Articles Posted in Federal Crimes

Over the years, this blog has discussed various instances in which there is little doubt as to whether prosecutors sometimes stretch, or “re-invent” the truth. This has been the case both in state and federal courts.

At a time during which we have had to question the integrity of law enforcement involving the killing of citizens and mysterious grand jury proceedings, a new story comes up that is worth remembering.

It deals with the integrity of a federal prosecutor…someone most of us would expect to be as “holier than thou” as they often act.

First of all, welcome to the new Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog. As time moves forward you will see a return to daily posting as well as other changes hopefully later this week. Consider it Attorney Sam’s Take Volume II

In the meantime, we turn to the skies.

We have discussed many times the vague and over-extending of the Massachusetts misdemeanor known as “disorderly conduct”. Basically, if you’re conduct is considered offensive to a police officer, you can be charged. Generally, it is not the heaviest crime in the world…just enough to go on your record, cost you thousands of dollars and greatly effect your future for the negative. That, of course, is regardless of how the case comes out.

And so the federal conspiracy and racketeering trial came to an end this week. It arose out of the Massachusetts Probation Department. When the dust cleared, former Probation Commissioner John J. O’Brien, as well as his deputies William H. Burke III and Elizabeth V. Tavares, were found guilty of several charges and O’Brien’s wife was screaming in the courtroom that “the government is corrupt”.

Then, she fainted and that was that.

Ironically, the subject matter of her shouts was what the trial was about. Government corruption.

Yes, it is time for final exams in our colleges and universities. No less is true for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. And this brings us to Boston’s United States District Court and the alleged breaking of federal criminal law.

Elmo Kim. 20, is a student of Harvard University and, now, is hereinafter referred to as the “Defendant”. He is now off campus and has been released on a $100,000 bond into the custody of his sister and uncle.

Boston’s United States Attorneys Office has alleged that the Defendant sent hoax emails Monday saying shrapnel bombs would go off soon in two of four buildings on Harvard’s Cambridge, Mass., campus. The emails came minutes before he was to take a final exam in one of the buildings. According to the complaint, the Defendant sent emails to Harvard police, two university officials and the president of the Harvard Crimson newspaper, saying bombs had been placed around campus.

The final act, at least until the appeals, of the United States v. James “Whitey” Bulger has taken place. Apparently keeping the tradition of this case in erring on the side legal danger, the court sided with the Government this morning as to whether families of people. Bulger was not convicted of killing can testify as to the damage he did to them as a result said killings.

Under the popular myth of “innocent until proven guilty”, of course, those would be the killings which Bulger was not guilty of…by any theory proposed by the Government.

Surely, you know the story by now…

It was like one of those scenes we have have witnessed on television or in the movies. The Federal Investigators are looking for their “criminal mastermind”. They walk into a small branch of the San Framncisco public library and, there, chatting online, is their target. The half-dozen agents are directed to him by a cooperating witness and they close in.

He was known as “Dread Pirate Roberts”. In reality, he was 29-year-old-Ross William Ulbricht (hereinafter, the “Defendant”). He was sitting in front of his laptop last Tuesday, authorities said, talking about the vast black market bazaar that is believed to have brokered more than $1 billion in transactions for illegal drugs and services.

The Defendant was charged in the federal courts of both New York and Maryland. He stands accused of of making millions of dollars operating the secret Silk Road website and of a failed murder-for-hire scheme, all while living anonymously with two roommates whom he paid $1,000 to rent a room in a modest neighborhood. The Silk Road website, his alleged brain-child, was allegedly a place where users could browse anonymously through nearly 13,000 listings under categories like ”Cannabis,” ”Psychedelics” and ”Stimulants.”

As the federal criminal trial of James “Whitey” Bulger comes to a close, at least for the first time, it might be time to start thinking about our federal criminal law enforcers. After all, while Mr Bulger was the featured “bad guy” in the government’s own case, the FBI of not so long ago did not exactly come out smelling like a rose.

More like rotting sewage.

No doubt the Bureau, along with its sister agencies, did a lot of good things while they were also protecting rapist, thieves and murderers. On the other hand, given the amount of power they have over our lives, it seems a rather frightening choice to blindly give them a “pass”. Well, this Boston criminal lawyer would love to tell you that we learn from our mistakes.

…And so the battles begin. The judicial chess game. The “trial of the century”. This Boston criminal lawyer has been there many times. I know how it feels. It does not get any more intense than in a case like this.

Witnesses have begun to testify in James “Whitey” Bulger’s federal murder and racketeering trial. Today, the anticipated and controversial witness, John “The Executioner” Martorano, began his testimony, which will continue tomorrow. Already Mr. Martorano has done Mr. Bulger a big favor, with the help of prosecutors and the court. You see, as discussed last week, in this case full of shadowy and corrupt law enforcement (some of which lay at the doorway of the very office that is prosecuting Bulger), Mr. Martorano’s testimony has already provided the Bulger team a viable issue for appeal. That is, should the government win.

Everyone expects, by the way, the government to win.

Do not kid yourself. The case may be high profile, but these issues are hardly new. The only thing that might be regarded as novel is the variance from the normal rules by which the system treats the multiple murder case of United States vs James “Whitey” Bulger. This Long-time Boston criminal lawyer has been talking about this approach since Mr. Bulger was returned to the Commonwealth.

On Friday, you may have heard me interviewed about the latest occurrences in the Bulger case on WBZ (1030 AM radio). At the time, the defense had just brought a motion about an alleged shielding of government witness confessed hit man John Martorano in continuing criminal activities. at the time, it was not clear what that motion actually was.

It was, at its base, a discovery motion.

The federal trial may be beginning, but, as this Boston criminal lawyer can tell you, the attempts to control what evidence is presented to the jury continues. It will continue, by the way, throughout the trial.

At the start of any trial, motions in limine are brought to get advance rulings on evidence and procedure prior to the attorneys even address the jury. More than a dozen such motions were brought on Monday in Boston’s federal jury trial of United States vs. Bulger.

Let’s look at a few of these motions, as well as motions which have been brought since, and then step back and re-examine what all concerned are hoping to get out of this trial. Certain evidentiary issues have already been decided…for now. For example, the court has ruled (twice) that Bulger cannot present evidence relating to any immunity promised by the government as part of his defense. Issues as to families of purported victims of Bulger and limitations of their testimony have also been presented.