A federal prosecution in the Middle District of Florida lands in one of the busiest federal trial courts in the Southeast — a court that runs from Jacksonville through Orlando and Tampa down to Fort Myers and sentenced 1,136 defendants in fiscal year 2024 alone. Everything about the case is federal: the prosecutors, the rules, the Sentencing Guidelines, and the pace. The sooner a defense team that knows this specific court gets involved, the more options stay open.
This guide profiles the court itself: its five staffed courthouses and fifteen authorized judgeships, the U.S. Attorney’s Office that charges cases here, what the district’s docket actually looks like in the sentencing data, and how Elizabeth Franklin-Best, P.C. defends clients in it. Elizabeth Franklin-Best has previously been specially admitted to appear in the Middle District of Florida and is a member of the Eleventh Circuit bar, where this district’s appeals are decided. This page is part of the firm’s federal courts directory.
When a target letter, grand jury subpoena, or indictment arrives anywhere in central Florida, our firm makes a paid, one-hour initial consultation available to evaluate the case and lay out realistic next steps.
Table of Contents
Quick Answer: Middle District of Florida
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What does the Middle District of Florida cover? | Central Florida from coast to coast — Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Fort Myers, and Ocala each host a staffed federal courthouse. |
| How large is the court? | Congress allots the district 15 judgeships under 28 U.S.C. § 133; Chief Judge Marcia Morales Howard leads the bench as of mid-2026. |
| Who prosecutes federal cases there? | The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, led since March 2025 by Attorney General-appointed U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe. |
| Which circuit hears appeals? | The Atlanta-based Eleventh Circuit, whose territory takes in the federal courts of Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. |
| Where are post-conviction motions filed? | In the court that entered the conviction — a Section 2255 motion attacking an MDFL judgment is filed in this district. |
| Has the firm appeared in this court? | Yes. Elizabeth Franklin-Best has been specially admitted to appear in the Middle District of Florida. |
Key Takeaways
- The Middle District of Florida sentenced 1,136 federal defendants in FY2024 — the second-largest criminal docket in the Eleventh Circuit.
- Five staffed courthouses serve the district: Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Fort Myers, and Ocala.
- Congress allots the court 15 district judgeships; Chief Judge Marcia Morales Howard leads the bench as of mid-2026.
- Fraud, theft, and embezzlement made up 13.2% of FY2024 sentencings here — roughly half again the national share — and the USAO has charged 109 pandemic-relief fraud defendants since March 2020.
- The district produced Zafirov, the ruling holding the False Claims Act qui-tam provision unconstitutional, now on appeal to the Eleventh Circuit.
- Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(b) gives a convicted defendant just 14 days from entry of judgment to notice an appeal to the Eleventh Circuit.
- Motions under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 attacking an MDFL conviction are filed back in this district, not in the appeals court.
- Elizabeth Franklin-Best has been specially admitted in this court and is a member of the Eleventh Circuit bar.
The Middle District of Florida at a Glance
The United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida is the geographic giant among Florida’s three federal districts, reaching from the Georgia line at Jacksonville across the Interstate 4 corridor to Tampa Bay and down the Gulf Coast to Fort Myers. The court maintains five staffed divisions — Jacksonville, Ocala, Orlando, Tampa, and Fort Myers — and a case is generally assigned to the division covering the county where the alleged offense occurred.
The district’s 35 counties hold well over half of Florida’s population — 57.7 percent, by the court’s own count — and its criminal docket reflects that scale: 1,136 people were sentenced here in fiscal year 2024, more than in any other district in the Eleventh Circuit except the Southern District of Florida. Practice is governed by the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure plus the court’s own local rules, which carry real teeth on motion practice, scheduling, and attorney conduct.
