By Jay V. Surgent, Esq.
Two agents knock at seven in the morning. They show credentials, name their agency, and ask whether they can come in for a few questions. Or they hand you a search warrant and walk past you into the house.
Agents come early on purpose. People talk before they have had coffee and before they have called anyone.
When Federal Agents Visit Without a Warrant
Agents who come without a warrant are asking. You may decline. You do not have to let them in, you do not have to answer, and you may ask them to leave. None of that is a crime, and none of it can come into evidence against you.
They will be polite. They will say that this is your chance to clear things up, that they only want your side, that your lawyer can come later. Each of those is a technique. The agents already know most of what they will ask you. The interview tests whether you will lie, minimize, or confirm.
Say that you would like to speak with a lawyer before you answer any questions. Ask for their cards. Say nothing else about the subject, including that you have done nothing wrong.
Why Talking to Federal Agents Can Hurt Your Case
The warnings you know from television apply only to a person in custody. At your own front door you are not in custody, so nobody warns you, and everything you say counts.
A false statement to a federal agent is a crime under 18 U.S.C. § 1001, punishable by up to five years. The agents do not have to prove the underlying conduct was a crime. A wrong date, a forgotten meeting, or a guess about a bank transfer can become the charge when the agents’ notes say otherwise.
An innocent person who talks for an hour gives the government an hour of statements to compare against the documents. A guilty person does worse. Neither one helps himself.
What to Do When Agents Arrive With a Search Warrant
A judge has signed it. It names the place and the kinds of things the agents may take. You cannot stop the search, and you should not try. Interfering with the agents is its own crime.
You may read the warrant. Rule 41 requires the agents to give you a copy of it and a receipt for what they take, and to prepare an inventory. Ask for all three. The affidavit that persuaded the judge usually stays under seal, so the warrant will not tell you why.
The search does not require you to answer questions. Say that you want your lawyer, call your lawyer, and let the agents work. Your lawyer may come to the house. Do not consent to anything beyond the warrant, such as a search of your car or your phone if the warrant does not name them.
The agents will take computers, phones, and paper. Write down what they take and who took it. You will get the inventory, but your own list is faster.
A search warrant does not mean the government has charged you. It means a judge found probable cause that evidence of a crime sits in that place. Many people whose homes the agents search never face a charge. Many others do, months later, with the search as the foundation.
When Federal Agents Search Your Office or Business
Agents at a business usually arrive with a warrant and in numbers. Ask for the agent in charge and for the warrant. Call the company’s lawyer before anything else. One person should deal with the agents, and everyone else should go back to their desks.
Employees have the same rights you do. They may speak to the agents, or decline, and the company may tell them so. The company may also tell them that it will provide a lawyer. What the company may not do is tell them not to talk, because that reads as obstruction.
Tell the agent in charge where the privileged files are, and say that the company does not consent to a search of them. The warrant may provide for a separate team to review them. If it does not, the objection on the record is what your lawyer will need later.
After the agents leave, preserve everything. Destroying or altering a record to impede a federal investigation carries up to twenty years under 18 U.S.C. § 1519. Routine deletion schedules should stop that day.
What to Do After Federal Agents Leave
Write down everything while you still remember it: who came, which agencies, what they asked, what they said about the case, and what they took. Give that note to your lawyer and nobody else.
Do not call co-workers, partners, or friends to compare notes. A conversation about the facts with another possible witness can become a tampering charge, and the agents may be at that person’s door the same morning.
Your lawyer’s first call is to the prosecutor, to learn whether you are a witness, a subject, or a target. The answer decides what comes next. A visit from agents usually comes late in an investigation, after the subpoenas and the bank records. The window to shape what happens next stays open for weeks, not months.
Jay V. Surgent, Esq., is the Co-Managing Partner of Weiner Law Group LLP and the Chairman of its Criminal Litigation Department. He has conducted numerous criminal, civil, and administrative hearings and trials to verdict, and he represents individuals under federal investigation or indictment. This article is general information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. His cell number is 973-580-8042.