NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED FEDERAL LAWYERS
What Should I Do If I’m Contacted by Federal Investigators?
|Last Updated on: 5th October 2025, 12:31 am
When Federal Investigators Contact You – The Target Letter Is Already Drafted
Federal prosecutors draft target letters months before sending them. By the time federal agents knock on your door or call your phone, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has already presented evidence to a grand jury, obtained your financial records through summonses you never knew about, and built what they believe is a winnable case. The agents contacting you aren’t investigating whether you committed a crime – they’re gathering admissions to strengthen a case they’ve already built. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1001, lying to them about anything – even details irrelevant to their investigation – becomes a separate felony punishable by five years in federal prison.
The conviction statistics should terrify you: 97.3% of federal defendants get convicted when you include plea agreements. Of cases that go to trial, 93% result in conviction. These aren’t accidents. Federal prosecutors only indict cases they know they’ll win. The investigative contact you’re experiencing isn’t the beginning – it’s closer to the end, and they’re tying up loose ends that involve getting you to talk yourself into additional charges.
Target vs. Subject vs. Witness – The Designation That Determines Everything
The DOJ Criminal Resource Manual distinguishes three categories of people in federal investigations, but agents won’t tell you which one you are:
Target: Prosecutors have substantial evidence linking you to a crime and plan to indict. You’ll receive a target letter giving you roughly two weeks to convince them otherwise. This is like being told you have terminal cancer with two weeks to find a cure.
Subject: Your conduct falls within the scope of investigation, but prosecutors haven’t decided whether to charge you. One wrong word transforms you from subject to target. Subjects become targets 73% of the time based on their own statements to investigators.
Witness: They believe you have information but aren’t suspected of wrongdoing. Yet. Witnesses who lie become defendants. Witnesses who refuse to cooperate become subjects. The designation changes based on what you say during that “friendly chat.”
Agents deliberately obscure your status. They’ll say you’re “just a witness” to get you talking, then use your statements to elevate you to target. Or they’ll terrify you by hinting you’re a target when you’re actually a witness, hoping fear makes you cooperative. Todd Spodek here – last month, I had a client the FBI told was “just helping with information.” The target letter arrived the next day.
How Different Federal Agencies Destroy You Differently
FBI: They show up at 6 AM in pairs, friendly but persistent. They mention your kids’ schools, your spouse’s job, your mortgage – subtle pressure that they know everything about your life. They build rapport, act like they’re helping you “clear things up.” They’re creating Form 302 reports that will convict you, written from memory hours or days later, interpreting your words through their lens.
IRS Criminal Investigation: They seem bumbling, asking basic questions about finances you assume they already know. They don’t. But they’re recording every answer to compare against records they’ll subpoena later. IRS-CI has a 90% conviction rate – highest in federal law enforcement. That confused revenue agent is actually a financial forensic expert who’s building spreadsheets that will bury you.
DEA: No subtlety. They threaten immediate arrest, asset forfeiture, destroying your family. They want you panicked and talking. DEA investigations often run parallel with state authorities, meaning your statements get shared across jurisdictions. One interview becomes evidence in multiple prosecutions.
Secret Service: Financial crimes division appears professional, almost apologetic about the investigation. They’re documenting everything for prosecutors while seeming sympathetic. They specialize in electronic crimes, so they already have your digital footprint mapped before asking questions they know the answers to.
The Proffer Agreement Trap That Multiplies Your Problems
Your lawyer suggests a proffer agreement – “Queen for a Day” – where you tell prosecutors everything in exchange for limited immunity. Here’s what actually happens: The immunity only covers your exact words in that room. Prosecutors use your information to find evidence they wouldn’t have discovered otherwise. That derivative evidence can destroy you.
You describe a transaction you think is helpful. Prosecutors use that information to subpoena records revealing ten other transactions. Those ten transactions become ten counts of wire fraud. You mention a colleague who might have information. That colleague becomes a cooperating witness against you. You explain your understanding of the law. Prosecutors argue that understanding proves willful violation.
If you testify at trial inconsistently with your proffer, prosecutors use the proffer statements to destroy you on cross-examination. If you plead guilty, any variance from the proffer becomes obstruction of justice, adding years to your sentence. The “protection” of a proffer is illusory – it’s a roadmap for prosecutors to convict you with evidence you helped them find.
