8 USC Section 2423 Federal criminal law prohibits a wide range of activities relating to transporting people and/or traveling across state lines or internationally for the purpose of engaging in illegal sexual activity. Specifically, 18 U.S.C. § 2423 prohibits four types of activities and carries very severe penalties. First, 18 U.S.C. § 2423 makes it a felony punishable by a minimum of 10 years in prison (and by as much as life in prison) to “knowingly transport[] an individual who has not attained the age of 18 years in interstate or foreign commerce… with intent that the individual engage i ..read more

Recently, two Iranian citizens were arrested and indicted for allegedly smuggling items from America to Iran in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, 50 USC 1701 (see press release here). That law grants the President of the United States the authority to deal with unusual threats to national security and permits the President to issue Executive Orders with respect to national security issues. Between 1995 and 1997, the President issued several orders making it illegal to export certain items to Iran without a license. See 31 CFR 560. It is thus a crime to violate these ..read more

Recently, three men were indicted and arrested in New York City for allegedly working together to run an unlicensed money transmitting business servicing customers in the Middle East (specifically in Yemen, Turkey, Iraq, the UAE, and Jordan, among other places). Though many places in the Middle East have traditionally relied upon informal money transmitting systems known as hawala, this particular arrangement resulted in serious charges for Mohanad Al-Zubaidi, Shaker Saleh Mohammed Hauter, and Abdulkader Noori Hamza. They purportedly transmitted 65 million dollars for their clients over the ye ..read more

Every day, dozens of people in Manhattan are arrested for allegedly shoplifting at major department stores, such as Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Sak’s and Nordstrom. Security guards at these stores are oftentimes mistaken in their assessments and rough in their handling of suspects. As such, the experience of being apprehended by store security guards and accused of shoplifting can be jarring and traumatic. Typically, suspects are brought to a private room in the department store and interrogated by security guards. Then, they are forced to sign a trespass notice acknowledging that they are no long ..read more

Famous Hollywood actor Jonathan Majors was convicted today by a Manhattan jury of having previously assaulted his ex-girlfriend, Grace Jabbari, following almost two days of jury deliberations. Specifically, the jury concluded that Mr. Majors was guilty of reckless assault in violation of New York Penal Law Section 120.00 (Assault in the Third Degree, a Class A misdemeanor) and harassment in violation of Penal Law Section 240.26 (Harassment in the Second Degree). The first charge is a crime under N.Y. state law (the second is not – it is classified as a non-criminal offense) and carries with it ..read more

Thousands of domestic and international travelers pass through John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City every day. It should be unsurprising, then, that every day, Port Authority Police officers arrest a few travelers and give them Desk Appearance Tickets. A Desk Appearance Ticket is a summons given to a person who has been arrested for a criminal offense, and it directs them to appear before a judge in criminal court at a later date. Desk Appearance Tickets are usually reserved for misdemeanor offenses and for those individuals without significant criminal records in the United States. Common ..read more

Matthew Galluzzo has once again been recognized as one of the top criminal defense lawyers in the New York metropolitan area. Every year, Super Lawyers, a publication compiled by Thomson Reuters, receives nominations from lawyers in the community and then ranks those nominees based upon peer evaluations and a dozen objective categories. Only 5% of nominees ultimately are awarded the designation of “Super Lawyer”. Matthew Galluzzo has been a mainstay of the list for criminal defense since 2019. If you or a loved one have been arrested or are being investigated for a criminal offense, you should ..read more

On September 22, following an investigation conducted since 2018 by the FBI, Republican Senator Bob Menendez and his wife Nadine Menendez were charged with federal bribery offenses. According to the indictment filed in the Southern District of New York, Bob and Nadine Menendez were bribed by three Egyptian businessmen: Will Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes. The latter allegedly offered the couple several hundred thousand dollars in exchange for economic protection of their interests. A years-long bribery scheme between the co-defendants allegedly led the senator heading the Senate Foreign Rela ..read more

French developer Aurélien Michel is charged with Fraud for alleged $ 2.9 NFT’s rug pull On January 4, 2023, French footballer, Aurélien Michel, was arrested by US authorities as he passed through JFK airport. He was immediately taken into custody and brought before a federal judge in Brooklyn, where he was arraigned on a complaint charging him with being the leader of a scheme involving NFT fraud. He posted bail on February 1, 2023 and has been at liberty in the U.S. since that time.  The post French developer Aurélien Michel is charged with Fraud for alleged $ 2.9 million NFT rug pull a ..read more

One of the most serious charges in New York state criminal law is Operating as a Major Trafficker, in violation of Penal Law 220.77. That charge makes it a Class A-I felony to traffic in controlled substances worth $75,000.00 or more. This can be accomplished in three different ways: 1. act[] as a director of a controlled substance organization during any period of twelve months or less, during which period such controlled substance organization sells one or more controlled substances, and the proceeds collected or due from such sale or sales have a total aggregate value of seventy-five thousa ..read more