The power of the federal government

As a San Diego federal criminal defense lawyer, I am often asked, “when is a criminal case a federal case?” Many criminal clients assume that a federal case is more serious than a state one. That is not always correct.

The federal government is a government of limited power or jurisdiction. For a case to be federal, the crime has to involve the violation of federal law. In San Diego or the Southern District of California, most federal crimes involve immigration status or the United States border, which is controlled by the federal government. Any time someone crosses methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, or marijuana into the United States a federal law has been broken.

Drug or narcotics cases are cases that can be prosecuted either in state court or in federal court. As a general rule, smaller cases involving drugs are usually prosecuted by the State. Larger cases are handled often by the feds. ( For a list of federal crimes, see my federal crime page. For a list of state crimes, see my state crime page.)

Sometimes, cases begin with state prosecution and later are prosecuted by the federal government. An example is a federal drug conspiracy. If an individual is arrested with drugs, the case may be handled at first by the state prosecutor and later transferred to the United States Attorney’s Office. This often happens with federal prosecutors are not yet ready to arrest the many individuals involved in a conspiracy.

At the Law Offices of Russell Babcock, we are both federal and state criminal lawyers. We are fully prepared to handle your case regardless of which government branch prosecutes you.

When you believe you are about to be prosecuted either by state or federal prosecutors, call the most experienced and best criminal lawyers to defend you. We are here every day to answer all of your questions and advise you how to handle either a state or federal criminal case.

As a criminal defense lawyer in San Diego, I often see clients who have thrown away thousands of dollars of bail money. Depending on the case, there may actually be good reasons to wait before posting bail.

Bail bondsman normally charge the public a non-refundable premium of 10% to post bail. This means if bail is set at $100,000, the bondsman will normally require a payment of $10,000.

It may be unwise to post bail before hiring an criminal lawyer for many reasons. First, if the case is dismissed after a few days the bail money will be lost. Second, it is common for the court to raise or lower bail. For instance, a person may post $5,000 bond only to be returned to custody a few days later when bail is raised. Third, your attorney can often negotiate with the District Attorney to bring a bail review and lower bail saving the client thousands of dollars.

Remember that even though a person wants to get out of jail as soon as possible, it is also very important to save money for a legal retainer to secure the best criminal defense attorney possible.

The most experienced San Diego criminal lawyers know that the courts in San Diego county are notorious for adjusting bail even after bail has been posted.

Before posting bail, consult with a criminal defense attorney to see if there is a good possibility of securing a reduction in bail or possible dismissal of the criminal case. At the Law Offices of Russell Babcock, we save clients in all types of felony and misdemeanors cases thousands of dollars of bail money almost every month.

In these difficult times, don’t throw your money away unnecessarily. In many cases your experienced criminal attorney may be able to save you a great deal of money to put toward your legal retainer.

Before posting bail, make sure that it is truly necessary.

San Diego criminal lawyers frequently encounter money laundering cases. Illegal narcotics generally move North from South America and Mexico to the United States. Money obtainined from the sale of the methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin eventually moves North from the United States back to the sellers.

Money laundering is simply trying to disguise the source of money for unlawful activity. Because of San Diego’s proximity to the border, most of the money laundering cases are charged by the federal government, and a person charged with money laundering will need to hire a federal criminal attorney.

Most money laundering cases in San Diego involve drug money, but some cases involve the structuring of financial transactions to avoid income tax liability. The purpose of money laundering is to make the source of money untraceable. Money is usually “laundered” or cleaned by passing it through so many banks and financial transactions that it is hard or impossible to trace. Sometimes people who pass money through a currency exchange house or “casa de cobro.” Generally, the people who launder money charge a commission of 5% to 8%.

The penalties for money laundering depend on how the money was acquired, for instance, whether it was for narcotics or to further terrorism activities. Fines can reach $500,000 or more an imprisonment of twenty years or more. The penalties for federa money laundering are found at 18 USC § 1956. For the general penalties for federal offenses, see my blog on the subject.) For economic crimes in general, see my federal economic crime page.)

