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IMG_1293-768x1024 Airports are high security environments with strict rules enforced through law enforcement, federal agents, TSA checkpoints, drug-sniffing dogs, US Marshals aboard flights, and more. Being arrested at an airport is overwhelming, scary, and often times, completely unexpected. However, the consequences of these arrest can be serious and long-lasting. An arrest at an airport could lead to detention by law enforcement, criminal charges, and the need to retain legal representation.

If you are arrested at an airport, you may be taken into custody and transported to a detention center or police station where you will be held and processed until further legal proceedings. However, this does not always happen at the airport – you may leave the airport and later have a warrant issued for your arrest. In that case, you would still need to turn yourself in for processing with law enforcement. In either circumstance, it is essential to remember your rights, including the right to remain silent and the right to legal counsel. Contacting an experienced criminal defense attorney will help you navigate that distressing process with an advocate by your side.

Airport arrests can lead to severe criminal charges depending on the circumstances of your case. Common criminal charges in this context cover a broad range including drug offenses, sexual offenses, firearm offenses, DUIs, disorderly conduct, battery, theft, trafficking, and fraud. You could also be arrested at the airport for entirely unrelated criminal charges if you are simply identified and apprehended pursuant to an active arrest warrant, such as this recent arrest in Atlanta. Committing crimes while aboard an aircraft (like interfering with the performance of the duties of a flight crew) can lead to federal criminal charges and even more severe penalties. Many of these charges carry significant terms of imprisonment and hefty fines.

A new type of fraudulent online investment scheme has led to thousands of victims worldwide and significant financial losses. In a pig butchering scam, victims are gradually lured into making financial contributions to a seemingly sound investment only to have the person they are dealing with subsequently disappear with the funds.

These types of schemes originated in 2020 and have gained international momentum through the use of social media platforms and online dating applications. In a departure from conventional financial scams, these fraudsters focus on psychological manipulation of victims by crafting elaborate fake identities to establish romantic or emotional connections with their targets.

After the scammer creates a fake online persona, the scam begins by initiating contact with a target. Often, the scammer will pretend to have stumbled across a “wrong number” as they contacted the victim. The next step is starting a conversation with a potential victim to gain their trust. The scammers often initiate benign chats about life, family, and work, and they’ll fabricate details about their own life that make them seem similar to you. Once the scammer gains trust, they will eventually pivot the conversation to investing and making claims about their own purported success with investments.

In criminal proceedings, the State often attempts to use evidence of “similar transactions” against a defendant. This typically comes in the form of the State introducing evidence at trial of a defendant’s prior crimes to help prove that defendant’s guilt.

Under O.C.G.A. § 24-4-404(b), evidence of other acts can be introduced by the prosecution to prove a defendant’s “motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident.”  This type of evidence is only admissible if the State shows:

“(1) that it seeks to introduce the evidence not to raise an improper inference as to the defendant’s character but for some proper purpose; (2) that there is sufficient evidence to establish that the defendant committed the independent offense; and (3) that there is a sufficient connection or similarity between the independent offense and the crime charged so that proof of the former tends to prove the latter.” Amica v. State, 704 S.E.2d 831 (Ga.App. 2010).

An NFT, or Non-Fungible Token, is a digital asset representing ownership or proof of authenticity of a unique item or piece of content using blockchain technology. Unlike cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, which are fungible and can be exchanged on a one-to-one basis, NFTs are non-interchangeable and one-of-a-kind. As long as you’re following copyright laws and selling legitimate assets, creating, selling, and reselling NFTs is legal. However, due to the decentralized and anonymous nature of the crypto world, NFTs come with a host of legal issues. Like with most digital innovations, regulatory legislation has been slow to catch up and establish clear guidelines; still, wrongful use of NFTs can implicate an array of criminal charges.

Money Laundering refers to the illegal process of concealing the origins of money obtained through criminal activities, making it appear as if it comes from a legitimate source. This is criminalized under 18 U.S.C. § 1956. Money laundering using NFTs involves the illicit use of these digital assets to disguise the origins of illegally obtained funds. In this context, individuals create a fake record of sales on the blockchain by selling NFTs to themselves using different accounts. Once finished, they sell the NFT to an unsuspecting buyer and repeat the process.

Fraud has grown increasingly common in the crypto landscape due to its anonymous and decentralized nature. Fraud involving NFTs can manifest in various ways due to the unique characteristics of these digital assets. This is mostly being prosecuted as wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1343. Some common forms of fraud associated with NFTs include:

Under 18 U.S.C. § 3564(c), a federal court may modify or terminate a term of probation, or supervised release, that has been previously imposed. For a federal misdemeanor, a term of probation can be modified or terminated at any time. For felonies, however, the defendant must have completed at least one year of their federal probation before the Court may modify or terminate the sentence.

