After a grand jury indicts you in federal court, what happens next is a sequence that unfolds over weeks and months: arrest, arraignment, a bail decision, exchange of evidence, pretrial motions, and then either a plea agreement or a trial, followed by sentencing if you are convicted. That is the practical answer to what happens after you are indicted. Trial must begin within 70 days of the indictment or your first court appearance, whichever is later,1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3161 – Time Limits and Exclusions though in reality most cases never see a jury. Roughly 97 percent of federal cases resolve through plea bargaining. An indictment is a formal accusation, not a finding of guilt.
Arrest and the First Court Appearance
If you are not already in custody when the indictment comes down, the court issues an arrest warrant. Once arrested, you must be brought before a magistrate judge “without unnecessary delay,” which usually means the same day or the next.2United States Department of Justice. Initial Hearing / Arraignment This first appearance is sometimes combined with the arraignment, sometimes held separately.
At arraignment, the judge reads the charges and explains your rights. The Sixth Amendment guarantees you a lawyer in any criminal prosecution, and if you cannot afford one the court appoints one at no cost.3Congress.gov. Amdt6.6.3.1 Overview of When the Right to Counsel Applies Then you enter a plea. Almost everyone pleads not guilty at this stage, even if they expect to negotiate later. A not-guilty plea preserves every legal right and buys your attorney time to review the evidence before making strategic calls.
Pretrial Release or Detention
Shortly after your first appearance, a separate hearing decides whether you go home or stay in custody while the case runs. The judge’s core question is whether any set of conditions can reasonably guarantee you will appear for court and will not endanger anyone. Under the Bail Reform Act, four factors drive the decision:4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3142 – Release or Detention of a Defendant Pending Trial
- The charges themselves. Violence, drugs, firearms, or terrorism allegations make release significantly harder.
- The strength of the government’s evidence. A case that looks overwhelming suggests more incentive to flee.
- Your personal background, including family ties, employment, length of residence in the community, criminal history, and any history of substance abuse.
- The danger you would pose to any specific person or to the public.
A pretrial services officer interviews you and files a report with a release-or-detention recommendation.5United States Courts. About Federal Courts – Pretrial Services Outcomes vary widely. You might be released on your own recognizance, meaning you sign a written promise to appear and pay nothing. The judge might set a cash bail amount or require a surety bond, where a bail bond company posts the full amount and you pay a nonrefundable fee of roughly 10 percent. Release often comes with conditions: electronic monitoring, drug testing, a curfew, travel limits, or a surrendered passport. In the most serious cases, the judge can order you detained with no bail at all.
Consequences That Hit Before Trial
Some of the hardest consequences of an indictment land immediately and have nothing to do with a verdict. Knowing about them early matters, because you may need to act quickly.
Federal law prohibits anyone under indictment for a crime punishable by more than one year in prison from shipping, transporting, or receiving firearms or ammunition across state lines.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts It is also illegal for anyone to sell you a firearm during that period. The restriction attaches at indictment, not conviction. If you own firearms, talk to your attorney about handling them legally while the case is pending.
Many professional licensing boards require you to self-report an arrest or indictment, and some are notified automatically. Healthcare workers, attorneys, financial professionals, and anyone holding a government security clearance should assume their licensing authority will learn about the charges. Boards can open their own investigations and impose restrictions before any conviction, under standards separate from the criminal case.
If you are not a U.S. citizen, a federal indictment, and especially a conviction, can carry serious immigration consequences up to and including deportation. Drug offenses and crimes involving “moral turpitude” carry heightened risk. An immigration attorney should be consulted alongside your criminal defense lawyer as early as possible, because a plea deal that looks favorable in criminal court can be catastrophic for immigration status.
The Speedy Trial Clock
The federal Speedy Trial Act puts a hard limit on how long the government can take to bring you to trial. Once you plead not guilty, trial must begin within 70 days of the indictment or your first court appearance, whichever is later.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3161 – Time Limits and Exclusions There is also a floor. Trial cannot start less than 30 days after you first appear with your lawyer, unless you waive that in writing. The 30-day minimum exists so your defense team has time to prepare.
In practice, the 70-day clock almost never runs straight through. The law lets the court pause it for pretrial motions, mental competency evaluations, plea negotiations, and continuances that serve the “ends of justice.” Complex cases with large volumes of evidence routinely take six months to a year or more before trial without violating the Act.
If the government does miss the deadline and you raise the issue, the indictment must be dismissed. Whether the dismissal is “with prejudice” (the case is gone for good) or “without prejudice” (the government can re-indict and start over) depends on the seriousness of the offense, the reasons for the delay, and whether re-prosecution would undermine the Act’s purpose.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3162 – Sanctions You lose this right entirely if you do not raise it before trial or before entering a guilty plea.
Discovery and Pretrial Motions
The weeks between arraignment and trial are where cases get decided. Two things dominate: discovery and pretrial motions.
