FEDERAL CRIMINAL LAWYERS

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FBI agents are at your door with a search warrant—or they just finished tearing through your house. You’re facing a federal criminal investigation—and what you do in the next minutes and hours will shape everything that follows. The Fourth Amendment protects you against unreasonable searches and seizures—but when federal agents have a warrant signed by a federal judge, that protection operates within constitutional limits. Todd Spodek leads our team—he represents the second generation of federal criminal defense at Spodek Law Group, bringing more than forty years of combined experience defending clients in FBI raids, white-collar investigations, and high-profile federal cases. If federal agents are executing a search warrant at your house, call us immediately: 212-300-5196.

When They’re at Your Door

The knock comes and you hear “FBI! Search warrant!” Stay calm. Do not physically resist—federal agents will enter whether you cooperate or not, and resistance gives them grounds to charge you with assaulting federal officers under 18 U.S.C. § 2231¹. That’s a separate federal crime that can add years to any sentence. Ask to see the warrant. You have the constitutional right to examine it. Read carefully. The warrant specifies what locations they can search and what items they can seize. The Fourth Amendment requires this specificity² because the Framers wanted to prevent general searches, wanted to prevent government agents from rummaging through people’s lives hoping to find something incriminating. Note what the warrant authorizes. Do not consent to any search beyond the warrant’s scope.

What the Warrant Means

A federal judge signed this warrant after determining that probable cause exists to believe evidence of federal crimes is in your home. Probable cause requires specific facts, not mere suspicion. The warrant tells you: a federal investigation is underway, you’re likely a target or subject, and a grand jury is probably hearing evidence. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41³ governs search warrants and requires particularity—agents can only search places listed and seize items specified. Anything outside that scope requires your consent. Do not give consent. But understand the plain view doctrine—if agents executing a valid warrant see evidence of crimes while searching authorized areas, they can seize that evidence too.

While They’re Searching Your House

Agents document everything—photographing, inventorying, recording. They seize items listed in the warrant. Searches can take two to eight hours. Here’s what you do: remain silent. The Fifth Amendment protects you against self-incrimination⁴, and this protection applies before arrest, before Miranda warnings, before custody. Do not answer questions. Do not explain documents. Do not try to help them understand your business or finances or communications—everything you say will be used to build a federal case against you. You are not in custody during most warrant executions, which means agents don’t have to give Miranda warnings, but your Fifth Amendment right to remain silent exists regardless. Federal agents are skilled at making people feel like cooperation will help, like refusing to talk makes you look guilty, like getting a lawyer means you have something to hide—but the Fifth Amendment exists because the Framers understood that individuals facing government power need constitutional protection from compelled self-incrimination.

Your Constitutional Position

The Fourth Amendment protects you against unreasonable searches and seizures—but reasonable searches, searches backed by warrants issued by federal judges based on probable cause, those searches are constitutional, they’re allowed, they’re happening in your house right now, and understanding this distinction matters because the warrant they’re holding represents a federal judge’s determination that probable cause exists to believe evidence of federal crimes is in your home, that’s the constitutional standard, and it’s not a low bar, federal prosecutors had to present evidence, sworn statements, facts sufficient to convince a neutral magistrate that searching your home would yield evidence of specific federal crimes, and that judge signed the warrant, which means constitutionally speaking the search is presumptively valid, but that doesn’t mean the warrant was properly obtained, doesn’t mean the affidavit supporting the warrant was truthful, doesn’t mean the scope of the search is proper, doesn’t mean everything they’re doing complies with Fourth Amendment limitations, and this is where constitutional protection continues throughout the search—the warrant’s specificity requirements, the Fourth Amendment’s requirement that warrants “particularly describe the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized,”² this isn’t a formality, it’s a constitutional command designed to prevent general searches, to prevent agents from simply rummaging through your entire life hoping to find something incriminating, and when agents exceed the warrant’s scope, when they search places not authorized, when they seize items not listed, those actions violate the Fourth Amendment, which means the evidence might be suppressible later, might be excluded from trial, but you won’t know any of this while they’re searching, you won’t be able to evaluate probable cause while agents are going through your belongings, you won’t be able to assess warrant validity while they’re photographing your documents—that’s why you remain silent, why you don’t answer questions, why you don’t consent to anything, because the Fifth Amendment protects you from self-incrimination, because you have the constitutional right to refuse to be a witness against yourself⁴, and this right applies before arrest, before Miranda warnings, before custody, it applies right now while they’re in your house, and it applies to every question they ask, every document they show you, every statement they try to elicit, because federal agents are skilled at extracting information, at making people feel like cooperation will help them, at suggesting that lawyering up makes you look guilty, but the Fifth Amendment exists precisely because the Framers understood that government power needs constitutional limits, that individuals facing federal investigations need protection from compelled self-incrimination, and the Sixth Amendment adds another layer—your right to attorney, your right to counsel⁵, your right to have a lawyer present before you speak to federal agents, and you should invoke this right immediately, you should say “I want a lawyer” and nothing else, because once you invoke, agents must stop questioning, must respect your constitutional right to counsel, and this protection isn’t about guilt or innocence, it’s about ensuring fair process, ensuring that individuals facing federal government power have constitutional shields, have rights that limit government overreach, have protections that the Framers embedded in the Constitution specifically for moments like this, when federal agents are searching your home, when investigation targets your life, when everything you say and do can be used to build a federal case against you.

