The Law Offices of Jason Goldman is a New York City criminal defense firm built for people whose lives change the moment the government takes an interest in them. Part trial lawyer, part dealmaker, part fixer, Jason Goldman represents individuals who have been arrested, who have been contacted by police or federal agents, or who are already facing a pending case in state or federal court. He takes on a select number of matters at a time, and every client gets the attorney they hired, not a rotation of associates.

A former Brooklyn prosecutor, Mr. Goldman has built his practice on discretion, meticulous preparation, and a conviction that the courtroom is only one of the places where a case is won or lost. His philosophy is simple: control the narrative, control the outcome. Public perception, procedural posture, and every evidentiary fight are handled with the same goal in mind, which is protecting the client’s liberty, reputation, and future long after the case is over.

Mr. Goldman began his career trying the most serious felony offenses in Brooklyn and has since tried more than 40 cases to verdict. He is admitted in New York and New Jersey and in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, and he appears pro hac vice in courts around the country. Juries relate to him, and other lawyers regularly bring him in to try cases they expect to go to verdict.

Inside the courtroom, he is known for poise and toughness. Outside of it, he defends clients in the media when that serves them and keeps them out of the headlines when an investigation is still quiet. High-profile clients rely on him as a strategic advisor, both publicly during a crisis and privately behind the scenes, and when a case calls for it, he draws on a trusted network of public relations professionals, reform advocates, and political figures to reach results that once looked out of reach.

Mr. Goldman appears regularly on national news outlets on self-defense, subway crime, sex offense prosecutions, and federal sentencing. PARK Magazine profiled him as “The Lifeline of Criminal Defense,” and he has appeared on Fox 5 New York, PIX11, NBC New York, WABC Radio, and the Not Another True Crime podcast.

Arrested, Under Investigation, or Facing a Pending Case

Most clients reach Mr. Goldman at one of three moments, and each one calls for a different response.

You Have Been Arrested

After an arrest in New York City, a person is usually brought before a judge for arraignment within about a day. Release conditions, orders of protection, and the first plea offer are all decided there, often before anyone has looked closely at the evidence. Having experienced counsel at that first appearance can decide whether someone goes home that night.

Police or Federal Agents Have Contacted You

A call from a detective asking for “your side of the story,” a visit from FBI agents, a target letter, or a grand jury subpoena means a case is already being built. This is the stage where charges can sometimes be prevented altogether, and where a single unguarded conversation can do lasting damage. Mr. Goldman steps in to handle communication with investigators and protect the client during any criminal investigation, before or after an arrest.

You Already Have a Pending Case

Many clients come to the firm with a case already underway, sometimes with a court-appointed lawyer and sometimes after losing confidence in their current counsel. A pending case still has room to move. Suppression hearings, discovery demands, speedy trial motions, and trial preparation can change the outcome, and private counsel can step in at almost any stage.

Federal Criminal Defense in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York

Federal cases are not simply state cases with higher stakes. They run on a separate system with different rules, different timelines, and a conviction rate that reflects how long agents and prosecutors spend preparing. By the time an indictment is unsealed in the Southern or Eastern District of New York, the government has often spent a year or more building its record. The defense that matters most, the kind that can change the result at trial, often begins well before that point.

Mr. Goldman represents clients at every stage of a federal case: pre-indictment investigations, proffer sessions, arraignment and detention hearings, motion practice, trial, sentencing, and appeal. He appears at the federal courthouses on Pearl Street in Manhattan, at Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn, and in White Plains and Central Islip, as well as in federal courts across the country.

Federal Wire Fraud and Financial Crimes

Wire fraud is the government’s most flexible charging tool. Almost any transaction that crosses state lines by phone, email, or bank transfer can support a count under 18 U.S.C. 1343, and prosecutors routinely stack it with conspiracy under 1349 and money laundering counts that multiply the sentencing exposure. These cases usually turn on two questions: whether the government can prove an intent to defraud rather than a business decision that went badly, and how loss is calculated if it can. Loss drives the guidelines range more than almost any other factor, and the gap between the government’s figure and a defensible one is measured in years. Mr. Goldman’s federal wire fraud defense is built around both.

He also defends bank fraud, securities fraud, healthcare fraud, mortgage and real estate fraud, cryptocurrency and digital asset fraud, business email compromise, PPP and pandemic relief fraud, tax fraud, computer intrusion and extortion, and honest services fraud.

