If you learn you are under criminal investigation, stop talking, preserve everything in your possession, and hire a criminal defense attorney before you do anything else. Knowing what to do if you’re under criminal investigation comes down to one principle: the window between investigation and indictment is when a case is most movable, and nearly every mistake people make during it involves saying or destroying something they didn’t have to. Everything below follows from that.
How You Know You’re Being Investigated
Sometimes the signal is direct. A detective calls and asks to “hear your side of the story.” That phrasing is deliberate and friendly on purpose. The call itself means you are a person of interest, and the officer is hoping you’ll volunteer information without a lawyer in the room.
In federal matters, the Department of Justice sometimes sends a target letter. This is a written notice that you are the target of a grand jury investigation and that an indictment may be coming. DOJ policy encourages prosecutors to notify targets a reasonable time before seeking an indictment, so they have the option to testify before the grand jury if they choose.1U.S. Department of Justice. Justice Manual 9-11.000 – Grand Jury A target letter means the investigation is well advanced.
You might also be served with a subpoena for documents or testimony, or you may find agents at your door with a search warrant. Any of these events confirms an active investigation and should trigger the same response: say nothing substantive, and call a lawyer.
Your First Moves
Three things need to happen quickly, and in roughly this order.
First, stop talking. Not just to investigators. To anyone. The urge to explain yourself to a spouse, a coworker, a friend who “already knows anyway” is powerful, and it is where cases get built. Only one conversation in your life is reliably protected right now: the one with your attorney.
Second, hire a criminal defense lawyer. Getting counsel early is not a sign of guilt. It is the single most protective step available to you, and experienced prosecutors expect it. The investigation stage is where a defense attorney has the most leverage, because the government has not yet committed publicly to a theory of the case.
Third, preserve everything. Do not delete a text, shred a document, wipe a phone, or clean out a drawer. Do not “organize.” Do not move files. If you have an automated deletion setting on messages or email, talk to your lawyer before touching it. The reason is in the next section, and it is severe.
Do Not Destroy Anything
This is where people turn a manageable problem into an unmanageable one. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1519, destroying, altering, or concealing records or objects to obstruct a federal investigation carries up to 20 years in prison.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1519 – Destruction, Alteration, or Falsification of Records in Federal Investigations and Bankruptcy A separate statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1512, reaches tampering with witnesses or evidence, with penalties up to 20 years for evidence destruction and up to 30 years when physical force is involved.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1512 – Tampering With a Witness, Victim, or an Informant
Obstruction charges are often easier for prosecutors to prove than the underlying crime, and they get added aggressively. People convince themselves that deleting a single text thread or tossing one folder is harmless. It is not. Leave everything where it is.
Handling Contact from Investigators
Phone Calls and Interview Requests
If a detective calls and asks you to come in, decline politely. You do not need to give a reason. “I won’t discuss this without my attorney present” is enough. Do not lie, because making false statements to federal agents is itself a crime. But declining to speak is not lying. It is your right, and it is the correct answer.
Officers at Your Door
Without a warrant, you are not required to let officers in or answer questions. You can speak to them through the door, or step outside and close the door behind you. If they ask to search anything, say clearly: “I do not consent to a search.” Absent your consent or a warrant, they generally cannot search.
If they present a search warrant, that is a court order and you cannot block it.4Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure Rule 41 – Search and Seizure Ask to read it so you know what areas and items it covers. Observe the search. Do not interfere, hide anything, or try to steer officers away from a location. Your lawyer can challenge the warrant later if grounds exist.
Do Not Talk to Anyone Else About the Case
Conversations with your attorney are protected by attorney-client privilege. Conversations with anyone else are not. A spouse, friend, business partner, or coworker can be subpoenaed to repeat what you told them, and investigators routinely interview associates for exactly that reason. Having a friend sit in on a meeting with your lawyer can actually destroy the privilege for that conversation, so keep those meetings private.
Stay Off Social Media
Investigators monitor social media, and posts, comments, photos, and likes can all become evidence. An offhand remark reads differently once prosecutors frame it as intent or admission. Post nothing. And do not delete old posts, because that puts you back inside the evidence-destruction problem.
The Rights You Need to Invoke
The Right to Remain Silent
The Fifth Amendment protects you from being forced to incriminate yourself.5Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Fifth Amendment You never have to answer questions from investigators where a truthful answer could implicate you. The catch most people miss is that you have to say so out loud.
In Salinas v. Texas, a man voluntarily spoke with police, then went quiet on one question. The Supreme Court held that his silence could be used against him because he never explicitly invoked the Fifth Amendment.6Justia. Salinas v. Texas, 570 U.S. 178 (2013) In Berghuis v. Thompkins, a suspect sat through almost three hours of questioning without responding, then answered a single question, and the Court treated that answer as a waiver of his right to silence.7Justia. Berghuis v. Thompkins, 560 U.S. 370 (2010) The practical rule: say you are invoking your right to remain silent, and then stay silent. Do not answer “just one question.”
