Federal Criminal Defense

Craig Wilke has been providing legal counsel in federal criminal cases since 1990. He uses creative strategy, aggressive litigation and principled negotiation to get results for his clients.

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Craig Wilke
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Craig Wilke

Services

Craig Wilke represents people and companies in federal criminal cases and grand jury investigations involving allegations of 

  • Mail Fraud and Wire Fraud
  • Bank Fraud and Mortgage Fraud
  • Health Care Fraud and Medicare Fraud
  • Securities Fraud and Insider Trading
  • Honest Services Fraud and Bribery
  • Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion
  • Customs Fraud and Smuggling
  • Theft of Government Property
  • Money Laundering and Structuring Financial Transactions
  • Identity Theft and Unauthorized Access Devices
  • Counterfeiting
  • Computer Crimes
  • Drug Trafficking
  • Firearms and Destructive Devices
  • Deprivation of Civil Rights
  • Immigration Crimes and Alien Smuggling
  • Racketeering (RICO) and Violent Crimes

Experience

Craig Wilke has more than thirty years of experience representing people and companies in federal court. He has tried forty-one criminal cases in the United States District Court for the Central District of California and argued twelve cases before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, has been named as a "Super Lawyer" each of the past twelve years, and has a "Superb 10" rating from Avvo.

Mr. Wilke has been in private practice since 2008 concentrating on federal white collar criminal defense. From 2000 to 2008, he was the Directing Attorney of the Orange County Office of the Federal Public Defender; and he was an Assistant Federal Public Defender in Los Angeles and Orange County from 1993 to 2000. He began his legal career at a prominent white collar criminal defense firm in Los Angeles and a judicial clerk at the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

Mr. Wilke graduated with honors in 1990 from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles where he was ranked in the top two percent of his class, inducted into the Order of the Coif, served as a law review editor, received the American Jurisprudence Award for legal writing, and received a merit scholarship. He is a 1984 graduate of California State University Fullerton where he received his bachelor of arts in political science and economics.

Mr. Wilke has taught at the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) Trial Skills Program and regularly speaks at MCLE and bar association programs. He is licensed to practice law in the State of California. He is admitted to the United States Supreme Court; the United States Courts of Appeals for the Ninth and Tenth Circuits; and the United States District Courts for the Central District of California, the Southern District of California, and the Eastern District of Michigan.

Results

Craig Wilke has a long record of results for his clients that includes:

  • No charges filed against target of federal grand jury investigating money laundering (confidential)
  • No charges filed against target of federal grand jury investigating wire fraud (confidential)
  • No charges filed against target of federal grand jury investigating health care fraud (confidential)
  • No charges filed against target of federal grand jury investigating public corruption (confidential)
  • Dismissal of conspiracy and wire fraud charges after mistrial due to government misconduct (USA v. MO)
  • Dismissal of securities fraud and insider trading charges after completion of pretrial diversion (USA v. FSJ)
  • Dismissal of wire fraud charge on defense motion to dismiss for failure to state offense (USA v. VK)
  • Dismissal of unlawful wire interception charges on defense motion to dismiss for failure to state offense (USA v. LR)
  • Dismissal of threatening federal agent charge on defense motion to dismiss for failure to state offense (USA v. TB)
  • Dismissal of firearms charge following suppression of evidence due to Fourth Amendment violation (USA v. SH)
  • Dismissal of destructive device charge following suppression of evidence due to Miranda violation (USA v. DW)
  • Dismissal of tax evasion charges after filing motion to dismiss for grand jury misconduct (USA v. BS)
  • Dismissal of murder charge on eve of trial following disclosure of defense expert summary (USA v. CP)
  • Not guilty verdict on honest services fraud and money laundering charges (USA v. RN)
  • Not guilty verdict on money laundering charges (USA v. JL)
  • Not guilty verdict on deprivation of civil rights and obstruction of justice charges (USA v. JS)
  • Not guilty verdict on racketeering and murder charges based on defense of others (USA v. FR)
  • Not guilty verdict on racketeering and assault charges based on alibi defense (USA v. AR)
  • Not guilty verdict on drug trafficking and firearms charges (USA v. IRM)
  • Not guilty verdict on drug trafficking charges (USA v. DLG)
  • Not guilty verdict on drug trafficking charge based on entrapment defense (USA v. DMR)
  • Not guilty verdict on murder and firearm charges (USA v. AW)
  • Not guilty verdict on firearms charges based on entrapment defense (USA v. JL)
  • Not guilty verdict on threatening federal agent charge based on insanity defense (USA v. MP)
  • Home detention for $12 million wire fraud conviction (USA v. MM)
  • Home detention for $4.8 million health care fraud conviction (USA v. JO)
  • Reversal of conspiracy and wire fraud convictions due to Brady violation (USA v. MO)
  • Reversal of drug trafficking and firearm convictions due to prosecutorial misconduct (USA v. IRM)
  • Reversal of conspiracy and firearms convictions due to evidentiary error (USA v. MB)
  • Habeas corpus relief due to ineffective assistance of trial counsel for state prisoner serving life sentence (WL v. RC)
  • Dismissal of foreign extradition warrant (In re RCB)