’re real lives, families, futures. Just last year, Chattanooga resident Garry Lebron Hayes was sentenced to 24 months by Judge Curtis Collier in the Eastern District of Tennessee. Another local man? He’ll never walk free again after getting life in prison for plotting to murder law enforcement. Those aren’t stories to scare you, those are the cases happening in the courtroom across town. In mass enforcement actions, more than 40 individuals were arrested across Chattanooga during a federal sweep, and 17 suspected MS-13 members were indicted. That’s the level of heat federal agents bring here – ATF, FBI, DEA, IRS-CI, sometimes all four in the same case. Sentences don’t get measured in months, they get measured in decades. That’s the brutal truth.

Understanding Federal Criminal Cases in Chattanooga

Every federal case here runs through the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. That’s downtown Chattanooga, and if you’re unlucky enough, you’ll be standing in front of Judge Curtis L. Collier, Judge Travis McDonough, or Judge Charles Atchley. This isn’t just about a courtroom, it’s about an entire system run by agencies like DEA and FBI, both of which are extremely active in this region due to proximity to multiple interstates that make drug trafficking investigations easy targets. The IRS-CI builds financial fraud cases here nonstop. The ATF operates gun stings. Federal grand juries meet every week handing down sealed indictments. And by the time someone hears a knock on the door, the government already spent months with wiretaps, electronic surveillance, confidential informants, and subpoenas. Most defendants think they’re “just under investigation” when in reality the indictment is already written.

Common Federal Charges in Chattanooga

• Drug Trafficking & 21 U.S.C. §841: Distribution of controlled substances, conspiracy under §846, enhanced penalties under §851. Chattanooga is a key corridor. The DEA thrives on multi-defendant indictments with 10, 20, sometimes 30 people named in a single conspiracy.
• White Collar & Fraud: Bank fraud under 18 U.S.C. §1344, wire fraud under §1343, mail fraud under §1341, tax violations under 26 U.S.C. §7201. Fraud is not some Wall Street-only thing, it’s being charged every week in Tennessee. Todd Spodek, our founding attorney, is known nationally because he represented Anna Delvey – her fraud case grabbed headlines, but the same statutes prosecutors used on her are the statutes applied right here in Chattanooga.
• Firearms & Violent Crime: ATF-driven 18 U.S.C. §922(g) felon in possession cases, §924(c) gun enhancements, and RICO prosecutions targeting gangs like MS-13. These are recurring across Tennessee federal dockets.
• Racketeering & Conspiracy: 18 U.S.C. §1962 RICO, conspiracy charges that stack years, and obstruction counts thrown in for leverage. Federal prosecutors love using conspiracy law to tie 15 people’s fate together based on phone calls or texts.

Federal vs. State Charges: What’s the Difference?

Here’s the key difference: state cases are governed by Tennessee criminal procedure – federal cases are governed by Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and the U.S. Code. Totally different animals. In Hamilton County, local prosecutors handle DUIs, assaults, thefts. But in Chattanooga federal court, it’s the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee, with massive budgets, specialized divisions, and access to agencies like FBI and DEA. Discovery rules are different. There’s no preliminary hearing like people expect, instead indictments come from a grand jury process shielded from your defense attorney. Sentencing? It’s all about the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which calculate offense levels and criminal history scores that spit out prison ranges judges must calculate. The conviction rate? Over 90%. The truth is, most lawyers who dabble in state-level criminal work don’t have a clue how different the rules, timelines, and sentencing dynamics are once you cross into the federal courthouse.

When Do You Need a Federal Criminal Lawyer?

Right away. If you’ve been contacted by federal agents from the FBI, DEA, IRS, ATF—if you get a target letter, or subpoena for documents—you are already a subject or target. Too many people wait until they’re indicted, thinking they can wait it out. That’s a massive mistake. By the time an indictment drops, the case is wired tight. You need your lawyer in play the second there’s an indication of federal interest. Look, I’ll be straight with you—we’ve had clients who called us after the agents showed up, and by then the search warrant already gave the government everything they needed. Early intervention is everything, because sometimes we can negotiate with prosecutors pre-indictment. Sometimes the best victory is preventing charges from being filed in the first place. And sometimes...sometimes the best victory is cutting exposure from 40 years to 5. We’ve handled cases that… look, the point is we win. The timing matters more than you can imagine.

What Does a Chattanooga Federal Criminal Lawyer Do?

