Assault Allegation Acquittal
Healthcare Fraud Allegations Charges Dropped
Healthcare Fraud Probation
Federal Corruption Charges Probation
Federal Securities Fraud SEC Settlement, No Criminal Charges
TIME
Super Lawyers
NACDA
Avvo Rating
10 Best
Newsweek

By Maya Fouad

Tax evasion is the most common federal tax crime and involves the failure to report taxes, reporting taxes inaccurately, or failing to pay taxes. Federal law defines the crime broadly; 26 U.S.C. 7201 states, “[a]ny person who willfully attempts in any manner to evade or defeat any tax imposed by this title or the payment thereof shall, in addition to other penalties provided by law, be guilty of a felony. . .” The penalties for tax evasion can include significant monetary fines, imprisonment, or both.

To establish a case of tax evasion, the Government must prove three elements beyond a reasonable doubt:

On May 17, 2021, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the establishment of the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force.

On March 10, 2022, Garland announced Associate Deputy Attorney General Kevin Chambers as the Director For Covid-19 Fraud Enforcement.

In August, 2022, President Biden signed laws that give the Department of Justice and other federal agencies more time to investigate and prosecute Covid-19 fraud. It extended the statute of limitations for fraud charges involving PPP and EIDL fraud to ten years.

The federal criminal appellate process begins when a person is convicted at the district court.  A conviction can occur after a jury trial or after a plea of guilty.

If a person has entered in to a plea agreement, the person may have agreed to waive many of their rights to appeal.

If a person had a jury trial, there can be some issues that can be argued on appeal.  The first thing that occurs after judgement/conviction, is the attorney must file a “notice of appeal” which usually must be filed within ten days following the district court’s entry of judgment. If the government is appealing the district court’s decision, a timely notice of appeal may be filed within thirty days following entry of judgment.

The International Bar Association created a “President’s Task force on Cybersecurity”.  Meg Strickler was appointed to serve on this prestigious task force and helped draft Cybersecurity Guidelines.  Today, it is all the more important to be weary of a data breach if you own and operate a small business. Data breaches can interrupt operations, cause chaos and most importantly impact the bottom line severely. Just this month, Atlanta based law firm Hall Booth Smith experienced a data breach.  Meg Strickler was quoted in the Fulton County Daily Report in discussing this breach, stating that the most important thing for law firms to do is educate their employees on how to stay safe online. One of the biggest issues she’s seen recently is data breaches resulting from Trojan emails, when employees click on links from unfamiliar senders. She also advised other precautionary measures, such as making sure bookkeepers don’t transfer money without protections in place and establishing safeguards to prevent disgruntled employees from internally dismantling a system.  Please see here for the full article.

So what to do to prepare?  Some obvious first steps are educating employees on cyber safety measures, making sure emails are encrypted, ensuring cyber insurance is up to date and becoming familiar with your company’s assets. You want to have a procedure and plan written ahead of time.

 

 

 

Here is the definition from the statute, cut directly from the 11th circuit’s jury instructions:

It’s a Federal crime to commit aggravated identity theft.

The Defendant can be found guilty of aggravated identity theft only if all the following facts are proved beyond a reasonable doubt:

Written by Maya Fouad

When a police officer is conducting a roadside investigation of a suspected drunk driver, a variety of mechanisms are employed as indicators of intoxication.  Law enforcement are trained to conduct specific behavioral tests and use certain devices designed to detect levels of intoxication.  Officers are often additionally trained to make more general observations of the suspect during roadside investigations of this nature.  For instance, the potential odor of alcohol, an individual’s flushed face, or the appearance of the eyes, can all also be additional indicators of intoxication; however, few evidentiary limits apply when an officer with personal knowledge testifies to such observations.  In contrast, evidence of intoxication resulting from officers performing more established methods of testing implicate more potential grounds for exclusion.  

Since 1981, the National Highway Traffic Safety Admission (NHTSA) of the United States Department of Transportation has produced a series of standardized field sobriety tests which are considered the most effective procedures for testing drivers at roadside for intoxication.  The NHSTA’s behavioral test battery has been incorporated into law enforcement training in all states to help police officers in assessing whether a suspected drunk driver is legally impaired.  The tests are administered roadside, outside of the car, and after the suspected drunk driver has been identified.  The SFST battery is composed of three tests: the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN), the Walk-and-Turn (WAT), and the One-Leg Stand (OLS).  Since 1995, the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council has made the three NHSTA-approved field tests the exclusive field tests taught to Georgia officers.

The “Safety Valve” exception is a statutory exception to mandatory minimum sentencing laws. A safety valve allows a judge to sentence a person below the mandatory minimum term if certain conditions are met.  The “Safety Valve” provision is a provision of law codified in 18 United States Code §3553(f).  It specifically allows a judge to sentence below the minimum mandatory required by law.  However, you must be eligible.  There is also a two level reduction in the sentencing guidelines under United States Sentencing Guidelines §2D1.1(b)(17).

The requirements set out in 18 U.S.C. §3553(f) are:
  • You do not have more than 1 criminal history point. 

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.

As the DOJ states, “Federal law defines child pornography as any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor (persons less than 18 years old).  Images of child pornography are also referred to as child sexual abuse images.  Federal law prohibits the production, distribution, importation, reception, or possession of any image of child pornography.   A violation of federal child pornography laws is a serious crime, and convicted offenders face fines severe statutory penalties.”

Below are the federal statutes that address child pornography.

18 U.S.C. §2252 – Child pornography;

240_F_364672906_PW3hCfsjsglFBZ1r8HFAz7lfQlOmx1AC-300x201
The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects against unlawful searches and seizures by the government.  When the government wants to obtain a search warrant, an affidavit must be drafted and application must be made to a U.S. Magistrate judge (in federal matters).  The affidavit can be more than a hundred pages at the minimum in complex cases.  The affidavit will begin with an introduction and the background of the agent (his/her experience).  In this section, statements beginning with “Based on my training and experience” are plentiful.  The next section generally addresses probable cause and sets forth facts that show probable cause has been established to support the issuance of a search warrant and that items listed have a reasonable probability of being found during the search.  Finally, it will detail what needs to be searched and what items the government is seeking.  Law enforcement often request search warrants when seeking documents, electronic devices, money, drugs, paraphernalia, ledgers, photos, receipts etc.  A warrant can be requested for real property, a person, electronically stored information from your phone, iPad, computer, external hard drives, a tracking device on a car, the car itself, and/or other modes of transportation such as a boat.

Once the search warrant is signed by the judge, the search warrant will be executed.  Generally, the government will work to execute the warrant with local law enforcement officials. The search can take hours, and often times, questioning will occur at the same time.  NEVER SPEAK TO LAW ENFORCEMENT at this juncture without a lawyer.  This interview at your home or office is often recorded by body cam, audio, and other video devices.  It can be difficult to get those statements excluded at trial for a variety of reasons.

After the execution of the search warrant, a copy of the search warrant inventory will be left, and it will list out exactly what was seized.  In the case of the execution of the search warrant for Donald Trump, there is a search warrant, sworn affidavit, and application filed, but it is under seal.  Mr. Trump also received a search warrant inventory. Hopefully, these documents will be released to the public sooner than later.

Contact Information