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White Collar Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

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Life sentence imposed for enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity upheld as reasonable

Romeo Sanchez was charged in a seven-count indictment involving sex crimes against minors. Specifically, his charges included two counts of enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity; two counts of enticing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct in order to produce child pornography; two counts of possessing…

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No violation of the Fourth Amendment by not immediately releasing a suspect after learning of possible exculpatory evidence

Vivianne Washington was arrested in the investigation of a brutal murder of an elderly woman at her home in Meriwether County, Georgia after assailants invaded her home, attacked her, and set her on fire. Before she died, she named her assailants as several black males and an African American female. …

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Fisherman’s theft of trade secret conviction overturned for lack of venue but netted on extortion for Grouper sites.

Timothy Smith was a software engineer living in Mobile Alabama.  An avid fisherman, he learned about a website called “Strikelines” that sells the coordinates of artificial reefs placed in various locations in the Gulf of Mexico by commercial fisherman.  These reefs are attractive fishing locations but the coordinates are not…

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Georgia real estate lawyer’s conviction and sentence for stealing millions from his law firm is upheld

  Nathan Hardwick was a real estate attorney in Georgia who managed the “closing side” of the real estate law firm practice.  The law firm sold part of its foreclosure operation to a private equity group for 14 to 15 million dollars but within a few years Hardwick’s portion of…

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Hotel franchise not liable to victims of sex trafficking for conduct that took place at hotels

Four Plaintiffs identified in their lawsuit as Jane Does filed a lawsuit under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) alleging they were victims of conspicuous and open sex trafficking that occurred at hotels managed by hotel franchisors Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Choice Hotels International, and Microtel Inn & Suites…

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Threatening messages sent to family members of victims of Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting were not protected speech.

Brandon Fleury was posting and messaging on Instagram posing as mass murderer Nikolas Cruz, the perpetrator of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (MSD), which took place on February 14, 2018, when Cruz brought a AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle into the school located in Parkland, Florida, and murdered…

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A mother was sentenced to 30 years for producing child pornography and using her own two children as subjects. Worse yet, she sent it to their pedophile father.  

Litzky’s live-in boyfriend, Roberto Oquendo, was a passenger in a car pulled over for a traffic stop in Melbourne, Florida.  The officer conducting the traffic stop learned that he had child pornography on his phone.  He gave an interview and admitted having pictures of the genital areas of his daughters…

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No protection under the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act for protesters who damaged property at a U.S. Naval submarine base.

Clare Grady, Carmen Trotta, and Martha Hennessy are members of the Plowshares Movement, a Roman Catholic protest and activism group opposed to nuclear weapons.  On April 4, 2018, they and others surreptitiously and illegally entered the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in St. Marys, Georgia, to engage in protest of…

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A civilian cannot be held liable for a false arrest or excessive force claim for briefly assisted a law enforcement officer with an arrest

Charles was arrested by a Dawson County Sheriff’s deputy on an outstanding warrant after he was found inside a car that the deputy had pulled over for speeding. Charles resisted his arrest for over five minutes and the deputy succeeded in subduing Charles with the aid of a civilian bystander…

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No sentencing guidelines enhancement for arms smuggler who sold to a paramilitary terrorist group in Columbia

Francisco Arcila Ramirez was charged with several federal crimes in connection with selling firearms to the National Liberation Army (ELN), a paramilitary group in Columbia, designated by the U.S. State Department as a foreign terrorist organization.  Through a straw purchaser, he acquired AK-style weapons in the Miami, Florida area, then…

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