International Clients
Facing US Federal Charges From Outside the United States
You are being pulled into a legal system you have never dealt with, in a country you may not live in, and the people advising you cannot follow you into it. Sam Mangel served a sentence in the American federal system. He now prepares people for it.
US federal cases only. Not the British, Australian, Canadian, Israeli, Indian or Singaporean system. Not a law firm. Sam works alongside your own counsel and does not replace them.
Sam answers his own phone. Say which time zone you are in and he will call back inside your working hours.
Your Own Counsel Cannot Follow You Into the US Federal System
A solicitor in London, a barrister in Sydney, an advocate in Tel Aviv: their authority ends at the point the American system takes over. They will tell you so themselves. What happens after that is a different system with its own sentencing rules, its own prison bureau, its own programmes and its own culture, and almost nobody outside the United States has seen it from the inside. That is the gap Sam fills, working with your counsel rather than in place of them.
What Is Different for a Foreign National in US Federal Prison
A foreign defendant does not have the same case as a domestic one with an accent. Six things change, and most of them are decided long before anyone reaches a prison.
Extradition, and the months before it
Contesting extradition and preparing for the American system are separate jobs on separate clocks. The second one is usually left until the first is lost. By then the useful window has closed.
There is often no bail
A defendant with no US address, no US ties and a foreign passport is the profile American courts treat as a flight risk. Many foreign nationals are detained pre-trial when a comparable US defendant would not be.
Designation far from anyone you know
The Bureau of Prisons designates on its own criteria. Someone with no US address has no home district to be placed near, and that changes which arguments are worth making and when.
Visitation across an ocean
Visiting lists, approval timelines, travel authorisation for non-citizens and the practical cost of a family flying in. This gets planned before surrender or it does not happen.
Calls, mail and the time-zone problem
Phone minutes are finite and monitored, and the hours they are available may be the middle of the night where your family lives. There are ways to structure around it.
What happens at the end
Removal proceedings after sentence, and whether a treaty transfer to serve time in your home country is realistically available. It is far rarer than most people are told.
Sam Mangel Is Instructed by Law Firms Outside the US
A good deal of Sam's international work comes from firms outside the United States whose client is facing American charges. They handle the case. Sam handles the part of it that happens in a system they do not practise in.
If you are advising someone in that position, there is a page written for you.
For Law FirmsWhere Sam Mangel Works
The case is always a United States federal case. The client can be anywhere.
- United Kingdom
- Ireland
- Australia
- Canada
- Israel
- India
- Singapore
- Europe
US Federal Charges From Abroad: Common Questions
Can a British, Australian or other foreign citizen be extradited to the United States?
Yes. The United States has extradition treaties with the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Israel, India, Singapore and most of Europe. The process runs through your own country’s courts first, which is your local counsel’s work, and it can take many months. The American side of what follows is what Sam prepares you for.
How long does an extradition request take?
It varies enormously. Contested cases routinely run more than a year through local courts and appeals. That interval is the most useful preparation window a foreign defendant ever gets, and it is usually spent entirely on the extradition fight.
What is the difference between jail and prison in the United States?
Jail is short-term, usually county-run, and is where many defendants are held pre-trial. Prison is where a sentence is served. Federal prison is a separate system again, the Bureau of Prisons, with its own facilities, security levels, and programmes. Sam works only in that federal system.
Do people in American federal prison serve the full sentence?
No. Federal sentences are reduced by good conduct time, and the First Step Act added earned time credits for eligible people who complete qualifying programming. Eligibility rules are specific, and some categories of offence and some non-citizens are excluded. It is worth knowing where you stand before you are sentenced, not after.
Can I serve a US federal sentence in my home country?
Sometimes. International prisoner transfer treaties exist and the US Department of Justice runs a formal programme. In practice approvals are limited and slow, and both governments must agree. Treat it as a possibility to be assessed rather than a plan to rely on.
Will I be deported after serving a US federal sentence?
Non-citizens sentenced in US federal court are commonly placed in removal proceedings at the end of the custodial term. How that interacts with release timing, halfway-house eligibility and earned time credits is a detail that catches many people by surprise.
Does Sam work with clients who are not in the United States?
Yes. Sam works with clients located outside the United States and travels when a case calls for it. The engagement is set on a per-case basis.
Is Sam a lawyer?
No. Sam Mangel is not a law firm and does not practise law in the United States or anywhere else. He does not give legal advice and does not replace your own counsel. He is a consultant who served a federal sentence himself and now prepares people for that system. Keep your own counsel; Sam works alongside them.
How Sam Mangel Works, and What He Is Not
Not a law firm
Sam Mangel is a consultant. He is not a lawyer, is not admitted to practise in the United States or in any other country, and is not regulated by any legal services regulator. He does not give legal advice and does not represent anyone in any proceeding. Engaging Sam is not the same as engaging a regulated legal professional, and does not carry the protections that come with one.
What he actually brings
Sam served his own sentence in the federal system at FCI Miami and has since guided hundreds of federal clients through sentencing, surrender, incarceration and release. He is a regular contributor on federal sentencing for CNN and NPR. The experience is first-hand and specific to the United States federal system.
Keep your own counsel
Sam works alongside your existing lawyers at home and your counsel in the United States. He does not replace either, and will say so directly if what you need is a lawyer rather than a consultant.
Fees and complaints
Engagements are quoted on a per-case basis and agreed in writing before any work begins. Consultations are paid. If something goes wrong, raise it with Sam directly at [email protected] or on +1 561 490 4544, and it will be dealt with personally.
Nothing on this page is a prediction or a promise about the outcome of any case. No consultant controls what a court decides or where the Bureau of Prisons sends anyone. What preparation changes is how well you understand what is coming and how ready you are for it.
Talk to Sam Mangel Before You Have To
The most useful conversations happen early, while there is still time for preparation to change anything. Tell Sam where you are and what stage the case is at.
US federal cases only · Not a law firm · Paid consultation