The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced on May 14 the launch of a new Individual Self-Disclosure Program designed to encourage individuals to voluntarily report non-violent criminal wrongdoing and cooperate with government investigations and prosecutions.
The program is intended to offer more transparency and certainty for individuals who choose to self-report, outlining what they can expect in return for full, truthful disclosure and cooperation. Those who participate may be eligible for one of three possible outcomes: letter immunity, a deferred or non-prosecution agreement, or prosecution with substantial sentencing relief. To qualify for certain benefits, individuals must agree to disgorge any proceeds from their criminal activity and pay restitution consistent with their role in the offense.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office will exercise discretion in each case when determining eligibility for these benefits. Factors considered include whether the conduct was previously known to law enforcement or public, whether disclosure was voluntary rather than prompted by investigation or imminent exposure, completeness and timeliness of reporting, as well as the individual’s role in the wrongdoing.
This new program replaces a previous pilot initiative focused on organizational misconduct announced in September 2024. U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros said: “One of the key hallmarks of effective leadership is constantly striving for progress and innovation… For the first time in the Northern District of Illinois, individual wrongdoers now know upfront with transparency and much greater certainty whether and how they can be rewarded when they self-disclose wrongdoing, fully cooperate with our investigation, and remediate the misconduct… Although we expect this new self-disclosure Program to substantially increase our intake of fraud and other adjacent investigations, make no mistake: our Office will continue to vigorously pursue criminals who elect to roll the dice and not come forward.”
Individuals wishing to disclose must complete a form submitted via email; while anonymous reporting is not permitted, attorneys may initially contact prosecutors without naming clients by providing an attorney proffer regarding their client’s conduct.
Certain offenses are excluded from eligibility under this program—including those involving violence or threats thereof, gun trafficking or firearm offenses, terrorism-related crimes, drug trafficking activities, child exploitation cases, human trafficking violations or sex offenses involving fraud or minors—and most elected officials or federal law enforcement officers are also barred except under extraordinary circumstances.
