I. FEDERAL PROSECUTION JURISDICTION

A. Federal Cases

Federal criminal cases are the result of Indictments in federal court for a “federal crime” that has by nature a federal connection or element that provides the basis for the case going to federal court. An example would be a fraud of a bank or other financial institution whose deposits are insured by a federally backed agency or corporation.

Also, cases can become federal Indictments if the alleged crime occurred on federal property, or if the allegations include a travel or transportation of some sort between states or internationally. An example here could be Interstate Transportation (of monies obtained illegally) in Aid of Racketeering.

Federal criminal cases are indicted after an investigation by a federal agency or after local law enforcement officers submit the results of an investigation to the United States Attorney’s Office (federal prosecutor’s office). The United States Attorney’s Office is a field office of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. Federal agencies investigate crimes that have federal jurisdiction, and these agencies confer with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and conduct grand jury investigations with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Traditionally, federal indictments returned by grand juries consisted of, and still do consist largely of, complex fraud cases (“white-collar crime”) and significant drug trafficking cases.

(B. Federal Court System Process For Federal Criminal Cases - Crimes)