Arrest and the White-Collar Defendant

By the time a federal prosecutor decides to charge a defendant in a high-profile white-collar case, the defendant almost always knows that he or she is a target of the investigation. That is because complex fraud investigations typically stretch over a period of months or even years, and may be covered in the media. Often, prior to filing formal charges, the government either makes an effort to secure the defendant's cooperation, or to persuade him or her to plead guilty to a lesser charge. The point is that charges in these kinds of cases almost never come as a complete surprise to the defendant. Increasingly, however, what comes as a surprise is the decision of federal prosecutors in white-collar cases to obtain arrest warrants or insist on some other process that requires the defendant to spend time in a jail cell prior to an initial court appearance.