The Bench and the U.S. Attorney’s Office
Congress allocates fifteen district judgeships to the Middle District of Florida under 28 U.S.C. § 133 — the second-largest allotment in the Eleventh Circuit. As of mid-2026, the court’s published roster shows Chief Judge Marcia Morales Howard, who sits in Jacksonville, leading an active bench spread across all five divisions and supported by a deep corps of magistrate judges who handle initial appearances, detention hearings, and much of the pretrial motion work in criminal cases.
On the prosecution side, Gregory W. Kehoe has led the U.S. Attorney’s Office since his appointment by the Attorney General on March 31, 2025; as of mid-2026, the Justice Department’s listing does not yet show a Senate-confirmed U.S. Attorney for the district. The office is one of the busiest in the country, staffing prosecutions across the district’s five divisions, and its charging patterns track the signature caseload: healthcare fraud, pandemic-relief fraud, complex financial crime, and high-volume drug and firearms enforcement.
Federal Criminal Cases in the District
The Sentencing Commission’s FY2024 packet for the district shows where the volume actually sits: drug trafficking led at 32.5% of sentenced cases, followed by immigration offenses at 18.5%, fraud, theft, and embezzlement at 13.2% — roughly half again the 8.6% national share — firearms at 12.1%, and child-exploitation offenses at 6.3%, nearly triple the national rate. White-collar matters, tax cases, and money laundering round out a docket with few gaps. Whatever the charge, a federal case here moves through a recognizable sequence.
Most cases begin with an investigation by a federal agency, sometimes signaled by a target letter or a grand jury subpoena. Formal charges follow, typically by indictment. After an initial appearance and arraignment, the case proceeds through pretrial litigation and discovery, and is then resolved either by a negotiated plea agreement or by trial. A conviction is followed by sentencing under the federal framework. The firm’s federal criminal process hub walks through each stage in detail.
Two enforcement programs deserve particular attention from anyone under investigation here. First, pandemic-relief fraud: by late 2024 the U.S. Attorney’s Office had federally charged 109 defendants with schemes against the PPP, EIDL, and pandemic unemployment programs involving roughly $96 million, and because Congress extended the statute of limitations for PPP and EIDL fraud to ten years, those charges will keep arriving into the 2030s. Second, healthcare fraud: the district’s Tampa-to-Orlando corridor has featured in every recent national takedown, including the June 2025 action that charged 324 defendants nationwide in connection with $14.6 billion in alleged fraud.
The legal terrain in fraud cases is shifting in ways that matter for the defense. In Kousisis v. United States, 605 U.S. 114 (2025), the Supreme Court confirmed that fraudulent-inducement theories survive — but stressed that materiality is the real limit on wire-fraud liability, a battleground we press in procurement and program-fraud cases. And Dubin v. United States, 599 U.S. 110 (2023), cut back the government’s habit of stacking aggravated identity theft onto every billing-fraud count, holding that misuse of another person’s identity must be at the crux of the fraud. Both decisions do real work in this district’s healthcare and relief-fraud prosecutions.
This court also generates law of national consequence. In United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, LLC, 751 F. Supp. 3d 1293 (M.D. Fla. 2024), a judge of this district held that the False Claims Act’s qui-tam relator provision violates Article II’s Appointments Clause and dismissed the relator’s action outright; the Eleventh Circuit heard oral argument on December 12, 2025, and the appeal remains pending before the court as of mid-2026. For physicians and executives facing parallel civil FCA and criminal healthcare-fraud exposure in this district, Zafirov is a live variable that defense strategy has to account for.
Applied Insight: In a district this busy, prosecutors triage. Cases with early, organized defense engagement — where counsel frames the loss figures, the intent evidence, and the client’s role before the indictment is drafted — are routinely charged differently than cases where the defense arrives after arraignment. The window between a grand jury subpoena and a charging decision is where much of an MDFL case is won or lost.
What the FY2024 Sentencing Data Shows
The Commission’s district-level numbers tell a defense lawyer several useful things about how the Middle District of Florida actually sentences. Of the 1,136 individuals sentenced in FY2024, 94.8% pleaded guilty — but 59 defendants went to trial, a 5.2% trial rate that runs nearly double the 2.8% national figure. Juries are not a theoretical option in this district; they are a working part of the leverage calculus in plea negotiations.