The Right to Counsel
You have the right to a lawyer during custodial interrogation, and if you cannot afford one, the government must provide one.8Constitution Annotated. Amdt5.4.7.3 Miranda and Its Aftermath Outside of custody, you still have every right to refuse to speak and insist on having an attorney before any interview. One boundary to be aware of: appointed public defenders are generally not available during the pre-charge investigation stage; the right to appointed counsel attaches once charges are filed.
The Right Against Unreasonable Searches
The Fourth Amendment requires that warrants be based on probable cause and specifically describe the place to be searched and the items to be seized.9Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Fourth Amendment Without consent or a warrant, investigators generally cannot search your home, car, or belongings. Refusing consent is not evidence of guilt and should be your default answer.
What a Defense Attorney Actually Does Before Charges
During an investigation, your lawyer acts as a buffer. All communication with law enforcement runs through counsel, which eliminates the risk of a damaging offhand statement. Beyond that, the attorney can contact prosecutors to learn the scope and theory of the investigation, identify weaknesses in the evidence before charges are filed, respond strategically to subpoenas and search warrants, gather favorable evidence, interview witnesses, and in some cases persuade prosecutors to file reduced charges or decline to charge at all.
That last point carries real weight. Prosecutors are more flexible before they’ve publicly committed to a case. Once an indictment is returned, the dynamics shift and the room to negotiate narrows.
Fees
Defense attorneys handle fees in different ways. Some charge a flat fee for a defined scope of work; others bill hourly against a retainer held in trust and drawn down as work is performed. Hourly rates in major cities commonly range from $150 to $400 per hour, with high-profile or specialized federal defense running significantly higher.
Separate Lawyers for Separate People
If more than one person is under investigation for the same matter, each person needs separate counsel. One lawyer cannot represent two targets of the same investigation because their interests will almost certainly diverge. Before you hire anyone, confirm that the attorney does not already represent another person involved.
Grand Jury Subpoenas
Many federal investigations run through a grand jury, a group of citizens who hear prosecutors’ evidence and decide whether to return an indictment. Proceedings are conducted in secret, and that secrecy binds grand jurors, court reporters, interpreters, and government attorneys.10Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure Rule 6 – The Grand Jury Witnesses are not bound, so if you testify you may discuss your testimony with your attorney afterward.
Your lawyer cannot be in the grand jury room with you, but you have the right to step outside and consult before answering any question.1U.S. Department of Justice. Justice Manual 9-11.000 – Grand Jury You keep your Fifth Amendment right to refuse answers that would incriminate you. If you’ve been called as a witness but suspect you are actually a target, your attorney should clarify your status with the prosecutor before you testify.
Proffers and Immunity
If prosecutors think you have useful information, they may offer a proffer agreement, sometimes called a “queen for a day.” You sit down and tell them what you know; in exchange, the government typically agrees not to use your actual statements against you at trial. The goal from your side is usually a cooperation deal or a decision not to charge.
The risks are routinely underestimated. The government can use what you say to develop new leads and find independent evidence even if your words themselves are off-limits. If you later testify inconsistently, prosecutors can use the proffer statements to impeach you. Some agreements go further, allowing the government to use proffer statements whenever any part of your defense contradicts what you said. And if prosecutors conclude you lied in the session, you can be charged for false statements. Never enter a proffer without an attorney experienced with these agreements; the written terms vary, and the gap between a narrow and a broad one can decide whether you have a trial defense left.
In some cases, prosecutors go further and get a court order compelling your testimony under immunity. Federal use-and-derivative-use immunity bars the government from using your compelled testimony, or anything derived from it, against you later. The Supreme Court held in Kastigar v. United States that this is broad enough to satisfy the Fifth Amendment, so once it is granted you can no longer refuse to testify on self-incrimination grounds.11Justia. Kastigar v. United States, 406 U.S. 441 (1972) If you are later prosecuted, the government must prove each piece of its evidence came from a source entirely independent of your immunized testimony. This is narrower than transactional immunity, which would bar prosecution for the entire transaction. Federal law does not require transactional immunity, so independent evidence can still support charges.
How Long the Government Has to Charge You
Investigations do not run forever. For most federal crimes, the statute of limitations is five years from the date of the offense.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3282 – Offenses Not Capital Once the period expires, prosecutors cannot file charges regardless of what they’ve gathered.
There are important exceptions. Financial crimes affecting banks or financial institutions carry a 10-year period. Arson and explosives offenses also run 10 years. Terrorism-related offenses have an 8-year window, and some offenses, including capital crimes, have no limitations period at all. State limitations periods vary. The clock can also be paused, or “tolled,” in certain circumstances, such as when the target flees the jurisdiction.
Waiting out the clock is not a strategy, but knowing the timeline tells your attorney how much urgency the situation carries, and in rare cases it resolves the matter outright.