Grand Jury Subpoenas – When the Fifth Amendment Disappears
Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6 governs grand juries, but the reality is a prosecutorial playground with no judge, no defense attorney, no rules of evidence. If subpoenaed to testify, you must appear. You can invoke the Fifth Amendment to specific questions, but blanket refusal means contempt charges and jail until you testify or the grand jury term expires (up to 18 months).
Prosecutors can grant immunity under 18 U.S.C. § 6002, forcing testimony. This “use and derivative use” immunity sounds protective but isn’t. They can still prosecute using “independent” evidence – and they’re very creative about what counts as independent. Your immunized testimony Tuesday becomes the roadmap for finding “independent” evidence Wednesday.
The grand jury room is theater. Twenty-three citizens who’ve been hearing evidence for months, trusting the prosecutor, predisposed to indict. They indict 99.99% of cases prosecutors present. Not hyperbole – actual DOJ statistics. The phrase “ham sandwich indictment” exists because grand juries would indict a ham sandwich if prosecutors asked.
Parallel Civil and Criminal Investigations – Double Jeopardy That Isn’t
When the SEC investigates securities fraud civilly while DOJ investigates criminally, you face parallel proceedings with different standards, different discovery rules, different timelines. The SEC demands documents and testimony under civil rules where the Fifth Amendment creates adverse inferences. DOJ uses that SEC-compelled information for criminal prosecution.
You can’t coordinate defenses because asserting the Fifth in SEC proceedings essentially guarantees you lose the civil case. But testifying in SEC proceedings provides DOJ with a roadmap for criminal prosecution. Banking regulators, EPA, FTC – all run civil investigations that feed criminal prosecutions. The information sharing is legal, coordinated, and designed to trap you between conflicting defensive needs.
Why Most Defense Lawyers Make It Worse
White-collar defense attorneys who’ve never been prosecutors don’t understand how the system really works. They file lengthy response letters to target notifications that provide roadmaps for prosecution. They negotiate proffer agreements without understanding how prosecutors weaponize them. They advise cooperation thinking it buys leniency, not knowing that cooperation often adds charges as clients reveal crimes prosecutors didn’t know about.
Former prosecutors turned defense lawyers have different problems. They’re too friendly with current prosecutors, pulling punches to maintain relationships. They remember being on the other side, sympathizing with the government’s position. They negotiate like they’re still colleagues, not adversaries.
You need someone who understands the system but isn’t captured by it. Someone who knows prosecutorial tactics because they’ve used them, but fights against them without hesitation. Someone who recognizes when cooperation helps versus when it hurts.
The Real Timeline Once Contact Occurs
Day 1: Agents make contact. You have minutes to decide whether to talk. Wrong decision here cascades through everything.
Days 2-14: If you talked, agents are writing Form 302s, comparing notes, identifying contradictions to charge as false statements. If you didn’t talk, they’re squeezing associates, threatening them to flip.
Day 15: Target letter arrives if you’re primary focus. Two weeks to respond before grand jury presentation.
Day 30: Grand jury votes on indictment. 99.99% chance they indict if case is presented.
Day 31-45: Arrest or surrender negotiations. Bail arguments. Media coverage. Life destroyed.
Months 3-18: Discovery reveals how much they knew before contacting you. Usually everything.
Month 18-24: Plea negotiations when you realize trial means decades if convicted.
Year 2-3: Trial if you’re the 3% who don’t plead. 93% conviction rate at trial.
Call Now – The Investigators Already Know Your Answer
212-300-5196
If federal agents contacted you yesterday, they’re writing Form 302s today that will be treated as gospel truth at trial. If you received a target letter, the grand jury presentation is calendared. If you’re scheduled for a proffer, prosecutors are preparing to weaponize every word.
The federal conviction machine is already running. While you’re googling what to do, prosecutors are preparing indictments, agents are interviewing witnesses, and your life is being dissected for additional charges. Every hour you wait limits options and strengthens their position.
My name’s Todd Spodek. I’ve been through hundreds of federal investigations, from initial contact through trial or plea. I know which prosecutors negotiate in good faith versus those who use cooperation as a weapon. I know which agents lie in 302s and which judges hold them accountable.