People think we just show up in federal court and talk. That’s not it. We fight detention hearings because the government loves to claim someone is a “danger” just to get them locked up before trial. We negotiate bond terms. We file complex suppression motions on Fourth Amendment violations when FBI agents went too far. We cross-examine forensic accountants in IRS prosecutions and tear apart government drug chemist testimony in DEA cases. At trial, we fight evidentiary rulings, we challenge conspiracy connections, we expose unreliable snitches testifying for plea deals. At sentencing, we argue guideline departures. We humanize our clients for the judges. We fight for downward variances under 18 U.S.C. §3553(a). Our job—our only job—is to disrupt the government’s roadmap and force them to work for every inch.

Examples of Federal Statutes We Deal With

The federal government relies on a handful of core statutes that cover most criminal cases:

• 21 U.S.C. §§841, 846 – Drug trafficking & conspiracy charges, the backbone of DEA prosecutions
• 18 U.S.C. §922(g) and §924(c) – Firearms charges, often stacked for decades of mandatory time
• 18 U.S.C. §1341, §1343, §1344 – Fraud statutes: mail, wire, and bank fraud
• 18 U.S.C. §371 – General conspiracy charge, applies to nearly everything
• 18 U.S.C. §1956 – Money laundering, especially in fraud or drug cases

We live with these statutes every day, we speak their language, because your life depends on it.

How Much Does a Federal Criminal Lawyer Cost?

This is the hardest question because every case is so different. Some federal cases are single-defendant, single-count. Others are sprawling 40-defendant indictments. Sometimes we charge flat fees, sometimes hourly, sometimes both – it depends on the complexity. Is it expensive? Yes. But here’s what really happens—clients who shop for “cheap” federal lawyers end up regretting it, because cheap is not prepared. Cheap doesn’t understand guideline calculations. Cheap doesn’t have trial war stories against AUSAs who do this daily. You’re weighing dollars against decades, potentially life. The cost question is really: how much is your freedom worth? At Spodek Law Group, we tell you reality, not what you want to hear.

Why Spodek Law Group for Chattanooga Federal Defense?

We owe loyalty to only YOU. Not the government, not the courts. Just you. That matters. We bring **over 50 years of combined experience**, with a rock star team of federal criminal lawyers who have handled some of the hardest, ugliest cases imaginable. Fraud cases, racketeering cases, drug conspiracies that spanned multiple states. Todd Spodek represented Anna Delvey—the infamous fraudster depicted by Netflix—and whether you liked her or hated her, the fact remains: representing her under that spotlight showed the skill, resilience, and commitment we bring into every courtroom. If we can handle that national-level case, we can fight for you here in Chattanooga federal courtrooms. And we know this district. We know how Chattanooga prosecutors approach fraud cases versus drug cases. We know how local federal judges view guideline variances. That’s leverage, and we use it to your benefit.

Our Philosophy

We don’t take every case. We can’t. We take the ones we believe in—the ones where we know we can make a difference. Every client gets a tailored defense strategy. We don’t pull cookie cutter forms. We fight tooth and nail when it’s smart, and when it’s smarter to negotiate a favorable 11(c)(1)(C) plea, we’ll say that too. We don’t sugarcoat things. You’ll probably hear stuff from us that you don’t like—but you’ll hear the truth. And that’s what matters. We pick up the phone. We show up. We prepare like maniacs because preparation wins federal cases. Juries respect it. Judges respect it. Sometimes the prosecutors hate it, but so what, our loyalty is only to you. And remember this—federal prosecutors here are aggressive, they are trained to win, and if you don’t push back with equal force, you lose. Plain and simple.

Chattanooga-Specific Insight

The Chattanooga division of the Eastern District of Tennessee has its own rhythm, its own judges, and its own culture. Judge Collier has a reputation for taking sentencing guidelines seriously but will listen when you put in the work. Judge McDonough values strong written advocacy. U.S. Probation officers in this district have a lot of influence on sentencing memos. These are things you don’t know unless you’ve been here, unless you’ve got the scars from cases in this very courthouse. And we do. We've gone head to head with Assistant U.S. Attorneys in this region, challenging everything from Title III wiretap evidence, to controlled buys orchestrated by DEA task forces, to seized bank records in IRS fraud investigations. The local bar respects us because we show up prepared. That’s the edge you want on your side.

Call Spodek Law Group Today

If you’ve been charged—or even if you’ve just been contacted—by federal law enforcement in Chattanooga, every single day, every hour you wait, the government’s case tightens. Call us today for a confidential consultation. We’ll walk you through your options, the risks, and the battlefield ahead. Don’t face the FBI, DEA, ATF, IRS, and the full weight of the Justice Department without an experienced Chattanooga federal criminal lawyer at your side. Hire a law firm that gets it.

Spodek Law Group – 50+ years, a rock star team, national recognition, and loyalty to only YOU.