15 Questions Your Wire Fraud Attorney Should Be Able to Answer

You're facing a federal wire fraud charge. You're paying your attorney more than you've ever paid anyone for anything. And every time you ask a question, you get some version of "it's complicated" or "we're working on it."

No. Stop accepting that.

Wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1343 carries up to 20 years in federal prison per count. If a financial institution is involved, that jumps to 30 years per count. This isn't a speeding ticket. This is the kind of charge that ends careers, destroys families, and puts people in federal prison for decades.

Your attorney should be able to answer every single one of these questions without hesitation. If they can't, you need to know that now — not the week before trial.

Intent Questions

1. "What specific evidence does the government have that I intended to defraud anyone?"

This is the heart of every wire fraud case. The government doesn't just have to prove that money moved or that a wire was used. They have to prove you specifically intended to deceive someone and take their money or property through that deception.

Intent is the element most wire fraud cases live and die on. Business deals go sideways all the time. Projections don't pan out. Promises get broken. None of that is automatically fraud. The government has to prove you knew what you were saying was false at the time you said it — and that you said it specifically to cheat someone.

If your attorney can't tell you exactly what evidence the government is pointing to for intent, they haven't done the foundational work on your case.

2. "Is the government relying on circumstantial evidence for intent, and how do we challenge it?"

Federal prosecutors almost never have a defendant on video saying "I'm committing fraud now." They build intent through circumstances: emails, financial records, timing of transactions, statements to investors or partners.

Circumstantial evidence can be powerful, but it can also be reframed. An email that says "we need to close this deal before the numbers come in" could mean fraud — or it could mean urgency driven by legitimate business pressure. Context matters, and your attorney should be building that context aggressively.

3. "Can we argue good faith belief — that I genuinely believed what I was telling people?"

Good faith is one of the most effective defenses in wire fraud cases. If you genuinely believed your representations were true — even if they turned out to be wrong — that negates the intent element. Period.

This isn't about whether your beliefs were reasonable. It's about whether they were sincerely held. Your attorney should be gathering every piece of evidence that shows what you actually believed at the time: internal communications, business plans, actions you took that are inconsistent with someone running a scam.

Evidence and Discovery Questions

4. "Have you reviewed all the discovery the government has produced, and what's the most damaging piece?"

Federal wire fraud cases generate massive discovery — thousands of emails, financial records, recorded calls, witness interviews, bank statements, tax returns. Some attorneys drown in it. Some skim it. Neither is acceptable.

Your attorney needs to have read it all, identified the strongest evidence against you, and have a plan for dealing with it. Our guide on how to read your discovery covers what to look for. If they can't name the single most damaging piece of evidence in your case, they don't know your case well enough.

5. "Are there any Brady materials we should be demanding?"

Under Brady v. Maryland, the government is required to turn over any evidence that's favorable to you. Exculpatory evidence. Impeachment evidence. Anything that undermines their witnesses or their theory.

In practice, the government doesn't always hand this over voluntarily. Your attorney should be making specific Brady requests — not generic ones. The more specific the request, the harder it is for the prosecution to claim they didn't know you wanted it.

6. "What's the government's theory of the 'scheme to defraud,' and where are the holes in it?"

Wire fraud requires a "scheme to defraud." That's not just a bad business decision. It's a deliberate plan to deceive. The government has to lay out what that scheme was — start to finish — and connect you to it.

Every scheme theory has weaknesses. Maybe the timeline doesn't add up. Maybe key participants contradict each other. Maybe the alleged victims continued to invest after supposedly being defrauded — which makes the "deception" narrative harder to sell. Your attorney should know exactly where the government's theory is weakest.

Witness Questions

7. "Who are the government's key witnesses, and what's their credibility situation?"

Federal prosecutors love cooperating witnesses — people who were allegedly part of the scheme and flipped for a deal. Here's the thing about cooperating witnesses: they have every incentive to tell the government what it wants to hear, because their freedom depends on being useful.

Your attorney should know who every cooperating witness is, what deal they got, what inconsistencies exist in their statements, and how to cross-examine them. A cooperator with a credibility problem can sink the government's case — but only if your attorney knows how to exploit it.

8. "Are there witnesses who can support our version of events, and have you talked to them?"

The government doesn't interview your favorable witnesses. That's your attorney's job. Business partners who knew your intentions. Employees who can speak to your good faith. Industry experts who can explain that your conduct was standard practice.