In deciding whether to terminate probation early, the Court will consider the factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. 3553(a). The 3553(a) factors include: the nature and circumstances of the offense, the history and characteristics of the defendant, the need for the sentence imposed to reflect the seriousness of the offense, to promote respect for the law, and to provide just punishment for the offense, the need for the sentence imposed to afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct, the need for the sentence imposed to protect the public from further crimes of the defendant, the need for the sentence imposed to provide the defendant with needed educational or vocational training, medical care, or other correctional treatment, and the need for the sentence imposed to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities among defendants with similar records who have been found guilty of similar conduct.

After a defendant files a petition to have their sentence modified or terminated, it is the Judge’s decision whether probation should be terminated early. This judge will often be the same judge that imposed the original sentence. In most cases, judges deny requests; however, certain factors can strengthen a defendant’s request for early termination of probation. Overall, to successfully terminate a term of probation, the defendant must show that they have earned it through good conduct, and it would be in the interests of justice.

The PSR interview consists of meeting with the assigned probation officer for about two hours, and you have the right to have your attorney present during the interview. The probation officer will ask you about, among other things: your childhood, any abuse you have gone through, family members and their support of you, places you have lived, marriages, divorces, children, medical history, mental health, education, military service, any drug problems, your past arrests and convictions, any terms of probation or parole, and, about how you got involved in the offense.

Your probation officer will also ask you about how you’ve accepted responsibility for breaking the law. It is important to be aware that, in the federal system, defendants who do not clearly accept responsibility for their actions can receive harsher sentences than those who admit they broke the law, follow the rules of the Court, and continue to follow the law.

Your probation officer will also ask you about the assets you and your spouse own, any cash you have, and any debts you owe. This is because in some cases the Court is required to determine if you have the ability to pay a fine or, in some cases, restitution to victims. Restitution can be mandatory, and the financial information you provide will be used to determine monthly payments. Because of this, and because your officer will investigate and confirm the information you provide, it is very important you give truthful information about your financial situation. You may also be asked to provide documents such as, but not limited to, statements, deeds, and titles, which support the information you provide verbally, and on a variety of financial forms. Finally, you will be asked to sign a variety of release forms that will allow your officer to access government records, as well as educational, medical, psychiatric, and employment information about you.

A Presentence Investigation Report, often abbreviated as “PSR” or “PSI”, is a document created by the United States Probation Office after an individual has been convicted of a felony in federal court. The PSR documents the convicted individual’s life history and background and is provided to the Court to assist in determining a fair sentence.

After a defendant pleads guilty (or is found guilty by a jury or judge), the judge will order the probation officer to create the PSR. The assigned probation officer will conduct a PSR interview with the defendant as well as an independent investigation into the offense to gather information.

Once the initial PSR is complete, the report is sent to your attorney, the Government’s attorney, and the Court. Once disclosed, your attorney is required to review the report with you. If you see any information that is incorrect, or if you disagree with how the guidelines are computed, your attorney can file objections to the PSR. The final PSR will make any corrections and note any objections in the PSR Addendum. If there are still any unresolved objections by the day you are sentenced, the Judge will resolve any disagreements before pronouncing your final sentence.

Schools across the state of Georgia are facing an increase in threats of violence.  It has led schools to step up security.   Each and every threat must be taken seriously.  Some of these threats turn out to be real, so officials have beefed up security everywhere, including for example, Fulton County Schools implementing license plate readers on all of its campuses.

But,what if a threat is simply a result of a prank?  What charges could result from calling in a threat that is not real? Criminal defense attorney Meg Strickler recently commented on NBC 11 Alive News about this very issue.  Calling in a threat to a school can be very disruptive and it will always involve law enforcement.  Teens can thus face charges ranging from misdemeanor to federal charges.  And, the school can also suspend or expel a student for this conduct.

It is a complex situation especially in these times.

Attorney General Merrick Garland made recent comments about what he considered to be the Department of Justice’s top priorities for 2022.  Since taking office in March 2021, Garland has tried to combat crime in a tumultuous time.  He has been criticized for his handling of January 6 investigation and has stated it’s the most urgent probe in history.

With all of this going on, the US Attorney’s office increased its prosecutions of individuals of white collar crimes in the year 2021.  White collar charges like fraud, theft, corruption, bribery, environmental crime, tax fraud, health care fraud, procurement fraud, money laundering, PPP loan fraud, etc will continue to get more attention from the Department of Justice.

What does this mean?  It means that investigations of any sort need to be taken seriously and that you should contact a lawyer immediately if any wrongdoing is alleged.

The Department of Justice just announced that U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland created COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to enhance enforcement efforts against COVID-19 related fraud.

Cases have included:

  • Offers to purchase COVID-19 vaccination cards
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