Federal Conspiracy and Drug Conspiracy

A federal conspiracy charge does not require that the plan succeeded, that drugs were ever seized, or that the client met most of the people named in the indictment. Under 21 U.S.C. 846, an agreement is enough, and drug quantity attributed as relevant conduct can push a sentence far beyond what the client’s own conduct would suggest. Mr. Goldman’s drug conspiracy defense focuses on wiretap suppression, the reliability of cooperating witnesses, the buyer-seller distinction, withdrawal, and whether the government has proven one conspiracy or several.

RICO, Enterprise Cases, and Multi-Defendant Indictments

Racketeering and enterprise prosecutions sweep in defendants whose alleged roles vary enormously, then try them together. Severance, conflict issues, and the fight over predicate acts are decided early, and those early rulings shape everything that follows.

Grand Jury Subpoenas, Target Letters, and Federal Investigations

A grand jury subpoena or a target letter is not a charge. It is an opening, and it closes quickly. Whether someone is treated as a witness, a subject, or a target changes the entire strategy, and that label is not always what the government first says it is. Mr. Goldman represents individuals and companies responding to subpoenas for testimony and documents, negotiates immunity and proffer agreements, moves to quash, and makes declination presentations before charges are filed. He handles investigations by the FBI, DOJ, DEA, IRS Criminal Investigation, HSI, the SEC and FINRA, the New York Attorney General, and the District Attorneys’ offices in all five boroughs.

Federal Sentencing, Guidelines, and Appeals

Most federal cases end in a plea, which means sentencing is often the real contest. The guidelines calculation, the presentence report, role adjustments, acceptance of responsibility, safety valve eligibility, prior felony enhancements, and the 3553(a) argument are where outcomes are decided. Mr. Goldman prepares federal sentencing mitigation as thoroughly as he prepares for trial and has repeatedly secured below-guidelines sentences in federal fraud and narcotics cases. He also handles direct appeals to the Second Circuit, 2255 motions, Rule 35 and compassionate release motions, Amendment 821 reductions, and pardon and commutation petitions.

New York State Felony Defense

Homicide, Murder, and Manslaughter

Having prosecuted violent felonies himself, Mr. Goldman knows that homicide cases go to trial more often than any other kind of case. They are built on forensic evidence, eyewitness identification, cell site data, and statements taken in the hours after an arrest, and each of those can be challenged. He defends first and second degree murder, felony murder, depraved indifference murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, and vehicular manslaughter, along with the justification and extreme emotional disturbance defenses that can reshape a case. In one of New York’s most closely watched self-defense cases of the past decade, his homicide defense work ended with no indictment at all.

Rape, Sexual Assault, and Sex Offenses

A sex offense allegation carries consequences that outlast the case itself: SORA registration, lost careers and licenses, immigration exposure, and a presumption of guilt that attaches the moment a charge becomes public. Many of these cases rest on a single account with no physical evidence to support it, so credibility, the timeline, digital communications, and forensic findings become the entire battleground, especially when an allegation surfaces years after the events it describes. Mr. Goldman’s sexual assault defense practice covers rape, criminal sexual act, sexual abuse, predatory sexual assault, and forcible touching, along with SORA risk level hearings and Title IX and school disciplinary proceedings.

Domestic Violence, Assault, and Orders of Protection

Domestic violence arrests in New York move fast and are hard to undo. An order of protection issued at arraignment can remove someone from their home and separate them from their children before any evidence has been tested, and a criminal contempt charge for violating it can be more serious than the original allegation. Mr. Goldman’s domestic violence defense covers first, second, and third degree assault, gang assault, strangulation, menacing, criminal contempt, stalking, and coercion.

Noteworthy Results

Mr. Goldman’s work has been covered by the Associated Press, CNN, NBC New York, the New York Post, New York Magazine, Business Insider, Gothamist, and the Chicago Sun-Times.

