What Should You Do if Federal Authorities Raided Your House with a Search Warrant?
This is a common situation: The feds will get a search warrant, come in, and take certain property, and believe it or not, they won't arrest the person.
If you're reading this before that happens to you, which is usually not the case; if it does, it's after the fact; of course, the first thing I would tell you is not to give any statement to the police.
When they come in, it's scary, and a lot of times, they'll attempt to get you to agree to certain things and make some statements that really end up incriminating you.
Don't Make Any Statements to Law Enforcement
I'll give you a perfect example: if the feds are coming to your house because they suspect that you're involved with possessing child pornography, distributing, and the like.
They will take your computers, phones, and everything else, and they will ask you, "Are you the only one who uses that computer?"
You say yes, and they find nothing on there. Obviously, you've helped them. The bottom line is that you don't have to make any statements to them.
You can certainly cooperate with them if they have a valid search warrant, but you really don't have to talk to them, give them information, or answer their questions.
It's not necessary. And I'm telling you right now, it usually ends up being negatively used against you.
So, if the feds have come, wait to talk to them. Cooperate with them, take whatever paperwork they give you, take all the agents' names and phone numbers, and get to an attorney like me immediately.
We'll sit down and talk about everything and try to find out why they were at your house, what information led them to it, and what we're going to do once you retain me.
Reviewing Case With Federal Prosecutor
Once I get on the case, I can contact the agents to determine their intentions. Often, there's already a prosecutor on the case.
I can ask for the prosecutor's information, call them and let them know that I'm your attorney, and then the ball starts rolling, hopefully in the right direction.
In the example I gave above, in a child pornography case, it's going to take some time for them to evaluate everything.
Once they evaluate and find incriminating information, they typically have the prosecutor call your attorney instead of arresting you right away.
Then, the two attorneys are going to discuss the case and figure out how to deal with it. Hopefully, that will give your attorney a head start in keeping you out of custody while the case is pending versus you going into custody and sitting there for months while your attorney either tries to resolve it or sets the case up for trial.
So, there's a huge advantage to hiring an attorney right away if the feds have come, executed a search warrant, raided your house, or taken certain property.
Retain a Federal Crime Lawyer Immediately
Hire an attorney. Come sit down with somebody like me. We'll go over all the facts and details of the case, and we'll put together a game plan for moving forward.
Either they have the evidence, or they don't, or maybe we don't know if they'll be able to, so we need to discuss that and begin to make some decisions that will move the case in the right direction.
That's one of the key things you want to do when it comes to a federal investigation when it comes to federal prosecution. Make the moves you can make to protect your rights, your freedom, your career, and, obviously, everything that is important to you.
So, if you have had the federal government, either through a joint task force with local law enforcement and some feds, come to your house, raid it, and take certain things.
Federal agents will leave you with a piece of paper showing you what they took, and you're scratching your head, wondering what you should do next. You need to pick up the phone. Call Ron Hedding. I stand at the ready to help you.
Hedding Law Firm is a criminal defense law firm located at 16000 Ventura Blvd #1208, Encino, CA 91436. Call (213) 374-3952 for a free case evaluation.
Related Content: