Practice Area
Federal Criminal Matters
A federal indictment is among the most serious events in a person’s life. The government has more resources, more time, and a conviction rate that exceeds ninety percent. The only meaningful equalizer is counsel who has been inside that system—who knows how cases are built, where they are vulnerable, and what it takes to win. That is what Khalil Kinchen brings.
Overview
The federal system is built to convict. We are built to defend.
Federal criminal prosecution is categorically different from state court. Federal investigators spend months or years building cases before charges are filed. Federal prosecutors carry lighter dockets, have access to vast investigative resources, and try cases in front of judges who have seen every defense argument before. Federal sentencing guidelines impose punishments that bear little resemblance to what most people expect.
That is the environment Khalil Kinchen was built for. Our founding attorneys spent their careers inside the federal system—one as a federal prosecutor who built cases for the government, one as a federal public defender who contested them. Together, they bring a depth of federal criminal experience that few boutique firms can match: the investigative instincts of the prosecution and the adversarial discipline of the defense, operating as a single team on your behalf.
We represent individuals charged with or under investigation for the full range of federal criminal offenses—from firearms charges to public corruption, federal fraud, and immigration offenses. We handle cases at every stage: grand jury investigation, indictment, pretrial motions, trial, sentencing, appeal, and post-conviction relief. Whatever the charge, whatever the stage, we are prepared to fight.
Federal Criminal Defense Practice Areas
Public corruption and bribery of federal officials
Federal conspiracy charges
Obstruction of justice and witness tampering
Perjury and false statements to federal agents
Money laundering and currency structuring
Immigration-hiring offenses
Racketeering and RICO
Compassionate release and First Step Act sentence reductions
Direct appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
Federal habeas corpus and post-conviction relief
How We Approach Federal Criminal Defense
Our Method
Early Intervention & Investigation Assessment
The earlier we engage, the more options exist. When a client comes to us before charges are filed—after contact by federal agents, receipt of a grand jury subpoena, or a target letter—we assess the government's likely theory, the strength of the evidence, and whether pre-indictment engagement with prosecutors can change the outcome. Some of our most consequential work happens before a single charge is filed.
Charging & Plea Negotiation
Federal charges can carry mandatory minimums, guideline ranges, and sentencing enhancements that transform the calculus of any decision to plead or fight. We analyze every charging instrument with precision—identifying overcharged counts, contested enhancements, and cooperation considerations that affect sentencing exposure. When a negotiated resolution is in the client's interest, we pursue it with the credibility of lawyers who are also prepared to try the case.
Sentencing Advocacy
Federal sentencing is not a formality. Guideline ranges, mandatory minimums, and judicial departures create a wide range of possible outcomes—and the quality of sentencing advocacy moves numbers. We have secured sentences dramatically below guideline ranges through rigorous mitigation work: developing client histories, securing expert testimony, challenging enhancement calculations, and presenting the complete human picture to the sentencing court. A conviction is not the end of the fight.
Trial Advocacy
When trial is the right path—or the only path—we are prepared. We have tried federal criminal cases to verdict in courts across the Fifth Circuit. We select juries with care, cross-examine government witnesses with precision, challenge forensic and expert testimony, and build the narrative that gives juries a reason to acquit. Federal trial work is a specialty. We treat it as one.
Pretrial Motion Practice
Federal prosecutions are won and lost before trial as often as during it. We file suppression motions to exclude unlawfully obtained evidence, challenge the sufficiency of indictments, contest improper venue, and move to dismiss charges that cannot survive legal scrutiny. Effective pretrial motion practice narrows the government's case, creates appellate issues, and sometimes ends prosecutions entirely.
Appeal & Post-Conviction Relief
A conviction in the district court is not the final word. We pursue direct appeals to the Fifth Circuit when trial court errors affect the verdict or sentence, file federal habeas corpus petitions raising constitutional claims, seek sentence reductions under the First Step Act, petition for compassionate release, and pursue presidential pardons in appropriate cases. We have secured relief for clients at every stage of post-conviction proceedings, including for those serving life sentences and those on death row.
