No federal court in America carries quite the docket of the Southern District of Florida. Sitting at the country’s gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean, the Miami-based district sentenced 1,377 defendants in fiscal year 2024 — the most in the Eleventh Circuit — and for decades it has been the proving ground for the government’s most ambitious healthcare-fraud, money-laundering, and international financial-crime prosecutions. Facing charges here means facing prosecutors who try these cases constantly; the defense has to be built to the same standard.
What follows is a working profile of this court: eighteen authorized judgeships across five courthouse cities, a Senate-confirmed U.S. Attorney, a fraud docket nearly two and a half times the national share, and the sentencing patterns that shape strategy here. Elizabeth Franklin-Best has appeared pro hac vice in the Southern District of Florida, and Elizabeth Franklin-Best, P.C. handles trial defense, Eleventh Circuit appeals, and post-conviction litigation for clients in the district. The page sits within the firm’s federal courts directory.
If federal agents, a grand jury, or an indictment have entered the picture anywhere from West Palm Beach to Key West, a paid, one-hour initial consultation with our firm is the disciplined way to take stock and decide what comes next.
Table of Contents
Quick Answer: Southern District of Florida
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What does the Southern District of Florida cover? | Southeast Florida and the Keys; staffed courthouses operate in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Fort Pierce, and Key West. |
| How large is the court? | Eighteen authorized district judgeships under 28 U.S.C. § 133 — among the largest federal trial benches anywhere — led as of mid-2026 by Chief Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga. |
| Who prosecutes federal cases there? | The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, under Senate-confirmed U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones. |
| Which circuit hears appeals? | The Eleventh Circuit — the appellate court sitting over Florida, Georgia, and Alabama — reviews this district’s judgments. |
| Where are post-conviction motions filed? | Back in this court: Section 2255 motions challenging an SDFL conviction are decided by the district that imposed the sentence. |
| Has the firm appeared in this court? | Yes. Elizabeth Franklin-Best has appeared pro hac vice in the Southern District of Florida. |
Key Takeaways
- With 1,377 defendants sentenced in FY2024, the Southern District of Florida runs the largest criminal docket in the Eleventh Circuit.
- Court sits in five cities — Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Fort Pierce, and Key West — under an 18-judgeship allotment led by Chief Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga as of mid-2026.
- Fraud, theft, and embezzlement supplied 20.9% of FY2024 sentencings here, nearly two and a half times the 8.6% national share; money laundering nearly doubled its national rate.
- South Florida anchors national healthcare-fraud enforcement — in June 2025 a federal jury here convicted the DMERx platform CEO in a scheme exceeding one billion dollars in fraudulent Medicare orders.
- Senate-confirmed U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones leads the prosecuting office.
- Seventy-nine defendants went to trial in FY2024 — a 5.7% trial rate, double the national figure — and 51.2% of sentences fell within the Guidelines range, above the national norm.
- An Eleventh Circuit appeal must be noticed within 14 days of judgment; collateral attacks under § 2255 return to this district.
- Elizabeth Franklin-Best has appeared pro hac vice in this court and is admitted to the Eleventh Circuit, where its appeals are heard.
The Southern District of Florida at a Glance
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida occupies a compact but dense territory: the urban corridor from West Palm Beach through Fort Lauderdale to Miami, the Treasure Coast at Fort Pierce, and the island chain ending at Key West. Five staffed courthouse cities serve that footprint, with Miami’s federal courthouse complex functioning as the district’s center of gravity for major criminal litigation.
Geography is destiny on this docket. As the principal American gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean, South Florida concentrates the case types that cross borders — drug importation, international money movement, sanctions and export matters, foreign-bribery investigations, and immigration offenses — alongside the healthcare-fraud caseload that has made the district famous in enforcement circles. Practice runs under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and an extensive body of local rules, including the court’s distinctive Special Rules Governing the Admission and Practice of Attorneys.
An Eighteen-Judgeship Court and Its Prosecutors
Congress assigns the Southern District of Florida eighteen district judgeships under 28 U.S.C. § 133 — the largest allotment in the Eleventh Circuit and one of the largest in the federal system. The court’s roster as of mid-2026 shows Chief Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga presiding over a full active bench, joined by a dozen senior district judges who continue to carry significant caseloads and a large complement of magistrate judges. Criminal assignments move on the court’s paired-judge system, and motion practice is governed by judge-specific procedures that experienced counsel must know cold.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida — among the largest in the nation — is led by Jason A. Reding Quiñones, who holds Senate confirmation per the Justice Department’s mid-2026 listing. The office’s structure mirrors its docket: dedicated units for healthcare fraud, narcotics and dangerous drugs, money laundering and asset forfeiture, and national-security and international matters, working alongside the Criminal Division’s strike-force prosecutors who operate intensively in South Florida.