• Manslaughter and weapons charges dismissed in the J train subway self-defense stabbing. The grand jury declined to indict, and the client walked free weeks after his arrest.
• Murder charges dismissed, with the client now pursuing a $25 million wrongful conviction claim against the City of New York.
• Appeal won and judgment reversed for a New York business owner wrongfully convicted of rape.
• Below-guidelines sentence for a client charged in a multi-million dollar federal wire fraud scheme.
• Below-guidelines, minimum sentence for a former NFL player facing federal drug charges.
• Below-guidelines sentence for a client arrested on international federal drug trafficking charges.
• Bail granted over the government’s objection for an Olympic figure skater charged with multi-million dollar fraud.
• Dismissal for a recording artist charged with attempted murder.
• Misdemeanor, non-jail resolution for a client charged in a Staten Island attempted murder case.
• Misdemeanor, non-jail resolution for a client charged with felony armed assault.
• Community service resolution for a client charged in a Madison Square Garden assault.
• Sentence below the maximum for Rashaun Weaver, over the government’s request.
• Defense of a physician on manslaughter charges connected to his wife’s death.
• Defense of an actor charged with sexual abuse, criminal sexual act, assault, and strangulation in Brooklyn.
• Defense of a client charged with defrauding professional sports leagues in a multi-million dollar computer crimes and extortion scheme.
• Representation of a former NHL player on charges arising from a New York City road-rage incident.
• Counsel to the Bodega and Small Business Association in connection with the Jose Alba investigation.

Representation for Survivors of Sexual Assault

Drawing on his years prosecuting sex crimes, Mr. Goldman also represents survivors, in a practice kept entirely separate from his defense work. New York City reopened its Gender Motivated Violence Act lookback window in 2026 for a limited 18-month period. That allows survivors to bring claims that had expired, including claims against institutions and claims dismissed under the earlier window. He also handles Adult Survivors Act and Child Victims Act matters and represents victims during criminal prosecutions.

Credentials and Recognition

• Former Brooklyn prosecutor; more than 40 cases tried to verdict
• New York Super Lawyers Rising Star
• Admitted in New York and New Jersey, and in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York; pro hac vice admission throughout the country
• J.D., Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law; B.A., University of Georgia
• New York City Bar Association, Criminal Courts Committee
• National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
• New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
• New York Criminal Bar Association and Kings County Criminal Bar Association

Where Mr. Goldman Practices

Mr. Goldman practices in state courts in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island, and in Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Dutchess, and Putnam counties. In federal court, he represents clients throughout the Southern, Eastern, Northern, and Western Districts of New York, including the courthouses in Albany, Syracuse, Buffalo, and Rochester, and before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. He also appears pro hac vice nationwide.

Frequently Asked Questions

I was just arrested in New York City. What should I do first?

Say nothing about the case to police, cellmates, or anyone on a jail phone, all of which can be recorded and used later. Ask for a lawyer and have a family member call the firm right away. Arraignment usually happens within about a day of an arrest, and having private counsel there can affect bail, release conditions, and any order of protection.

A detective or federal agent wants to talk to me. Do I have to speak with them?

No. Unless you are under arrest, you are generally not required to go to a precinct or answer an investigator’s questions. Detectives are allowed to mislead people about the evidence they have, and lying to a federal agent is a separate federal crime even if no other charge is ever filed. The safest response is to take the investigator’s contact information, say your lawyer will be in touch, and let counsel handle every conversation from there.

I received a target letter or grand jury subpoena. Does that mean I will be charged?

Not necessarily. A target letter means prosecutors see you as a likely defendant, but the period before an indictment is often the best chance to change that outcome through a declination presentation, a negotiated resolution, or a decision about whether to testify at all. A subpoena recipient may be a witness, a subject, or a target, and identifying which one early shapes every decision that follows.

I already have a lawyer on my case. Can I switch to Mr. Goldman?

Yes. Clients with pending cases, including those with Legal Aid or court-appointed counsel, can retain private counsel at almost any stage before trial and sometimes during it. Mr. Goldman will review where the case stands and what can still be done before taking it over.

Does Mr. Goldman handle both state and federal cases?

Yes. He defends state felony and misdemeanor cases throughout New York City and the surrounding counties, and federal cases in all four federal districts in New York, along with appeals to the Second Circuit.

Are consultations confidential?

Yes. Every consultation is private and protected by attorney-client privilege, whether or not you go on to retain the firm.

Speak With Mr. Goldman

The Law Offices of Jason Goldman, 275 Madison Avenue, 35th Floor, New York, NY 10016. Call 212-466-6617. If you have been arrested, received a target letter or grand jury subpoena, or gotten a call from an agent or police officer, the most valuable window in your case is open right now, and it is short. If you already have a pending case and want a second set of eyes on it, the sooner you call, the more options remain. Consultations are always confidential.