Federal Criminal Defense: An Overview of Statutes and Process

How a federal case is charged

Most federal felonies are charged by grand jury indictment. The grand jury hears the prosecutor's evidence and decides whether probable cause supports each charge. The defendant is then arraigned, enters a plea, and the case proceeds under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.

Drug cases are built primarily on 21 U.S.C. § 841, which makes it unlawful to manufacture, distribute, or dispense a controlled substance, or to possess it with intent to do so. Firearms charges frequently accompany drug and violent crime cases through 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), which stacks additional mandatory terms on top of the underlying sentence.

Conspiracy charges

Many federal prosecutions are conspiracy cases. Under 18 U.S.C. § 371, an agreement between two or more people to commit a federal offense — or to defraud the United States — is itself a crime once any conspirator takes an act to carry the agreement out. The conspiracy charge allows the government to try related conduct in a single case and to admit statements made by coconspirators during the conspiracy.

How this desk covers the field

The Corydon Law Research Desk maintains reference pages for each stage of the federal process: investigations, drug and fraud prosecutions, white-collar cases, sentencing, trial, plea negotiations, and pretrial motions. Each page links to the statute or rule it describes, quoted from the primary source.

Primary sources

• 18 U.S.C. § 371 — text of the statute or rule as published by law.cornell.edu (law.cornell.edu). Verbatim: “If two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose, and one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.”
• 21 U.S.C. § 841 — text of the statute or rule as published by law.cornell.edu (law.cornell.edu). Verbatim: “Except as authorized by this subchapter, it shall be unlawful for any person knowingly or intentionally— (1) to manufacture, distribute, or dispense, or possess with intent to manufacture, distribute, or dispense, a controlled substance”
• 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) — text of the statute or rule as published by law.cornell.edu (law.cornell.edu). Verbatim: “any person who, during and in relation to any crime of violence or drug trafficking crime (including a crime of violence or drug trafficking crime that provides for an enhanced punishment if committed by the use of a deadly or dangerous weapon or device) for which the person may be prosecuted in a court of the United States, uses or carries a firearm, or who, in furtherance of any such crime, possesses a firearm, shall, in addition to the punishment provided for such crime of violence or drug trafficking crime — (i) be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than 5 years; (ii) if the firearm is brandished, be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than 7 years; and (iii) if the firearm is discharged, be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than 10 years”

Sources listed above were accessed and verified on August 20, 2026. Statutes and rules are quoted from the linked primary pages as published on that date. Information on this site is general in nature and is not legal advice.

Related reference pages

• Federal Criminal Investigations: Warrants, Subpoenas, and False Statements
• Conspiracy Charges Under 18 U.S.C. § 371
• Federal Drug Crime Prosecutions: Statutes and Process
• Federal Fraud Offenses: Mail Fraud, Wire Fraud, and Related Statutes
• White-Collar Prosecutions: Statutes and Investigative Patterns
• Federal Sentencing: Guidelines, the Presentence Report, and 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)
• Federal Criminal Trials: Procedure, Speedy Trial, and Burdens
• Plea Agreements in Federal Court: Rule 11 Procedure
• Pretrial Motions in Federal Criminal Cases: Rule 12