Federal Criminal Cases in the District
The FY2024 sentencing statistics sketch the district’s profile precisely. Immigration offenses led at 24.5% of the 1,377 sentenced cases, drug trafficking followed at 23.0%, and fraud, theft, and embezzlement came third at 20.9% — against a national share of just 8.6%, meaning this single district produces one of the largest raw volumes of federal fraud sentencings in the country. Money laundering ran at 3.9% (nearly double the national 2.1%), with firearms, robbery, and public-corruption and other white-collar matters filling out the balance.
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.
The defense work in each of those lanes is different — suppression and venue battles in importation cases, loss-amount and intent fights in fraud cases, tracing and knowledge defenses in laundering cases — but the constant is the speed and confidence of the prosecuting office. Our practice is built to meet it at every stage, from the first agent contact through sentencing and beyond.
Applied Insight: Trials are routine here. Seventy-nine defendants were sentenced after trial in FY2024 alone, so this district’s prosecutors and judges treat a trial setting as a normal event rather than a crisis — and that changes plea dynamics. A defense that is visibly trial-ready, with experts retained and motions filed, negotiates from an entirely different position than one that is not.
Healthcare Fraud and Money Laundering: The Marquee Docket
South Florida has been the epicenter of federal healthcare-fraud enforcement for the better part of two decades. The Justice Department’s own press archive tells the story: 77 defendants charged in this district in the record 2017 national action, 124 more — tied to $337 million in alleged false billing — in the 2018 takedown, and a steady drumbeat since. In June 2025, the department’s largest-ever coordinated action charged 324 defendants nationally in connection with $14.6 billion in alleged fraud, with Southern District of Florida cases again featured prominently. That same month, a federal jury in this district convicted the CEO of the DMERx software platform for orchestrating more than one billion dollars in fraudulent Medicare orders for durable medical equipment.
Money laundering charges travel with that docket — and with the district’s international banking corridor — which makes the governing Supreme Court precedent part of the everyday toolkit here. United States v. Santos, 553 U.S. 507 (2008), forced Congress to define criminal “proceeds” after the Court read the term narrowly, and Cuellar v. United States, 553 U.S. 550 (2008), holds that transporting hidden cash is not enough: the government must prove the movement was designed to conceal the money’s nature, source, or ownership. In fraud sentencings, the Sentencing Commission’s 2024 adoption of Amendment 827 — moving the intended-loss rule into the text of §2B1.1 — keeps loss calculation, often the single largest driver of a white-collar sentence, squarely in play for litigation.
Sentencing in the District: FY2024 Numbers
The Sentencing Commission’s FY2024 packet shows a court that follows the Guidelines more closely than most of the country. Of 1,341 cases with complete range data, 51.2% were sentenced within the calculated range — well above the 45.7% national figure — while 39.8% received downward variances and only 7.6% involved substantial-assistance departures under §5K1.1, below the 9.9% national rate. The practical lesson runs in two directions: the Guidelines calculation itself is worth fighting hard in this district, because the range tends to stick; and variance advocacy under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) must be built on a genuinely persuasive record, not boilerplate.
The plea-trial split tells its own story: 94.3% of the district’s 1,377 sentenced defendants pleaded guilty, but the 79 who stood trial represent a 5.7% trial rate, double the national 2.8%. Between the volume and the stakes, this is a district where both negotiation and trial readiness have to be real.
Appeals and Post-Conviction Matters
Every judgment entered in this district is reviewable by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit — and the notice of appeal must be on file within 14 days of judgment. In a court that moves as fast as this one, we treat that two-week period as the first deadline of the appellate engagement, locked in before sentencing ever happens.
What happens at trial controls what is possible on appeal. The Supreme Court’s decision in Greer v. United States, 593 U.S. 503 (2021) — a case that arose from the Eleventh Circuit — illustrates the cost of unpreserved error: claims raised for the first time on appeal face the demanding plain-error standard, and most fail there. Building the record with appellate review in mind is therefore not a luxury in this district; it is the difference between a reviewable issue and a forfeited one.
When the direct appeal ends, the fight may not. A motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 — the vehicle for ineffective-assistance and constitutional challenges — returns to the Southern District of Florida for decision, and our federal post-conviction relief practice handles that litigation alongside compassionate release motions under § 3582(c)(1)(A). This appellate and collateral work is the firm’s center of gravity nationally, and it applies with full force to convictions from this court.
How the Firm Practices in This Court
Elizabeth Franklin-Best has appeared pro hac vice in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, so this is a courthouse the firm has actually worked in — not merely one it could reach. Under the district’s Special Rules Governing the Admission and Practice of Attorneys, general bar membership is reserved for members of The Florida Bar, while qualified out-of-state counsel appear in particular cases through certified pro hac vice motions filed in association with local counsel. We manage that procedure as a matter of routine, pairing with respected South Florida co-counsel where the rules require it.