What the Government Must Turn Over
Discovery is the formal exchange of evidence. A common misconception is that the prosecution must hand over everything in its files. Under the federal rules, the government must disclose specific categories of evidence when the defense requests them: your prior statements, your criminal history, documents and physical evidence that are material to your defense or that the government plans to use at trial, and reports from any expert examinations or tests.8Justia. Fed. R. Crim. P. 16 – Discovery and Inspection
Separately, the rule from Brady v. Maryland requires the prosecution to turn over any evidence favorable to you that is material to guilt or punishment, whether or not your attorney asks for it.9Legal Information Institute. Brady Rule That includes evidence that could undermine the credibility of a government witness, not just evidence pointing to innocence.
Motions That Shape the Case
Based on what discovery shows, your attorney may file pretrial motions asking the judge to rule on key issues before trial. A motion to suppress argues that specific evidence was obtained in violation of your constitutional rights and should be excluded. If police searched your home without a valid warrant, for instance, what they found may be thrown out.10Legal Information Institute. Motion to Suppress A motion to dismiss asks the court to throw out the indictment on grounds like prosecutorial misconduct or a fatal defect in the charges. Winning a suppression motion can gut the government’s case and force a favorable plea offer, which is why this phase matters so much.
Plea Agreement or Trial
Most federal cases end in plea agreements rather than trials. In a plea bargain, you agree to plead guilty, usually in exchange for the government dropping some charges, recommending a lighter sentence, or both. The judge must approve the deal and will question you in open court to confirm you understand the terms and are pleading voluntarily.
The tradeoffs are real. A plea deal gives you certainty and usually a lower sentence than you would face after losing at trial. Federal sentencing guidelines reward defendants who “accept responsibility” by pleading guilty, and defense attorneys call the opposite effect the “trial penalty.” A guilty plea also gives up your right to appeal most issues in the case, so the decision deserves careful thought.
One variant worth knowing: an Alford plea lets you plead guilty for sentencing purposes while maintaining that you are actually innocent. Courts require strong evidence of guilt before accepting one, and not all jurisdictions allow them.
If no agreement is reached, the case goes to trial. The Sixth Amendment guarantees a public trial by an impartial jury.3Congress.gov. Amdt6.6.3.1 Overview of When the Right to Counsel Applies In some situations, both sides can agree to have a judge decide the case alone in a bench trial. Either way, the prosecution carries the entire burden and must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. You are not required to testify, present evidence, or prove anything. If the government fails to meet its burden on even one essential element, the verdict must be not guilty.
Sentencing
Sentencing happens at a separate hearing after a guilty plea or a guilty verdict. In federal felony cases, the hearing is typically set several weeks out so a probation officer can prepare a presentence investigation report. Your attorney and the prosecutor must receive that report at least 35 days before sentencing, and any written objections are due within 14 days of receiving it.11Justia. Fed. R. Crim. P. 32 – Sentencing and Judgment
The presentence report is one of the most important documents in the case. The probation officer digs into your background, including your criminal history, employment, education, family situation, physical and mental health, and finances. The report also calculates your advisory sentencing guideline range, a recommended window based on the severity of the offense and your prior record. Judges are not bound by the guidelines but must consider them.
At the hearing, both attorneys argue for the sentence they believe is appropriate. Victims have a legal right to attend and to be heard.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3771 – Crime Victims Rights You also have the right to address the judge directly, a moment called “allocution,” and what you say matters. The sentence can include:
- Probation, meaning supervised release in the community with conditions you must follow.
- Incarceration in federal prison or, for shorter sentences, a local jail.
- Fines paid to the government.
- Restitution to victims for financial losses caused by the crime.
- Court-ordered community service.
Appeals and What Comes After
A conviction is not necessarily the final word, but the deadlines are unforgiving. In federal court, a notice of appeal must be filed within 14 days of the judgment.13Legal Information Institute. Rule 4 – Appeal as of Right, When Taken Miss that window and you lose the right entirely, with very limited exceptions. Your attorney should discuss appeal options with you immediately after sentencing.
An appeal is not a second trial. You do not present new evidence or re-argue the facts to a new jury. An appellate court reviews the legal record for serious errors. Common grounds include a sentence imposed in violation of law, an incorrect guideline calculation, or a sentence that exceeds the applicable range.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3742 – Review of a Sentence You can also appeal based on trial errors like improperly admitted evidence, incorrect jury instructions, or prosecutorial misconduct. If you pleaded guilty, your appeal options are much narrower; most plea agreements include an appeal waiver, though you can still challenge things like an illegal sentence or the voluntariness of the plea itself. Appeals typically take many months, and you usually begin serving your sentence while the appeal is pending.
Even after a sentence is served, a felony conviction follows you. Voting rights vary dramatically by state, ranging from states that allow voting from prison to states that may permanently strip voting rights for certain offenses unless you successfully apply for restoration.15Vote.gov. Voting After a Felony Conviction Federal law permanently prohibits anyone convicted of a felony from possessing firearms or ammunition, a far broader restriction than the indictment-phase prohibition and one that lasts for life unless lifted through a pardon or other legal relief.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts Employment can be difficult because many employers run background checks, and some industries are closed off entirely. Housing applications, student financial aid, and professional licensing all carry potential barriers. These collateral consequences are often more punishing than the sentence itself, which is why they belong in the conversation when you are evaluating a plea offer, not after you have already accepted one.