Often when driving into Tijuana from San Ysidro, one can see police officers standing in the lanes of traffic. They have canines that are trained to sniff for currency.

It is illegal to take more than $10,000 currency out of the United States without filling out a form and declaring it. Individuals who are arrested often have more than $25,000 and many times more than $100,000 hidden on their person or in their vehicle.

Money laundering is a very serious crime which calls for your hiring an experienced crimnal defense lawyer. The attorneys in the Law Offices of Russell S. Babcock are very experienced in handling money laundering cases. Attorney Russell S. Babcock is a certified criminal law specialist, former prosecutor, and a San Diego federal defense  attorney for more than twenty five years. Chief Associate Attorney Ryan Mardock has appeared in San Diego federal court dozens of times and also handled many money laundering and narcotic offenses.

If you are a loved one has been charged with money laundering, hire the best San Diego criminal defense lawyer you can today. Do not entrust your future to an attorney who is not experienced in federal drug and money laundering cases.

As a San Diego criminal lawyer, I am often asked what is a readiness conference.

Many years ago, after being a prosecutor in Alaska, I attended my first readiness conference. There was something that felt wrong about participating in such a proceeding outside the view of the client.

After a client has been charged, there is a day when all the attorneys and the judge gather in a room to discuss the fate of the client. This process reminds me of the smoke filled rooms of the past. . In the backroom, deals are made and the amount of time that a client may serve in jail may be sealed. Unfortunately, few attorneys explain the readiness process to the client.

San Diego criminal defense lawyers often do not prepare adequately for a readiness conference. Before attorneys in my office participates in these conferences, we attempt to gather references for the client to present to the prosecutor. We will not negotiate several cases as the public defender does but will concentrate all of our efforts on one case. We also will try to contact the procecutor before the readiness conference to attempt a more meaningful negotiation regarding your case.

San Diego federal criminal attorneys do not attend these conferences because in the federal court the judge cannot participate in the plea bargaining process.

A client’s future should not be determined by an unprepared attorney in a few minutes. As experienced defense attorneys, we prepare thoroughly before negotiating your case. And if you wish to go to jury trial, we do not force you to accept an offer from the prosecution.

As a San Diego criminal lawyer, I am asked to explain to my clients what a conspiracy is.

A conspiracy is nothing more than a group of individuas who set out to accomplish an illegal purpose. A conspiracy has been called “the darling of the government” because it is often easier to prove than the underlying criminal charge itself. All that is required to be guility is that individuals associated with the intent to commit a crime and at least one of the individuals committed an overt act or an act in furtherance of a conspiracy. This overt act could be as simple as one telephone call to set up a cocaine or methampehtamine sale.

Many times the co-conspirators don’t know most of the others in the conspiracy. There are tentacle style or hub style conspiracies such as the photo depicts above. An example is a federal drug case when one individual is the center for several individuals who are selling drugs. (See mandatory penalties for federal drug cases.) Also there are chain conspiracies, for example starting with the harvesting of cocaine in South America, to its processing, to its passing through several cities, to arrive in San Diego. The people who sell the drugs in San Diego never know the people in South America.

Unfortuantely, all individuals are responsible for all foreseeable acts of the conspiracy. Theat means that if an individual only engages in one drug transaction with other individuals, in some instances this person can be held responsible for the acts of all others. Conspiracies carry the same penalty as the underlying crime.

At the Law Offices of Russell Babcock we are experienced criminal attorneys who have handled numerous conspiracy cases. I personally handled the largest drug conspiracy case to date on a boat (eleven tons of cocaine) worth billions of dollars and after two trials and traveling to Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, and Russia achieved a total acquittaal for my client. (For more information on the multi-ton cocaine acquittal of a Russian seaman, click here.).

We are San Diego criminal defense lawyers who emphasize complex coonspiracy cases. We are here to help you and educate you on all state and federal criminal law matters.