A district defined by complex fraud and high-stakes appellate litigation is precisely where the firm’s recognition matters: Chambers USA 2026 ranks Elizabeth Franklin-Best in Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations, while Best Lawyers in America 2026 honors her appellate practice — the two disciplines an SDFL fraud or laundering case will demand in sequence. That recognition rests on an unusually large body of federal work: Ms. Franklin-Best has handled more than 330 federal proceedings, including over 100 appeals, and has represented defendants and petitioners in all twelve federal circuits and at the U.S. Supreme Court — the kind of appellate volume a fraud or money-laundering conviction from this district needs behind it. Her post-conviction practice reaches the full range of relief such a case can require: motions under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, First Step Act § 404 resentencings, Amendment 821 sentence reductions, compassionate-release litigation, and capital and non-capital federal habeas. Her bar admissions span the U.S. Supreme Court, every federal circuit court of appeals, and multiple district courts, and her book Reversing Your Criminal Conviction reflects the post-conviction depth behind the trial work.
For a client in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, or West Palm Beach, the practical value is continuity: one team that frames the Guidelines fight, preserves the appellate issues, argues to the Eleventh Circuit, and — if it comes to that — litigates the § 2255 motion back in this district.
Frequently Asked Questions
What area does the Southern District of Florida cover?
From the Treasure Coast at Fort Pierce through West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami, down the island chain to Key West. Each of those five cities hosts a staffed federal courthouse, with Miami serving as the district’s hub for major criminal litigation.
Who prosecutes federal crimes in the Southern District of Florida?
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, one of the largest federal prosecuting offices in the nation, led by Senate-confirmed U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones. Criminal Division strike-force prosecutors also charge healthcare-fraud cases in the district.
Which appeals court covers the Southern District of Florida?
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reviews this district’s judgments; its territory takes in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. The 14-day window to file a notice of appeal runs from the entry of judgment.
How does a federal criminal case proceed in the Southern District of Florida?
Cases generally move from investigation to grand jury indictment, then arraignment, pretrial motions and discovery, and resolution by plea agreement or jury trial, followed by Guidelines-based sentencing. The district’s pace is fast, and its judges enforce their individual procedures strictly.
Why are so many healthcare fraud cases prosecuted in Miami?
South Florida’s enormous Medicare population and billing infrastructure made it the historic center of federal strike-force enforcement, and the district has anchored the national takedowns for years. In June 2025, a jury here convicted the DMERx platform CEO in a scheme involving more than one billion dollars in fraudulent Medicare orders.
How often do defendants go to trial in the Southern District of Florida?
In FY2024, 79 of the district’s 1,377 sentenced defendants — 5.7% — were convicted after trial, twice the 2.8% national rate. Sentences fell within the Guidelines range 51.2% of the time, so the Guidelines calculation itself deserves serious litigation here.
How many federal judges serve in the Southern District of Florida?
Congress authorizes eighteen district judgeships for this court under 28 U.S.C. § 133, the most of any district in the Eleventh Circuit. As of mid-2026, Chief Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga leads the bench, joined by a dozen senior judges and a large corps of magistrate judges.
Has the firm appeared in the Southern District of Florida?
Yes. Elizabeth Franklin-Best has appeared pro hac vice in this court under its Special Rules Governing the Admission and Practice of Attorneys, associating local counsel as those rules require for out-of-district lawyers.
Does the firm handle federal cases in the Southern District of Florida?
Yes. The firm represents clients in SDFL investigations and prosecutions, takes appeals to the Eleventh Circuit, and pursues Section 2255 and compassionate-release relief for people sentenced in this district. Every matter starts with a paid, one-hour initial consultation.
How is loss calculated in a Southern District of Florida healthcare fraud case?
Loss usually drives the sentence in a federal fraud case, and under U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1 the court generally uses the greater of actual or intended loss. In Medicare cases prosecutors often start from the total amount billed, but billed amounts, amounts paid, and the loss the defendant actually intended can differ sharply — and each is open to challenge with records and expert analysis. Because Amendment 827 moved the intended-loss rule into the text of § 2B1.1, contesting the government’s loss figure is frequently the most valuable work in the case.
Can someone sentenced in the Southern District of Florida file for compassionate release?
Yes. A person serving a sentence imposed in this district may move for compassionate release under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A) once they have asked the Bureau of Prisons and given it 30 days to act, and the motion returns to the Southern District of Florida. Nationwide, courts granted about 14.1% of compassionate-release motions in fiscal year 2025, so outcomes turn on the specific medical, family, or sentencing-disparity grounds the record can prove.
Talk With a Federal Criminal Defense Lawyer
An SDFL case rarely waits for anyone. If a healthcare-fraud investigation, money-laundering indictment, or any other federal matter in this district has reached you — or a conviction here needs an Eleventh Circuit appeal or § 2255 challenge — book the firm’s paid, one-hour initial consultation. You will leave it with a clear-eyed reading of the case, the deadlines that govern it, and the strategy we would pursue; what we never offer is a guaranteed result, because no honest lawyer can.