Charged Under 18 U.S.C. 793 What Happens Next

A charge under 18 U.S.C. § 793 moves through the same federal stages as any other prosecution, but two of those stages behave differently. Discovery is governed by a protective order and reviewed inside a secure facility, and defense counsel must be processed for a security clearance before any of it can be read. Both facts change the shape of the calendar from the first week.

This page sets out the sequence in the order it usually arrives, so that a person facing the charge, or a family member trying to understand it, can see what is coming and what decisions belong at each point. It states no filing deadlines or time limits, because those are set by the court and by statute in each case. Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C. handles federal criminal defense matters. Call (888) 437-7747 to request a consultation.

On this page

Arrest or Summons, Initial Appearance, and Release

A case begins with an arrest or, more often in a document-driven matter, a summons to appear. At the initial appearance the court advises the defendant of the charge and addresses release. The government may seek detention, and where it does the court holds a hearing and decides on the statutory factors, including risk of flight and danger to the community.

National security allegations often draw a detention request, and conditions such as passport surrender, travel restriction, and limits on internet or device use are common where release is granted. Counsel should arrive at that hearing with a concrete release plan rather than responding to the government’s proposal. Employment and clearance consequences usually begin immediately and in parallel, and they are handled separately from the criminal case.

Arraignment, the Protective Order, and Clearances

At arraignment the defendant enters a plea and the court sets a schedule. Two things then have to happen before the defense can do substantive work. The court enters a protective order fixing how classified material is stored, reviewed, discussed, and filed. Separately, defense counsel and any investigator or retained witness who needs access are processed for a clearance at the level of the material.

Neither step is instant, and the case schedule and the clearance schedule rarely align without attention. Counsel should raise clearance processing at the first scheduling conference so the court can account for it. A defendant generally does not receive a clearance, so how counsel will communicate about material the client cannot read should be planned at this stage rather than improvised later.

Discovery, Motions, and the Litigation Over Disclosure

Unclassified discovery proceeds normally. Classified discovery proceeds through a separate track in which the government may ask the court, without the defense present, to withhold items, to substitute a summary, or to admit a fact instead of producing a document. The defense must give notice of classified information it reasonably expects to use at trial, and the court then rules on relevance, admissibility, and the adequacy of any substitute.

Ordinary motion practice runs alongside: challenges to searches of devices and premises, to statements taken in security or clearance interviews, and to the sufficiency of the indictment. Where the court orders disclosure the government may appeal before trial, which suspends the case while that appeal is decided. Expect a long horizon and use it for investigation and mitigation rather than treating it as dead time.

Resolution: Negotiation, Trial, and Sentencing

Most federal cases resolve by agreement, and these are no exception, but the timing is unusual. A defendant who cannot review the discovery may not be able to evaluate an offer as quickly as the government expects, and counsel can raise that squarely with the prosecutors and the court. Where the case goes to trial, presentation of classified exhibits is itself litigated in advance.

If there is a conviction or a plea, a probation officer prepares a presentence report, the parties object, and the court resolves the objections, calculates the advisory Guidelines range, and weighs the statutory sentencing factors. The classification level of the material and whether anything reached a foreign government are among the facts that most influence the calculation. No figures appear on this page, because none is verified for it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should a person do first after being charged?

Retain counsel and stop discussing the matter with anyone else, including colleagues, security staff, and family members who may become witnesses. Preserve documents and devices rather than tidying them, because deleting material after learning of an investigation can support an obstruction finding at sentencing regardless of what the underlying conduct was. Then let counsel open any contact with the government, so that nothing is said in an administrative setting that reappears as evidence.

Will the defendant be detained?

That is decided at a hearing on the statutory factors, principally risk of flight and danger. The government frequently seeks detention in national security matters, and release conditions, where granted, are usually restrictive. What helps is a specific, verifiable release plan: a residence, a third-party custodian, surrender of travel documents, and agreed limits on devices and contacts. Presenting that plan is far more effective than arguing against the government’s proposal in the abstract.

Can family members read the discovery?

No. Access to classified discovery is limited to people who have been processed for a clearance and who are covered by the protective order, which in practice means counsel, cleared staff, and cleared retained witnesses. A defendant generally does not receive a clearance either. Counsel can share only what the protective order permits, so families should expect a limited account of the evidence, and should not treat that limitation as a sign the case is being handled without them.

What happens to a security clearance and employment?

Those consequences run on their own track and usually move faster than the criminal case. A clearance may be suspended and an employment or contracting relationship may end well before any adjudication of the charge. Statements made in a clearance or personnel process can be used in the criminal matter, so counsel should be involved in both. Coordinating the two, rather than treating them as unrelated, avoids the most common self-inflicted problems.

Why does the case take so long?

Clearance processing, litigation over what the government must disclose, litigation over what the defense may use, and the possibility of a government appeal from a disclosure ruling all add time that an ordinary federal case does not carry. This page states no time limits, because they are set in each case. The practical response is to treat the interval as working time for investigation, classification review, expert consultation, and mitigation, all of which improve with it.

Is a resolution short of trial realistic?

Often, though the shape of it depends on the theory charged and on what the government can prove about intent and about where the material went. Because a defendant may be unable to review the underlying discovery, counsel has to translate the strength of the case into terms the client can act on. That conversation should begin as soon as counsel has reviewed the material, not on the eve of a deadline set by the government.

Working With Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C.

Understanding the sequence in a national defense information case is practically useful, because several of the decisions that matter most arrive before the defense has seen the evidence.

Mr. Sris, Owner and Founder of Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C., is a former prosecutor and is admitted in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and New York. The firm has been practicing since 1997. Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys handle criminal defense matters across those jurisdictions, which matters in federal practice because a single investigation frequently reaches conduct, witnesses, and records in more than one state. Mr. Sris brings a background in accounting and information systems from George Mason University, applied to complex financial and technology-related cases.

The firm serves Northern Virginia from 1655 Fort Myer Dr, Suite 700, Room 719, Arlington, VA 22209 and central Virginia from 7400 Beaufont Springs Drive, Suite 300, Room 395, Richmond, VA 23225. By appointment. Call (888) 437-7747 to schedule. Request a consultation. Reach our location at (888) 437-7747.

This page provides general information about what happens after a charge under 18 U.S.C. § 793 and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Case results depend on a variety of factors unique to each case. Results may vary.

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Being charged is one stage of the case. Our page on espionage act classified information charges sets out the offence from start to finish.