If your attorney hasn't identified and contacted defense witnesses, ask why. Waiting until trial to find them is too late.

Plea vs. Trial Questions

9. "What's the realistic sentencing exposure if I go to trial and lose?"

Not the statutory maximum. The realistic exposure based on the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, your criminal history, the loss amount the government is alleging, and the tendencies of your specific judge.

Wire fraud sentencing is driven by loss amount. The higher the alleged loss, the higher the guideline range. Your attorney should have a preliminary guideline calculation done — and should be prepared to challenge every dollar of the government's loss figure.

10. "What would a plea deal actually look like, and what would I have to admit to?"

A guilty plea in a federal wire fraud case isn't just saying "guilty." Before you accept any deal, understand how to evaluate a plea. You have to allocute — stand before the judge and describe, in your own words, what you did and why it was illegal. You have to agree to a factual basis. You may have to waive your right to appeal.

Know exactly what you'd be agreeing to before you decide anything. Some plea deals require you to admit to conduct you didn't commit. Some include cooperation requirements. Some have restitution obligations that will follow you for the rest of your life.

11. "If we go to trial, what's the defense strategy — specifically?"

"We'll challenge the evidence" is not a strategy. Your attorney should be able to walk you through the actual trial plan: What's the theory? Which government witnesses are most vulnerable on cross? What defense witnesses are we calling? What exhibits are we presenting? What's the opening statement going to argue?

Federal wire fraud trials are won or lost in preparation. If your attorney doesn't have a detailed plan, the jury will feel it.

Sentencing Questions

12. "What is the government's alleged loss amount, and are we challenging it?"

In federal sentencing, the loss amount is often the single biggest factor driving your guideline range. A $250,000 loss adds 12 levels to your base offense level. A $9.5 million loss adds 22 levels. The difference between those numbers is the difference between a year in prison and a decade.

The government's loss calculation is not gospel. It's an argument. Intended loss vs. actual loss. Gross loss vs. net loss. Loss attributable to you vs. loss attributable to others. Your attorney should be fighting every dollar — because every dollar moves the needle on your sentence.

13. "Are there any sentencing departures or variances we should be pursuing?"

The Federal Sentencing Guidelines are advisory, not mandatory. Judges can depart downward for extraordinary circumstances: aberrant behavior, diminished capacity, substantial assistance, charitable works, military service, health conditions.

Your attorney should be building a sentencing mitigation case from day one — not waiting until after conviction. Character letters, employment history, community involvement, mental health evaluations. This isn't fluff. This is what moves judges.

14. "What restitution am I potentially looking at, and can we negotiate it?"

Wire fraud convictions almost always include restitution — you have to pay back what the victims lost. In some cases, this is millions of dollars. The restitution order survives bankruptcy. It follows you until it's paid.

Your attorney should be analyzing the restitution exposure and identifying arguments to reduce it. Was the alleged loss inflated? Were some "victims" actually sophisticated investors who assumed the risk? Did insurance cover some of the losses? Every dollar knocked off restitution is a dollar you keep.

15. "What happens to my professional licenses, career, and civil exposure after a conviction?"

A wire fraud conviction doesn't just mean prison. It means you may lose professional licenses — securities, law, medical, accounting, real estate. It means a federal felony on your record forever. It means potential civil suits from alleged victims. It means possible SEC or regulatory proceedings on top of the criminal case.

Your attorney should be coordinating your criminal defense with the collateral consequences. Sometimes a plea to a lesser charge — even if it still involves prison time — can save a professional license. Sometimes fighting the wire fraud charge and pleading to a non-fraud offense changes everything downstream. But you can't make that calculation if your attorney hasn't mapped out the full picture.

How to Use These Questions

Print this list. Email it to your attorney. Say: "I'd like to schedule a case review to discuss these items. Please come prepared."

If they push back, if they tell you it's "too early" or "you don't need to worry about that yet" — that tells you something. If you're under federal investigation, understanding the full process is critical. And if cooperation is on the table, read our guide on federal cooperation agreements. A good white collar defense attorney will welcome these questions because they've already been thinking about them. A lazy one will resent you for asking.

Your attorney works for you. Your money. Your freedom. Your future. You have every right to know the answers.

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Need help understanding the evidence in your case and building the right questions for your attorney? Our Case Decoder analyzes your charges, identifies what the prosecution must prove, and generates the specific questions your attorney needs to answer. No legal advice. Just the information and leverage you need.

This is legal information, not legal advice. We are not attorneys and do not provide legal representation.