Criminal Law Blog
Bank Fraud vs. Wire Fraud vs. Mail Fraud: How Federal Prosecutors Stack Charges
Bank fraud, wire fraud, and mail fraud are three separate federal statutes that prosecutors regularly charge together when a single scheme involves a bank, electronic communications, and physical mailings. The critical difference for defendants is the penalty ceiling: bank fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1344 carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison…
Federal Wire Fraud vs. State Fraud Charges: Why It Matters Where Your Case Is Filed
Wire fraud is a federal crime under 18 U.S.C. § 1343, and the court where your fraud case is filed changes nearly everything about how it will be handled. Federal wire fraud carries up to 20 years in prison per count, and federal courts convict at a rate that far exceeds state courts. State fraud…
How a Single Email Creates Federal Jurisdiction in Wire Fraud Cases
A single email, text message, or phone call can give the federal government jurisdiction over what would otherwise be a state fraud case, and understanding how this happens is one of the most important things anyone facing wire fraud allegations needs to know. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1343, the federal wire fraud statute criminalizes the…
Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud: How 18 USC 1349 Expands Liability Beyond the Person Who Sent the Wire
Conspiracy to commit wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1349 carries the same penalties as the completed crime, up to 20 years in federal prison per count. The statute does not require the government to prove that any fraud actually occurred. It does not require proof that the defendant personally sent a single email, made…
Wire Fraud and Money Laundering: How Prosecutors Stack Charges to Multiply Your Exposure
Federal prosecutors routinely stack money laundering charges on top of wire fraud because the proceeds from a wire fraud scheme automatically become the basis for separate money laundering counts under 18 U.S.C. § 1956 and § 1957. This charge-stacking strategy can transform a case carrying 20 years of exposure into one carrying decades, because each…
How Do You Challenge an International Extradition Order?
You cannot directly appeal an international extradition order. After a federal judge signs a certification of extraditability under 18 U.S.C. § 3184, the only way to fight it in court is a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, filed where you are held, then appealed to the circuit court,…
Extradition vs. Deportation – The Key Differences
Extradition and deportation are two different legal processes that people constantly mix up. Extradition is a criminal procedure that transfers a person accused or convicted of a crime to a country that formally requests them, under 18 U.S.C. sections 3181 to 3196. Deportation, now called removal, is a civil immigration process that forces a non-citizen…
The Dual Criminality Defense In Extradition Cases
Dual criminality is a defense that can stop an extradition when the conduct a foreign country wants to prosecute is not a crime in the United States. If the same acts would not be illegal here, a federal court in Texas can refuse to certify the person for surrender. Most modern U.S. treaties are built…
Can You Get Bail and Bond In International Extradition Cases?
In some cases, you can get bail and bond in extradition cases, but the odds are stacked against you. There is no presumption in favor of release, and the federal Bail Reform Act does not apply, because an international extradition proceeding is not treated as a regular criminal case. A federal judge will set you…
International Extradition: What Happens & How It Works
International extradition is the formal legal process by which one country (the requesting country) asks another country (the requested country) to hand over a person wanted for prosecution or to serve a sentence. In the United States, the international extradition process is treaty-based, runs through both a court and the executive branch, and can take…