At sentencing, judges here imposed a within-Guidelines sentence in 45.9% of cases, close to the 45.7% national rate. Downward variances accounted for 39.1% of sentences, and substantial-assistance departures under §5K1.1 another 13.9% — well above the 9.9% national share. The takeaway: most defendants in this court receive a sentence below the calculated range, and the difference is made by advocacy. Since Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38 (2007), district judges have had broad discretion to vary from the Guidelines based on the sentencing factors in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), and our federal sentencing practice is built around developing the record that earns those variances.
Appeals and Post-Conviction Matters
Sentencing is rarely the last word. Appeals from this court go to the Atlanta-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, the same court that reviews every federal judgment entered in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama — and Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(b) gives a convicted defendant just 14 days from the entry of judgment to file the notice of appeal. We treat that two-week clock as part of the sentencing engagement, not an afterthought.
Eleventh Circuit practice has its own architecture. Under the circuit’s prior-panel-precedent rule, a published panel decision binds every later panel until the en banc court or the Supreme Court overrules it — which means issues must be preserved at trial and framed for en banc or certiorari review from the start. The rule’s force shows in United States v. Dubois, where the circuit held that its pre-Bruen precedent upholding the felon-in-possession statute remained binding; the Supreme Court denied certiorari on January 20, 2026, leaving that precedent in place for every §922(g) case arising in this district. The Supreme Court’s most recent word does not disturb it: United States v. Hemani, No. 24-1234 (U.S. June 18, 2026), struck the drug-user firearm bar of §922(g)(3) as applied but expressly declined to decide the felon-in-possession question under §922(g)(1), so Dubois continues to govern felon-in-possession prosecutions here.
After the direct appeal, federal post-conviction relief — most often a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 raising ineffective assistance or constitutional error — is filed back in this district, in the division that entered the judgment. We also litigate compassionate release motions for clients in the district’s federal facilities. Because this work turns on national law rather than local geography, our appellate and post-conviction practice serves Middle District of Florida clients the same way it serves clients in any federal court.
How the Firm Practices in This Court
Elizabeth Franklin-Best has been specially admitted to appear in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, so the firm’s experience in this court is demonstrated rather than hypothetical. The district’s Local Rule 2.01 supplies the mechanism: a lawyer in good standing with the bar of another United States district court may seek special admission for a case here without joining The Florida Bar, disclosing recent Florida appearances as part of the application. It is a routine pathway for seasoned federal practitioners, and one our firm has already completed in this court.
The credentials behind that practice fit this district’s docket. Best Lawyers in America 2026 names Elizabeth Franklin-Best a “Best Lawyer” in Appellate Practice, and Chambers USA 2026 ranks her for Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations — recognition that maps directly onto a court where fraud cases run half again the national share and appeals flow steadily to the Eleventh Circuit. That record is built on volume as well as recognition: Ms. Franklin-Best has handled more than 330 federal proceedings, over 100 of them appeals, and has represented defendants and petitioners in all twelve federal circuits and at the U.S. Supreme Court. Her post-conviction work runs deep in exactly the areas an Eleventh Circuit conviction tends to raise: motions under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, First Step Act § 404 resentencings, Amendment 821 and compassionate-release litigation, and capital and non-capital federal habeas. She is admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court, all twelve federal circuit courts of appeals, and several district courts, and she is the author of Reversing Your Criminal Conviction.
What that means for a client in Tampa, Orlando, or Jacksonville is a defense built with the end-game in mind: a trial-level record constructed to preserve appellate issues, sentencing advocacy aimed at the variances this court actually grants, and continuity of counsel from investigation through any Eleventh Circuit appeal or § 2255 proceeding.
