What's the difference between a state and a federal criminal charge?
State charges are prosecuted by a county district attorney’s office under California law and heard in state court. Federal charges are prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office under federal law, investigated by federal agencies (FBI, DEA, ATF, and others), and heard in U.S. District Court. Federal cases generally involve more extensive pre-charge investigation, follow the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and in some categories of offense (including firearms and certain fraud and child exploitation charges) can carry mandatory minimum sentences that don’t exist at the state level for comparable conduct.
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