Citing prosecutorial misconduct and insufficient evidence a federal judge has reversed convictions against an Oneida man. The business owner was initially convicted of urging his son to burn down the family business in order to collect insurance money. But due in part to the prosecutor’s show at trial, the man is now free.

According to The Syracuse Post-Standard, the father and business owner initially went to prison for insurance fraud, scheme to defraud, using fire to commit fraud, and aiding in the arson of his business, National Casket Company in Oneida.

The son pled guilty to setting the fire that burned the business and served two years in prison. He maintained that his father “ordered” him to set the fire. The father initially faced charges at the state level, though those were dismissed due to insufficient evidence.

At the federal level, however, prosecutors were said to have acted out of line when leading the jury to believe that the son violated an agreement to assist in the case against his father when he refused to testify at the federal hearing.

Also, the federal appeals court judge ruled that there may have been evidence that the father helped to cover the arson after the fact, but that he was not charged with this offense and was instead formally accused of assisting with the arson, not the concealment after the fact.

In all, the judge ruled there was insufficient evidence to convict, despite a federal jury having already done so. The prosecutions “misconduct” was believed to have unreasonably tainted the jury on several points, by misleading them and at one point suggesting either the father was guilty or all of the police officers in the case lied (not leaving much of an option for the jury to acquit).

Appeals at the federal level and the state level have many similarities. But, from case to case no two appeals are alike. The reasons for appealing a criminal conviction are many but often lie in mistakes made by the prosecutor or violations of the rights of the defendant.

A criminal defense attorney is the defendant’s advocate from the beginning, helping to ensure these sort of constitutional violations don’t happen in the first place and then using them to the defendant’s advantage if they do.

For instance, if evidence is seized in an illegal search it is the job of the defense attorney to move to have the evidence thrown out of court. If the evidence makes up a bulk of the prosecutor’s case, the illegal search could result in a dismissal of all charges.

If you are facing criminal charges and are unsure of your options and the likelihood that you’ll be convicted, contact our offices today.

A lengthy new report from Bloomberg reveals just how beneficial cooperating with the prosecution can be in white collar crime cases. According to the article, nearly half of all those defendants sentenced in Manhattan federal court over the past several years avoided prison time by working with the prosecutors.

While the article speaks specifically to federal cases, the same could likely be said for cases brought at the state level—prosecutors will compromise on smaller cases to “get the big guy”.

Prosecutions for insider trading in New York have been stepped up in the last few years. More than 30 people have been charged since 2009, many of them accused in schemes that netted millions. But, as one expert points out, the lower the dollar amount involved, the less serious the fraud, and the smaller chance a defendant will serve time.

“If you engage in accounting manipulation, you’re deceiving the entire investment community in that security, and that’s deemed to be very serious. But if you’re an insider trader who made $12,000 on a couple of sales, that’s a much more limited fraud.”

The federal sentencing guidelines take into account the amount of money the defendant made off of the fraud, their willingness to admit fault, and their criminal history. Obviously, if you admit your fault and work with the prosecution to uncover what truly happened, you will improve your chances of a lenient sentence.

What we’re talking about here is nothing more than plea arrangements. The defendant agrees to cooperate and plead guilty to at least some of the charges against them and the prosecution agrees, in exchange, to recommend a lenient sentence or even drop some of the charges. These happen in all criminal courts, and happen far more often than trials.

People have a tendency to think that white collar crimes, like fraud, are treated with a slap on the wrist when compared with other “street crimes”. This is true in some situations, but not all. If you are facing charges of embezzlement, identity theft, or any other similar fraud crime, you can bet the prosecutor’s first plan of attack is to throw the book at you.

Usually, with the assistance of a defense attorney, a defendant can work out a favorable plea agreement with the prosecution. But, if they can’t and the case goes to trial, an experienced defense lawyer then works to defend their client’s best interest and seek the best possible results—whether that be a not guilty verdict by the jury or getting the charges dropped altogether.

If you are facing charges or under investigation for fraud, contact us today for a free consultation.

The Tonawanda News reports that in 2009 76 people from Western New York were arrested for fraudulently collecting unemployment benefits. These suspects were largely collecting unemployment while also steadily collecting paychecks, taking advantage of the State’s unemployment insurance trust fund.

Each case resulted in an average theft of $4,262.70 according to the report and added up to a total of $323,965 in losses. The majority of the Western New York cases came out of Erie County, where the cost was $220,000.

With unemployment high over the past several years, unemployment fraud has also risen. More and more people think they can slide under the radar with so many cases coming across the desks of the Labor Department.

According to Governor Paterson the state made a unified effort, however, to uncover these cases in 2009. This effort reportedly saved businesses more than $35 million.

White collar crime, like fraud, is quite common and often goes undetected. It is called white collar crime because the core crimes included in this category are typically committed by professional people.

Both fraud and theft are most often committed when a person sees the opportunity for financial gain. Most times the offense is committed when the person thinks they won’t get caught. They often believe their plan is fool proof.

Despite the confidence felt by people who partake in white collar crime, they are being caught more and more as departments establish units committed only to this type of crime. With the evolution of technology, the sophistication of these offenses grows, as does the investigation of them by police.

If you are facing charges of theft, fraud, identity theft, or even bad checks, you may be up against a lengthy prison sentence or a permanent criminal record.

Going up against the state of New York in court can be very intimidating, especially if you are accused of stealing from the state itself. If you are facing charges and need help, call me today for a free consultation.

New York City Police arrested 2 suspects in an alleged ring to defraud Chinese immigrants. The men are accused of claiming they would help get the victim’s relatives green cards, with connections to the US embassy in China, in exchange for thousands of dollars.According to New York Newsday, the defendants are expected to be arraigned in Manhattan on charges of scheming to defraud and grand larceny.

photo credit: kcherif

Relatively poor immigrants who may have immigration status problems themselves are thought to be easy victims by these type of scams. The assumption is that the victims are less likely to call the police for bringing immigration problems upon themselves.

Prosecutors are still uncovering the depth and bredth of the scam, and claim that new victims may be coming forward. They are encouraging anyone with information or who was a victim to come forward, and pledge not to involve immigration if someone is willing to coming forward.