Ask for the Credentials of the Individual Who’s Serving the Warrant
Video Transcribed: What happens after an FBI raid? My name’s Ted Hasse. I’m a Federal Criminal Defense Attorney in Oklahoma at Wirth Law Office. I handle federal criminal matters out of our Tulsa office. If you’re watching this video right now and you’re concerned about a raid by federal agents, FBI, ATF, it’s probably already gone down.
You’ve probably already gone through it. I do want to briefly touch on what you want to do if the feds come knocking on your door and are not knocking down the door, particularly because we’re seeing a lot of cases where there was already a raid by state officials, county sheriff’s office, local police department, then it gets kicked to federal.
A lot of times, the federal agents decide there’s a bunch of stuff they want to look for depending on the alleged offense, but they’ll frequently serve another warrant. So a lot of times, we’re finding clients already had a raid conducted on their home or a search warrant executed at their home or business and then all of a sudden, they get the knock on the door and it’s happening again.
What you want to do is, of course, it’s smart to act polite, ask for the credentials of the individual who’s serving the warrant, ask to review the warrant. Essentially always, they have their paperwork in order, but you want to make sure that the people who are showing up at your door are actually who they say they are. Recommend you cooperate, and then immediately call an attorney as quickly as you can.
The most important thing though, and this is the reason that I want to get into how you handle a search warrant, is that essentially always with these federal agents of any type, FBI, ATF, they’re looking to make a case against you or anybody at that address, and they’re going to want to talk to you, and you don’t have to talk to them.
It’s so important, just because they show up with a search warrant, doesn’t give them the right to interrogate you. And if there’s anyone thing that I could get across to people who are facing a federal investigation, is do not talk to them without a lawyer present. It’s so essential, and it can seem like almost nobody follows this advice. It’s common sense. It’s well-known just through pop culture, watching cop shows that you have a right to remain silent, but it is amazing how infrequently people exercise that right.
Now, once it’s happened, once the warrant’s been served and executed and your business or your home’s been searched, it’s time to pick up the phone and call a lawyer because you’re the target of an investigation.
The most important thing you can do is to invoke your right to remain silent. You can do so politely, but just don’t talk to these people. It is not going to help you, and people over and over again make the mistake to think it’s going to help them. To cooperate with a legal search warrant, get in contact with your lawyer, and most importantly, don’t talk without a lawyer present.
Please feel free to give us a call if you need a Federal Criminal Defense Attorney, or If you any have questions, call (918) 932-2800.