After They Leave

Agents hand you a receipt—an inventory of everything seized. Keep this. It tells you what evidence federal prosecutors will analyze, what grand jury will examine, what might be used against you. Write down everything that happened. Document every question they asked. Note anything they said about the investigation. These details matter for your attorney’s analysis of whether the search complied with constitutional requirements. Contact an attorney immediately—not tomorrow, right now. The federal investigation is active. FBI is analyzing evidence seized from your home. A grand jury is likely convening. An indictment may be coming. Early attorney involvement is critical because there’s a window where an experienced federal criminal defense attorney can shape the investigation, present exculpatory evidence, demonstrate case weaknesses, potentially prevent charges. That window closes fast.

What Happens Next

FBI agents analyze everything seized—documents, devices, communications, financial records. They interview witnesses. They present evidence to a federal grand jury. Grand jury proceedings are secret—no defense attorney present when witnesses testify⁶. The grand jury votes on whether to indict. If you’re the target, you won’t testify—the Fifth Amendment protects you—but witnesses against you will testify, documents seized from your house will be presented, FBI agents will describe what they found. Grand juries indict in the overwhelming majority of cases. If FBI executed a search warrant at your home, indictment is highly probable. Having an attorney means someone is monitoring the investigation, communicating with prosecutors, protecting your rights, identifying opportunities to challenge evidence or prevent charges.

Why Spodek Law Group

Todd Spodek represents the second generation of federal criminal defense at Spodek Law Group. We bring more than forty years of combined experience defending clients in FBI raids, federal search warrant executions, white-collar investigations, and high-profile federal prosecutions. We’ve defended clients in federal fraud investigations, public corruption cases, financial crimes task force operations, multi-agency investigations. We know how FBI investigations proceed after raids—how agents analyze seized evidence, how prosecutors build cases, how federal criminal cases develop from search warrant to indictment. We examine whether the warrant was properly obtained—whether the affidavit was truthful, whether probable cause existed, whether agents exceeded the warrant’s scope⁷. We analyze evidence seized—identifying weaknesses, challenging admissibility, preparing suppression motions. We communicate with federal prosecutors—presenting exculpatory evidence, demonstrating case weaknesses. We represent clients before grand juries—protecting Fifth Amendment rights, monitoring investigation progress.

Time Runs Out Fast

Every hour after an FBI raid matters. Evidence is being analyzed. Witnesses are being interviewed. Grand jury is convening. Your constitutional rights need immediate protection.

Call 212-300-5196.

Sources

1. 18 U.S.C. § 2231 – Assault or Resistance. Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2231

2. U.S. Const. amend. IV. Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/fourth_amendment

3. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41 – Search and Seizure. Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcrmp/rule_41

4. U.S. Const. amend. V. Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/fifth_amendment

5. U.S. Const. amend. VI. Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/sixth_amendment

6. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6 – The Grand Jury. Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcrmp/rule_6

7. Department of Justice Justice Manual § 9-13.000 – Obtaining Search Warrants (2024). U.S. Department of Justice. https://www.justice.gov/jm/jm-9-13000-obtaining-search-warrants

8. 18 U.S.C. § 1519 – Destruction, Alteration, or Falsification of Records in Federal Investigations. Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1519