Notable Client Outcomes
Track Record
Acquittal / Reduced Verdict
Election Fraud — Federal Jury Trial (14 Felony Counts)
Represented a businessman accused of federal election fraud in a two-month jury trial involving fourteen felony counts. Through sustained trial advocacy, all fourteen counts were ultimately reduced to a single misdemeanor—preserving the client's freedom and professional standing.
Dismissal
IFCO Immigration Case — VP of Human Resources
Defended the VP of Human Resources in a high-profile DOJ immigration-hiring prosecution. All felony charges against the client were dismissed on the eve of trial—a result that required sustained pretrial litigation and direct engagement with the prosecuting team in a case that attracted significant public attention. The case was resolved on a no-jail misdemeanor.
Dismissal
Las Vegas Sports Bettor
Obtained dismissal of all federal felony counts against a prominent Las Vegas sports bettor. The result required targeted pretrial litigation and direct engagement with federal prosecutors that exposed weaknesses in the government's charging theory before trial.
Dismissal
Money Laundering — Statute of Limitations
Won dismissal of federal money laundering charges involving transactions with Mexico based on a statute-of-limitations violation.
Presidential Pardon
Charlton Esekhigbe — 20-Year Sentence
Secured a presidential pardon for Charlton Esekhigbe, reducing a 20-year federal sentence to time served. The pardon required sustained advocacy through the clemency process—a form of post-conviction relief that most federal defense attorneys never pursue.
Compassionate Release
First Step Act — Life Sentence
Won compassionate release for a federal inmate serving a life sentence for drug trafficking, arguing that changes to mandatory minimum sentencing law under the First Step Act qualified as extraordinary and compelling circumstances. One of more than eight First Step Act compassionate releases secured since 2018.
Post-Conviction Litigation
Rob Will — Death Penalty Habeas
Uncovered hidden evidence in a Texas death-penalty case and secured Fifth Circuit authorization for a rare second habeas corpus petition raising prosecutorial misconduct claims.
Client Experience
What You Can Expect from Khalil Kinchen
Why Khalil Kinchen
Careers built inside the federal system. Deployed entirely in your defense.
The federal criminal system rewards prosecutors and punishes defendants who are not represented by counsel who understand it from the inside. Khalil Kinchen was founded by two attorneys who spent their careers at the center of that system—a former federal prosecutor who built cases for the government and a former federal public defender who dismantled them.
That background is not a credential. It is a competitive advantage that operates at every decision point in a federal criminal matter: how to respond to an initial agent contact, whether to engage with prosecutors before indictment, how to approach a cooperation decision, what mitigation to develop for sentencing, and which appellate issues to preserve for the court of appeals. We have made those decisions ourselves, on both sides. Our clients benefit from that accumulated judgment.
8+
First Step Act compassionate releases secured since 2018, including life sentence
5th Cir.
Appellate experience including Speedy Trial Act and habeas victories
Presidential Pardon
Secured executive clemency for a client serving a 20-year federal sentence
Sentencing as a Standalone Practice
Many clients come to us after conviction—retained by families who believe the sentencing exposure is not inevitable, or who lost confidence in prior counsel after a guilty verdict. We take sentencing engagements seriously as standalone matters. The period between conviction and sentencing is often the last best opportunity to shape the outcome, and we use it fully.
Extensive First Step Act Experience
The First Step Act fundamentally changed federal sentencing and created new avenues for sentence reduction that most defense attorneys have never used. We have. More than eight compassionate releases—including for a client serving a mandatory life sentence—reflect a sustained commitment to pursuing post-conviction relief others overlook.
Death Penalty & High-Stakes Post-Conviction
Post-conviction work in capital cases requires a different kind of commitment. The Rob Will case—in which we uncovered hidden prosecutorial evidence and secured Fifth Circuit authorization for a second habeas petition in a death-penalty matter—represents the outer boundary of what federal post-conviction advocacy can achieve. We bring that same commitment to every client who has exhausted conventional remedies and still has legal arguments that deserve to be heard.
News & Insights
From the firm.
Take The First Step
Federal charges move fast.
Your defense needs to move faster.
Federal investigations develop over months and years, but the window to shape their outcome narrows quickly once charges are filed. The earlier experienced federal defense counsel is retained, the more options exist—before indictment, before arraignment, before a plea deadline, and before sentencing.