If you're on our website, it's because you're facing serious federal charges – and you need a Glendale federal defense lawyer who can deliver, not someone who's learning on the job. At Spodek Law Group, we get it. We’ve defended people all over the country and in Glendale specifically, and we know this isn’t some abstract legal issue: it’s your freedom, your reputation, your family’s stability, and everything you’ve built. Federal prosecutors are relentless; the sentencing guidelines are brutal; the courtroom battles are in a world of their own. You need a team who understands what’s on the line and how to navigate it.

The Reality of Facing Federal Charges in Glendale

A single federal indictment filed against you here in Glendale can change the course of your life forever. No exaggeration. Every week, residents of Glendale are being indicted or sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Look at real examples: Lourdes Navarro, a grandmother from Glendale, sentenced after a laboratory testing scam; Artak Ovsepian, busted for running a sham healthcare clinic to scam insurers; Paul Felix, who was just 25 and given 164 months in federal lockup for drug distribution. These weren’t cartel bosses or Wall Street billionaires. They lived in Glendale, they had families, they had neighbors – and now they’re doing real federal time.

That’s why having the right defense isn’t optional. It’s survival. If you’re waiting to “see what happens,” you’re actually just giving away leverage. Federal court is unforgiving. You need to be on offense from day one.

Why Federal Charges Are More Dangerous Than State Cases

I’ll be straight with you – federal court is a different universe than state court. A felony in LA County Superior Court is serious, but there's often diversion programs, probation, plea agreements that leave you with a second chance. State prosecutors sometimes have discretion that can benefit defendants.

But the second the U.S. government indicts you, it’s no longer your neighborhood DA. You’re up against the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). These agencies don’t run out of funding, they don’t run out of staff, and they don’t “drop” cases because they’re too busy. They will hit you with charges under 18 U.S.C. § 1343 (wire fraud), 18 U.S.C. § 1956 (money laundering), 18 U.S.C. § 371 (conspiracy), 21 U.S.C. § 841 (drug distribution), and if it applies, RICO (18 U.S.C. § 1962). Mandatory minimums, sentencing enhancements, forfeiture statutes – it’s all stacked against you.

For example, even a so-called “small” fentanyl conspiracy out of Glendale tied across state lines goes federal, because of “interstate commerce” jurisdiction. A few hundred pills can = a mandatory minimum of 10 years. Cooperation and smart negotiation matter, because there’s no soft landing with the feds. That’s reality.

Common Federal Cases in Glendale

Glendale sees a wide variety of federal investigations. We’ve defended all of them:

• Healthcare Fraud – fake billing, sham clinics, unnecessary lab testing. Navarro and Ovsepian weren’t outliers, they were part of DOJ’s sweeping fraud takedowns.
• Drug Trafficking & Fentanyl Cases – Paul Felix’s 164-month sentence is proof the U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles is cracking down on narcotics sourced in Glendale. Conspiracies under 21 U.S.C. § 846 carry insane penalties.
• PPP Loan & Wire Fraud Cases – under 18 U.S.C. § 1349, conspiracy to commit fraud charges alone can land you years. Glendale business owners got caught thinking PPP fraud was “free money.”
• Cybercrime – wire fraud, crypto fraud, hacking, child exploitation, threats crossing state lines – all automatically federal matters. Cases prosecuted in DTLA federal court, not some local Glendale courtroom.
• Tax Evasion & IRS-CI Cases – 26 U.S.C. § 7201 prosecutions hit Glendale entrepreneurs the hardest. Once the IRS-CI unit opens a case, it rarely closes without an indictment.

Every single one of these cases funnels into the Central District of California courthouse at 350 W. 1st Street, Downtown Los Angeles. It’s one of the busiest federal courts in the U.S., and Glendale cases show up there every term. Judges and prosecutors there know Glendale defendants by name; they’ve seen similar cases come through week after week. Which makes your defense strategy even more crucial.

The Glendale Federal Court Process

Even though you were arrested, served, or investigated in Glendale, your actual court journey starts in DTLA. The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecutes every Glendale federal case there. That’s important context. The prosecutors you’ll face aren’t anonymous – they’re Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSA’s) that have been dealing with Glendale healthcare fraud or Glendale fentanyl operations for years, and they know what to expect from defense attorneys who stumble in unprepared.

