You just received a letter from the Department of Justice or a United States Attorney’s Office. The letter says you are a “target” of a federal grand jury investigation. Your hands are shaking. Your mind is racing through every decision you have made in the past five years, wondering which one brought this envelope to your door.
Welcome to Federal Lawyers. Our goal is to give you real information about federal target letters – not the sanitized version you find on other websites. What you are about to read will probably surprise you. The target letter sitting in front of you might actually be one of the only pieces of good news you will receive in this entire process. Let that sink in.
Most people who face federal indictment never see a target letter at all. They wake up to FBI agents at their door, or they find out they have been charged when they see their name on a press release. The fact that prosecutors sent you this letter means something. It means they want to communicate with you before they finalize charges. According to the DOJ’s own guidelines, target letters are not required by law. Prosecutors can indict you tomorrow without ever sending one. So why did they bother?
The Letter Nobody Wanted to Get (But Maybe Your Lucky)
Heres the paradox nobody talks about. Receiving a target letter is terrifying, but not receiving one is often worse. The Department of Justice sends target letters when they want something from you – cooperation, a guilty plea, or information about someone higher up the chain. If they didnt want to talk, they wouldnt bother with the letter. They would just present there case to the grand jury and get an indictment.
Think about what this means. Your sitting in a window of opportunity that most federal defendants never get. The grand jury hasnt voted yet. Charges havent been filed. Your name isnt on a criminal complaint. For maybe the only time in this entire process, you have leverage.
But heres the kicker – that window is closing. Every day you wait, the prosecutors investment in your case deepens. There building their case, interviewing witnesses, gathering documents. The further along they get, the harder it becomes for them to walk away, even if your attorney presents compelling evidence of your innocence.
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(212) 300-5196What the Government Already Knows About You
Lets be clear about what “target” means. The DOJ manual defines a target as “a person as to whom the prosecutor or the grand jury has substantial evidence linking them to the commission of a crime and who, in the judgment of the prosecutor, is a putative defendant.” Read that again. Substantial evidence. Putative defendant.
This isnt a fishing expedition. By the time you recieve a target letter, federal prosecutors beleive they can prove your guilty. Theyve already reviewed bank records, emails, witness statements, or whatever evidence relates to your case. The investigation has been ongoing for months, maybe years, without you knowing about it. Theyve probly talked to your employees, your business partners, maybe even your freinds. They know things about you that you dont know they know.
The letter probly tells you what crimes there investigating – wire fraud, conspiracy, tax evasion, whatever it is. It also informs you of your Fifth Amendment right to remain silent and your right to an attorney. Some letters include warnings about destroying evidence. All of this is standard. What matters is what the letter dosent say: how much evidence they actualy have, who else theyve talked to, and wheather they plan to offer you a deal.
Todd Spodek
Lead Attorney & Founder
Featured on Netflix's "Inventing Anna," Todd Spodek brings decades of high-stakes criminal defense experience. His aggressive approach has secured dismissals and acquittals in cases others deemed unwinnable.
The Federal Conviction Rate Nobody Wants to Discuss
Heres a number that should terrify you: 93%. Thats the federal conviction rate. Once your actualy charged with a federal crime, the odds of walking away completly are extreemly low. Prosecutors dont bring cases they arnt confident they can win. The resources required to investigate and prosecute federal crimes are enormous, so they only move forward when they beleive the evidence is overwelming.
You opened your mailbox on a Tuesday afternoon and found a letter from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York informing you that you are a 'target' of a federal grand jury investigation into wire fraud. The letter requests that you contact the assigned Assistant U.S. Attorney within ten days to discuss the matter.
Should I call the prosecutor back myself, or do I need a lawyer before I respond to this target letter?
Do not contact the prosecutor yourself under any circumstances — anything you say can and will be used against you, and even seemingly innocent statements can be construed as obstructing the investigation under 18 U.S.C. § 1512. You need to retain an experienced federal criminal defense attorney immediately, as your lawyer can contact the AUSA on your behalf, learn the scope of the investigation, and begin assessing whether negotiating a proffer agreement under a 'Queen for a Day' letter is in your best interest. Your attorney can also invoke your Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and ensure you do not inadvertently waive any protections while the grand jury process under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6 unfolds. Time is critical because a target letter often means an indictment is imminent, and early intervention by skilled counsel can sometimes influence whether charges are filed at all.
This is general information only. Contact us for advice specific to your situation.
But heres what that number dosent tell you. That 93% includes everyone who was charged. It dosent include the cases that never became charges. It dosent include the targets who hired attorneys early, presented exculpatory evidence, and convinced prosecutors to decline prosecution. It dosent include the people who negotiated pre-indictment resolutions that avoided criminal charges entirely.
The target letter represents your chance to be in that second category. The people who got out before charges were filed. The people who used the window correctly. Every day you wait, that possiblity shrinks.
