Articles Posted in Federal Crimes

Hey, anybody out there remember the movie (original or remake) of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre? Well, a Fitchburg woman experienced a scene more akin to that than the federal criminal investigation it turned out to be.

Everybody ended up taken by surprise in this horror story…

The Fitchburg woman, and her three-year-old daughter, ended up shocked by the chainsaw entrance of the FBI agents. The agents ended up surprised that they had accidently raided the wrong home!

The federal agents had come ready to seize drugs and guns and make the accompanying busts. However, while they had the right floor…they had the wrong apartment.

This, of course, was no solace when the woman who” just happened to glance over and saw this huge chainsaw ripping down the side of my door.” she said. Within moments, the chainsaw had cut through most of the door, and one of the agents kicked the rest of it in.

Then came the shout, “FBI! Get down!” and the clicking of a gun.

She hit the floor.

The dog was apparently barking and the young child was in another room screaming for her mother. An agent told her to get her dog and she did so, laying in the dog’s urine as she urinated on herself. The three-year-old continued screaming, but the agents told mommy not to move. Fearing she would be shot if she got up, she stayed on the floor as the child continued screaming.

The investigation which had led the agents to the home had been approximately two-years long. It took a little longer to determine they had the wrong place.

While an agent came back later to apologize, the woman says the apology did not seem genuine. “For me it felt (like a) routine apology, it felt like just a regular, ‘I’m sorry for the inconvenience. Here’s the phone number for your landlord to get reimbursed for the door, have a good day.’ And that’s how I felt, like it was a smack in the face.”

Attorney Sam’s Take On Investigations And Credibility

No, this is not simply me taking advantage of a mistake made by law enforcement in order to tear into them. As I have said in the past, I actually have a great deal of respect for most officers. They have an extremely difficult job and I think that most of them try to do it to the best of their ability.
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As James “Whitey” Bulger awaits trial for his part allegedly played in the murders of 19 people, the government’s day of judgment has already arrived.

Boston’s federal appeals court has upheld multi-million dollar judgments that had been awarded when the government was found liable for the deaths of three people allegedly murdered by Mr. Bulger. On Friday, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld the awards of $1.3 million, $350,000 and $1.1 million for the families of Debra Davis, Deborah Hussey and Louis Litif, respectively.

The court agreed with the trial court that the FBI showed “wildly reckless behavior” in the use of Bulger and his associate, Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi, as informants and shielding them from prosecution.

Steve Davis, the brother of Debra Davis, told The Boston Globe the appeals court’s decision shows his sister mattered.

Attorney Sam’s Take On Governmental Abuse And Double Standards

This was a civil lawsuit. In other words, the plaintiffs, private citizens, brought lawsuits against the government in order to receive damages…money. It was not a criminal prosecution.

There are various extra hoops an individual must jump through in order to bring a lawsuit against a state or federal government or one of its agencies. However, these hoops are nothing compared to the hoops one must jump through in seeking justice in the criminal courts against such an entity.
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John Analetto, 48, of Belmont is another gentleman who’s New Year’s weekend did not go terribly well. On Saturday, the 19-year- state police veteran bid his family adieu as he donned a new role in the criminal justice system.

He is hereinafter referred to as the “Defendant”.

Arrested on Saturday, the Defendant is being held in federal custody and is scheduled to face a probable cause hearing on Friday. He has been charged with extortion after allegedly threatening to kill a bookie and sexually assault his mother.

He is looking at a possible 20 year sentence if convicted.

The FBI says that the Defendant had loaned his bookie $24,000 last fall in return for a piece of the action. Apparently, there is an unfortunate audio recording from December wherein the Defendant warns the bookie (actually, and FBI informant), “Will I kill you? Ya, I’ll (expletive) kill you” when the Defendant faced not being paid back.

Last week, things got a bit more violent when the Defendant allegedly began head-butting and slapping the informant. An affidavit submitted by the prosecution also alleges that the informant was not the only target of the Defendant’s threats in that he had also left a message for a bettor, saying, “We’d appreciate if you contact the right people and start doing the right thing. Or 2012 isn’t going to be too good for you. … So Happy New Year to you and your mom and dad and family.”

The past two months have not been kind to the Massachusetts State Police and public corruption. For example, the Defendant now joins the ranks of a Captain who was arrested after leading Saugus officers on a chase down Route 1 and faces Massachusetts drunk driving charges and another Trooper who was found with an alleged prostitute.

Attorney Sam’s Take On Massachusetts Debt Collection And Remedies To Theft

With all the political debate about casinos, state lotteries and other types of betting in the Commonwealth, one might wonder when betting is illegal and when it is encouraged. However, you probably do not need an experienced Boston criminal lawyer to tell you that threatening to kill folks and sexually assault their mothers is generally frowned upon.
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Legal history is being played out again in Newark, New Jersey. The famous late trial attorney Clarence Darrow who handled ground-breaking cases like the Scopes (Monkey) Trial (as depicted in many movies and the film “Inherit The Wind”) was not only a renown criminal defense attorney.