Frequently Asked Questions
What area does the Middle District of Florida cover?
The district takes in 35 central Florida counties — well over half the state’s population — stretching from Jacksonville on the Atlantic coast through Orlando and Tampa to Fort Myers on the Gulf. Court is held in five cities: Jacksonville, Ocala, Orlando, Tampa, and Fort Myers.
Who prosecutes federal crimes in the Middle District of Florida?
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida brings every federal prosecution in the district. Gregory W. Kehoe has led the office since the Attorney General appointed him in March 2025, and its standing priorities include healthcare fraud, pandemic-relief fraud, and complex financial crime.
Which appeals court covers the Middle District of Florida?
Appeals from this district go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta, which reviews judgments from every federal district in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. The notice of appeal is generally due within 14 days of the entry of judgment.
How does a federal criminal case proceed in the Middle District of Florida?
Most cases start with an agency investigation — sometimes signaled by a target letter or grand jury subpoena — followed by indictment, an initial appearance and arraignment in the division covering the alleged offense, pretrial motions and discovery, and resolution by plea or trial. Sentencing then proceeds under the federal Guidelines framework.
How often do federal cases go to trial in the Middle District of Florida?
In fiscal year 2024, 59 of the 1,136 defendants sentenced in the district — about 5.2% — were convicted at trial, nearly double the 2.8% national trial rate. The rest resolved by guilty plea, usually after hard negotiation over charges and sentencing exposure.
How many federal judges sit in the Middle District of Florida?
Congress authorizes fifteen district judgeships for the court under 28 U.S.C. § 133, the second-largest allotment in the Eleventh Circuit. As of mid-2026 the bench is led by Chief Judge Marcia Morales Howard in Jacksonville and supported by a large corps of magistrate judges across the five divisions.
What is the Zafirov case and why does it matter?
Zafirov is a 2024 decision of this district holding that the False Claims Act’s qui-tam relator provision violates the Appointments Clause of Article II, and dismissing the relator’s suit. The appeal remains pending in the Eleventh Circuit as of mid-2026, and its outcome will shape healthcare-fraud and whistleblower litigation nationwide.
Has the firm appeared in the Middle District of Florida?
Yes. Elizabeth Franklin-Best has been specially admitted in this court under its local rules, which let a member in good standing of another federal district court’s bar appear in a particular case. That admission reflects actual in-court experience here, not just eligibility.
Does the firm handle federal cases in the Middle District of Florida?
Yes. Elizabeth Franklin-Best, P.C. defends investigations and charges in the district, briefs and argues appeals in the Eleventh Circuit, and litigates Section 2255 and compassionate-release matters for clients convicted here. Engagements begin with a paid, one-hour initial consultation.
How long do I have to file a Section 2255 motion after a Middle District of Florida conviction?
A federal prisoner generally has one year to file a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, and for most defendants that clock runs from the date the conviction becomes final — after the Eleventh Circuit affirms and the time to seek Supreme Court review expires, or after the deadline to appeal passes if no appeal is taken. Because a missed deadline is usually fatal, anyone considering a Section 2255 challenge to an MDFL judgment should have the timing assessed early.
Can someone convicted in the Middle District of Florida seek compassionate release?
Yes. A defendant sentenced in this district may move for compassionate release under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A) after exhausting the Bureau of Prisons request process, and the motion is filed back in the Middle District of Florida. Nationwide, courts granted about 14.1% of compassionate-release motions in fiscal year 2025, so these motions are decided case by case on the medical, family, and sentencing-disparity grounds the record can support.
Talk With a Federal Criminal Defense Lawyer
Whether the problem is a grand jury subpoena in Tampa, an indictment in Orlando, or a conviction in Jacksonville that needs appellate review, the place to start is a structured conversation about the record and the realistic paths forward. Our firm schedules a paid, one-hour initial consultation for exactly that purpose. We do not promise results; we promise rigorous, experienced federal advocacy at every stage.