Federal Criminal Defense in the District of Nevada

Federal felony charges ordinarily proceed by indictment unless indictment is waived. Release and detention are governed by 18 U.S.C. § 3142. The judicial officer considers the options and factors in the statute and may order detention after the required hearing and findings.

The Speedy Trial Act, including 18 U.S.C. § 3161, establishes charging and trial time limits with statutory exclusions. Those exclusions make calendar analysis more complex than simply counting 70 days. Motion practice and continuances can alter the calculation.

In controlled-substance cases, 21 U.S.C. § 841 defines prohibited acts and contains substance- and quantity-dependent penalty provisions. Section 846 provides that attempt or conspiracy carries the penalties prescribed for the object offense. The indictment, laboratory evidence, attribution theory, role allegations, and applicable penalty provision therefore require case-specific review.

A federal defendant may appear before a magistrate judge shortly after arrest. The government may request detention in the circumstances identified by § 3142. Because the hearing can occur quickly, information bearing on appearance, safety, proposed conditions, and the statutory factors must be organized early.

After indictment and arraignment, discovery and motion practice develop under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, constitutional disclosure duties, local rules, protective orders, and the judge’s scheduling order. Multi-defendant and electronic-evidence cases may involve extensive productions that must be organized into a usable trial record.

If the matter reaches sentencing, the advisory Sentencing Guidelines, statutory ranges, presentence report, objections, and 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors shape the hearing. Sentencing preparation is not postponed until the end of the case; factual and mitigation records develop throughout the representation.

Federal exposure may become visible through a target or subject letter, a grand-jury subpoena, contact from an agent, a search warrant, or charges against another person. Early counsel can identify the known posture, communicate with the government where appropriate, address preservation, and evaluate parallel state exposure.

The initial inquiry should identify the person, agency, district, subpoena or deadline, conflict-check names, and whether the person is a witness, subject, target, or defendant if that has been communicated. It should not attach documents or provide a detailed factual narrative before conflict review.

Federal defense requires integration: detention facts can affect later strategy; discovery organization informs motions; motions define the trial record; and factual findings can affect the Guidelines. The defense plan must account for those connections rather than treating every hearing as an isolated event.

Mr. McKenna is admitted to the United States District Court for the District of Nevada and the Ninth Circuit. An accepted federal matter is scoped around the investigation, discovery, expert, motion, trial, and sentencing work it actually requires.