You don’t have to commit a criminal offense directly to find yourself in the crosshairs of a federal investigation. If you assisted anyone in committing any unlawful activity, you could be charged as an accomplice. Worse, under federal law, an accomplice is punishable as a principle. You won’t necessarily face a lighter sentence just because you were only accused of helping out. You’d face the same sentence as the person who committed the primary crime.  An accomplice is distinct from an “aider and abetter,” who is not punishable as a principal. Aiding and abetting is receiving, relieving ..read more

The Serial podcast made the case of Adnan Syed famous. He was charged with killing his girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, in 1999 and has been in prison for the crime ever since.  This is a Maryland case, but it’s an interesting one.  He’s maintained his innocence all these decades, and there’s evidence to suggest he may be telling the truth. The primary witness against him has changed his story multiple times. The “cell ping” data that prosecutors used against him was used improperly. His own lawyer failed to contact a key alibi witness. And prosecutors eventually admitted there was exculpato ..read more

Every week, we see new news stories about immigration fraud. Often, the fraudsters aren’t the immigrants themselves but crime rings who take advantage of them.  Nevertheless, it’s too easy for an immigrant to find themselves up on charges. USCIS is highly suspicious and actively looks for signs fraud is occurring.   What is immigration fraud? There are three common types of fraud. The first is lying or misrepresenting information on immigration applications in the hopes of receiving certain immigration benefits. The second is marriage fraud: entering a marriage with a US citizen ..read more

The Fifth Amendment protects your right to be tried once, and only once, for any crime. Regardless of whether you’re convicted or acquitted, the government only gets one shot to prosecute you.  However, there have always been exceptions to this rule. Here’s what you need to know.  The Mistrial Exception  A judge may declare a mistrial when a jury cannot reach a verdict, when juror misconduct exists, under extraordinary circumstances, or when jurors mislead the defense or the prosecution during voir dire. A judge may also declare a mistrial when they determine prosecutors are eng ..read more

Federal law enforcement may want to search your computer’s contents at some point if you’re under investigation for cybercrime.  Computer evidence might be valuable for prosecuting many other crimes as well. So, it’s essential to understand what your rights are regarding digital evidence.  Laws Governing Computer Searches The most important law governing computer searches is the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees your fundamental right to be safe from unreasonable searches and seizures and is the law that requires law enforcement to obtain warrants before condu ..read more

Mail fraud cases are common. On any given day you can find dozens of incidents in the news. Numerous warnings go out every year about how citizens can protect themselves from mail fraud.  A person may be found guilty of mail fraud any time prosecutors can prove that a defendant used the postal system to defraud someone out of money or property. It can include stealing the mail, committing identity theft, and using the mail to run various scams.  Penalties for Mail Fraud Mail fraud is punishable by up to 30 years in prison and up to $1 million in fines. It is a federal crime that shou ..read more

It’s the end of the year, which means most people will be doing their taxes within the next four months or so. Tax time can make anyone nervous—there’s no government agency that scares people more than the IRS. It’s a good time to talk about the difference between making an honest mistake on your tax return and committing actual tax fraud or evasion. Tax Negligence Tax negligence is an unintentional mistakes. The IRS sometimes corrects these themselves and then charges a 20% penalty on the underpayment, but they do not seek criminal charges when they think they’ve caught an honest mistake.&nbs ..read more

Three Queens mail carriers are alleged to have participated in a COVID-19 benefits scam.  One of the carriers began stealing mail on their postal route. This allowed the scheme’s ringleader to file false unemployment benefit claims in the names of hundreds of people. When the Department of Labor sent payouts, the mail carriers simply intercepted the checks along the route.  They left hundreds of pieces of mail in a hotel room by accident, and the next guest called the police.  The charges are: Conspiracy to commit theft Receipt of stolen mail Theft of mail by a postal officer o ..read more

Elizabeth Holmes is infamous for creating Theranos, a blood testing startup who exaggerated claims about what her testing technology could and would do. She raised $945 million while selling a product that never worked.  She’s been sentenced to 11 years of prison plus three years of supervised release.  She was convicted on four counts of defrauding investors. A person commits investment fraud or securities fraud when they use deceptive practices to sell a security. It can be charged at the federal level or at the state level. Federal charges are far more common than state charges.&n ..read more

Bill Hwang used to claim he invested “according to the word of God.” Now prosecutors are saying that he’s about to become the biggest indictment since Bernie Madoff.  Hwang was the owner of an investment firm known as Archegos. According to the US government, his company engaged in market manipulation, buying up large portions of stocks in companies to inflate the price, then lied about its market exposure to banks to get more funding. For some time, Hwang’s activities were invisible to regulators because he was running a family office and was using a financial instrument known as a swap ..read more