The former founder and CEO of a biotechnology company who was indicted and convicted of federal criminal charges has written a 640-page guidebook to help others who face federal criminal charges. The book, The Federal Criminal Defendant’s Guide, is billed as “a blueprint to guide you throughout the entire process from indictment to probable incarceration.” It includes instructions for defendants “on how to calculate and reduce their sentences and obtain the best possible facilities.”

The book’s Web site provides little information about the author, T.C. Moses. I could find nothing about him on Google. The preface says this about him:

T.C. Moses is a former Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of a publicly-traded biotechnology company. After earning his degree in engineering and spending ten years in the biotechnology industry, he built his own company in the early 1990s. Later — after his own unsuccessful fight for justice — he set out to help others who, one day, may find themselves facing federal indictment. Currently he is writing “Behind the Fence: An insider’s perspective,” an insider’s take on how to survive pre- and post incarceration.

A clear theme of the book is that it is the foolish defendant who leaves the defense entirely to the lawyers. In the book’s introduction, the author says that he interviewed hundreds of current and former federal inmates.

Most of those interviewed acknowledged that the worst decision they had made was in “just letting the lawyers handle it.” The overwhelming majority said they would have received a shorter sentence had they been more knowledgeable of what it was going to take to survive the indictment. Many inmates felt their attorneys had either done a poor job or had been negligent when informing them of their indictments and subsequent prosecutions.

The book sells for the princely sum of $189, which its Web site points out is “less than the cost of an hour with an attorney.”

Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.