Do Federal Agents Really Knock, Guns Drawn, and Arrest, at 7 AM? YES
It’s early Friday morning in your sleepy suburban neighborhood. You pull back the bedroom curtain and are confronted with a shocking sight. Your neighbor across the street shivers in his boxer shorts, undershirt, and handcuffs. Beside him, there’s a small army of law enforcement agents in bulletproof armor and blue coats on the lawn, armed with imposing rifles. His distraught wife and young kids are crying as they are led to a nearby vehicle.
Rumors fly as the whole neighborhood speculates what just happened. Is our neighbor a terrorist? A drug lord? A serial killer on a multi-state killing spree? None of these conjectures are true. Instead, he’s the indicted Chief Financial Officer of a $500 million company who disregarded the United States Attorney’s Office warning. He is therefore the target of an FBI fraud investigation.
Of course, from television and movies, we tend to think of intrepid federal law enforcement agencies taking down dangerous gangsters. But the FBI doesn’t only perform raids on violent criminals or celebrities like “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli. Let me also dispel a myth. It goes like this: “The FBI will always allow you to turn yourself in or send you a formal summons if they believe you have committed a white collar crime.” Not so. In many cases, white collar criminals are treated just as harshly as violent criminals by federal law enforcers.
Federal agencies are quick to raid the homes and businesses of alleged white-collar criminals precisely because they think once a target gets wind of an investigation, evidence will be destroyed. They may suspect you're destroying important data—running shredders nonstop or smashing hard drives. This is why they tend to swoop in with a massive show of force, seizing suspected evidence from your home, spending hours going through your drawers and cabinets—all while destroying your family’s sense of security and privacy.
So, what can be done in the face of such life-changing danger? Having represented countless clients who are neither monsters nor criminal masterminds, here is what you should do if the FBI ever knocks on your door with a warrant, and better yet, how you can avoid such a raid in the first place.
What to Do if You Get Raided
You may feel like being the subject of an FBI raid is hitting rock bottom—like things can’t get any worse. Unfortunately, it can and likely will. Your actions and behaviors can make a raid much worse than it already is, not to mention the potential imprisonment that awaits if you are guilty of a white-collar crime.
Accordingly, your first step should be to politely ask for a copy of the warrant at the door. Don’t let anyone into your home until it’s clear they have a valid warrant for your address. If they do, you aren’t stopping them from coming in. Next, your focus should switch to safely getting your family and pets out of the way—the agents will direct them where to go and what to do. Encourage your family to follow their direction.
Under no circumstances talk to anyone about the alleged offense and the investigation. You can provide the agents with personal biographical data. For one thing, this may later make bail more reasonable. However, you have no obligation to speak to any federal law enforcement agent. Besides, doing so may get you in deeper trouble.
Next, it’s time to call your lawyer; hopefully you have their cell phone. Again, never talk to law enforcement without your lawyer’s advice and presence. Finally, after the raid is over, document the aftermath with photos and video. Capture any damage and show the locations in your home and office where evidence was seized.
Those are the immediate steps to take. Now, for the obvious question: Wouldn’t it be better for you and your family if the FBI raid didn’t ever happen in the first place? That’s possible, but only if you are already working with the right counsel. With your attorney’s assistance, you should have already put a plan in place for such a devastating experience.
How the Hartmann Law Firm Stops Raids from Ever Happening
There is no magic spell to prevent an FBI raid if they suspect you are involved in white collar crime. However, there are many strategies the Hartmann Law team uses to prevent such a calamitous experience from ever occurring. When dealing with federal law enforcers, we often use a proactive strategy designed to prevent the government from ever taking drastic action. Just as we seek to later humanize our clients to the court, we also work to build empathy and trust with the FBI beforehand.
Accordingly, the ideal way to prevent a raid is to contact my firm the moment you become aware you are under investigation; for example, after receiving a target letter. As your counsel, on your behalf, I will take over all communication with law enforcement and the government. This drastically lessens the opportunity for you to misspeak, make an inadvertent admission of fact, do something agents may interpret as untruthful or misleading, or fail to get the sentencing benefit you should receive by being cooperative.
Skillful representation at this stage dramatically lessens the chance of a pre-dawn raid. By using the tools I’ve built up over my long career as a defense lawyer, I can lower the heat of an investigation from boil to simmer. This won’t make your problems vanish, but it can lessen the chances armed agents will ever come knocking on your door.