The sequence: investigation → indictment under seal → agents knock on your door with a warrant → arraignment before a Magistrate Judge → discovery, motions, sometimes detention hearings → plea negotiations or trial in front of a District Judge. The pace is fast. A month can make or break strategies. One missed chance to file a suppression motion? You lose evidence for trial leverage. We’ve seen lawyers miss deadlines and that mistake added ten years to a sentence. We don’t let that happen.

The Stakes: Why Sentences Stretch Beyond 50 Years

Federal sentencing is merciless. The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines often recommend terms in decades, not months. Fraud under § 1343 + identity theft under § 1028A automatically adds a 2-year consecutive sentence. Drug conspiracies with weights calculated by DEA chemists? That can double an expected sentence overnight. A RICO indictment under § 1962 can carry 20 years per count, stacked.

Look, Anna Delvey’s story – Todd defended her, you’ve seen the Netflix show – that was state court in New York. Federal would’ve been twice as bad. Here in Glendale, people don’t get “celebrity treatment.” They get the harshest sentences possible unless their lawyers know how to push the right arguments: cooperation credit under § 5K1.1, variance motions under Booker, downward departures for minimal involvement. We’ve handled cases that... look, the point is we win leverage where other lawyers can’t even find an opening. That’s the difference between 5 years and 25. That’s the difference between raising your kids and watching them grow up without you.

Why Choose Spodek Law Group for a Glendale Federal Case

Spodek Law Group isn’t just another criminal defense shop. We’re one of the rare firms with true national reach – and we bring that experience back to Glendale. Our **rock star team** has more than 50 years combined experience. We’ve been in federal courtrooms from New York to Los Angeles to D.C. We’ve been profiled everywhere from The New York Times to CNN. And yes, Todd Spodek defended Anna Delvey – which means we know how to handle intense media firestorms and high-profile prosecutions, but we also handle lower-profile Glendale cases that never hit the news. Every client matters just the same.

We owe loyalty only to you. Not to the press, not to publicity, not to some agenda. Just you. We fight at every stage: pre-indictment negotiations (and sometimes we can prevent charges entirely), trial defense, sentencing mitigation, appeals. We’re on-call 24/7 because federal arrests don’t happen on a schedule, they happen when the FBI decides to show up at 6:00 a.m. with a search warrant in Glendale.

What Clients Ask About Costs and Choosing the Right Lawyer

One of the most common questions we get: “How much do federal criminal lawyers cost?” The real answer is: more. Why? Because there’s more paperwork, more digital evidence, wiretaps, forensic accountants, massive discovery productions, motion practice. Federal trials can last weeks, not days. But think about the tradeoff: your liberty, your reputation, the rest of your life. This isn’t where you bargain hunt for the lowest fee lawyer in Glendale. This is where you hire a firm that gets it.

And sometimes people ask in vague terms, “Who’s the best federal defense lawyer?” Look, there isn’t one “best.” The best for you is the attorney who knows this Central District court, knows how AUSAs negotiate in Glendale-based fraud vs narcotics cases, knows which judges lean tough on healthcare fraud but more flexible on cyber crimes, knows which motions fly in this district. That’s us. We have the local relationships and the national backbone.

We’re transparent in costs, offer flexible plans, and yeah – we work with clients, because accessibility matters. Not everyone has six figures liquid the day of indictment. That shouldn’t mean you don’t get defense worthy of protecting the rest of your life.

Protect Your Future Before It’s Too Late

If you’re indicted in Glendale – or if the FBI, DEA, or IRS agents are sniffing around your business – don’t wait. Federal prosecutors are already collecting bank statements, phone records, text messages, geolocation data. They already have subpoenas out for your emails and they already know more than you think. Every single day you delay is a day you leak leverage and give the government more room to hammer you.

Call Spodek Law Group now and hire a law firm that gets it. We know federal law, we know Glendale’s unique footprint in federal cases, we know the Central District courthouse inside out. Don’t gamble with your life, don’t think waiting will help, it won’t. What helps is action.

Spodek Law Group – the federal criminal defense lawyers Glendale trusts when everything is on the line.