Any criminal offense is considered to be a serious matter. But this may be especially true if you are accused of committing a federal crime. Yes, you may likely be worse off than if the matter was a state crime. With all that being said, read on to discover what is considered a federal crime and how one of the experienced New Jersey & Pennsylvania criminal defense lawyers from The Vigilante Law Firm, P.C. can help you avoid being accused and subsequently punished for such.
What is considered the definition of a federal crime?
By definition, a federal crime is a type of crime that affects people across state lines (i.e., outside the state of New Jersey) and/or violates federal laws. This is to say that they may be taken more seriously than state crimes, which as you may put together, is a violation of state law(s). Therefore, cases concerning federal crimes end up in the federal court system, while state crimes are investigated, decided upon, and penalized by the state court system.
What are the most common examples of a federal crime?
Federal law typically does not address low-level, local offenses, such as driving under the influence, domestic violence, robbery, etc. Rather, it observes the following types of crimes:
- Mail and wire fraud: this crime entails using the United States Postal Service/another mail carrier (i.e., mail fraud) or the Internet/another form of electronic communication (i.e., wire fraud) to defraud someone.
- Tax evasion: this crime entails an illegal attempt(s) to defeat the imposition of federal and state taxes, likely through misrepresenting yourself to the Internal Revenue Service.
- Extortion: this crime entails obtaining something of value from someone through the use of force, violence, or fear, which is otherwise known as blackmail.
- Kidnapping: this crime entails unlawfully abducting and confining another individual in captivity against their will, usually with the use of force or fear.
- Racketeering: this crime entails an organized crime in which you may set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or illegal coordinated scheme or operation to collect a profit.
- Hate crime: this crime entails some sort of violence that is typically motivated by prejudice on the basis of ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or other similar grounds.
If you have been accused of participating in any of the aforementioned criminal activities, you must retain legal representation straight away. This should be done ideally well ahead of your scheduled trial date with the federal court. In conclusion, at The Vigilante Law Firm, P.C., we share the same goal as you, which is likely to stay out of trouble with the law. So please do not hesitate to work with one of the experienced New Jersey & Pennsylvania criminal defense lawyers from our firm today.