He was also a criminal defendant, charged with jury tampering at one point. Today, a jury is hearing evidence and will soon determine the fate of another prominent defense attorney against whom the United States has brought criminal charges.

The lawyer, Paul Bergrin (hereinafter, “Defendant, Esq.”) was arrested in 2009 in connection with what the government claims wasa racketeering enterprise involving drugs, prostitution, money laundering and witness tampering.The witnesses against him? Former clients!

“When people are confronted with spending extraordinary amounts of time in jail, they will say anything and they will do anything to gain their release,” Defendant, Esq. told the jury during his opening statement in U.S. District Court. “The only way for them to do that is to cooperate with the government.”

Defendant, Esq. is not only the defendant in the case…he is also the defense attorney, representing himself.

The above-listed charges were severed by the court. Presently, He is facing trial on a murder charge. He is accused of murder and the criminal conspiracy to commit murder of a government informant, Deshawn “Kemo” McCray, who had been scheduled to testify against one of Defendant, Esq.’s clients.

According to the government, Defendant, Esq., provided Kemo’s name to his client’s associates, one of whom shot Kemo to death. The prosecution claims that Defendant, Esq. had told said associates, “No Kemo, no case.”

While this trial focuses on the allegations of murder, the prosecutors have been able to tell the jury about allegations of involvement in a drug operation. In his opening statement, the prosecutor described Defendant, Esq., as a “house counsel” for a Newark-based drug operation who gradually became involved in the drug trade himself and saw his own world about to fall apart if Kemo was to testify.

“That provides the motive for this crime,” the prosecutor told jurors. “He had a personal motive at this point; his neck was personally on the line.”
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It has been said that hard cases make bad law. Well, maybe. But it also seems that high profile cases tend to make sudden amendments to the law, twist it up into a pretzel and then eat away at it until it is no longer noticeable.

It is a fascinating time for people like me, who actually care about the system and what it is supposed to represent, to watch as rights are slowly eroded and the procedures themselves are bastardized.

I remind you of the “Who’s gonna pay for Whitey’s attorney now that the government has taken all his money circus” that we were treated to a week or so ago.

I understand that my opinions in this blog must anger a lot of people. Sorry about that. The problem is that I also have an annoying tendency to be correct. I direct you to the once-held-as-heroic travesties of South Hadley’s prosecutor and the following “super-tough” action of our legislature to bully Massachusetts bullies.

Well, in any case, prepare to be more aggravated than ever today.

Yesterday, Catherine Greig, longtime girlfriend of Whitey Bulger, began her detention hearing. However, the Magistrate Judge hearing the case is allowing so much venting of so many human systems, that one day was not enough. It is now continued until Wednesday.

On Wednesday, relatives of Whitey Bulger’s alleged victims are supposed to be heard.

By the way, if you were under the impression that the purpose of this hearing is to see whether Ms. Greig should be released on bail while awaiting a trial in which the government has yet to prove her (or Whitey, for that matter) guilty of something…you were actually correct. That’s right….this is not her actual trial. This is to determine incidentals like whether she is likely to return to court to answer the charges against her. By the way…those charges do not include murder, drug trafficking or other things which often “necessitate” someone being held without the Constitutional right to bail.

But, I digress.

The court’s unusual move was apparently made at the behest of United States Attorney Carmen Ortiz’ office. Yes, that would be the prosecution. One of the contestants of what is quickly becoming a new “best show on earth”. The court endorsed the wonderful idea that relatives of some of the 19 people Bulger is alleged to have killed, or whose death he is accused of orchestrating, be allowed to take the witness stand in US District Court.

You may be wondering how their testimony would be relevant to the issues at hand.

Me too.

But, that incidental aside, the important thing is that while the prosecution and defense are dealing with legal issues like bail, the relatives of alleged victims will finally have their first chance to speak in court and lash out at the bad guys before anyone is proven guilty of anything. Now, the logic of this might confuse you alittle. After all, usually such statements are not allowed unless and until a defendant is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

But, hey, look …people are not too happy with the justice system these days. After all, as discussed last week, a woman was found “not guilty” of the murder allegations brought against her which most onlookers thought was guilty. Further, a lot of people have been pretty angry with Whitey since he took off so long ago. Now, true, Ms. Greig has not even been charged with taking part in any of the murders…let’s face it…a detention hearing for Whitey would be laughable. These poor folks have been waiting around just chomping at the bit to lace into Whitey and his alleged deeds since Bulger’s capture last month. They’ve been pretty patient…why not throw them a bone?

I mean, who is it going to hurt? Ms. Greig? Come on, she’s a bad lady. She was with Whitey. Why should we do anything to preserve her rights?

Even the attorney for one of the families of an alleged Bulger victim admits surprise “I really haven’t seen it happen before,” he explained. Perhaps remembering who he was representing at the moment, he continued, “But this is such an unusual case that it’s really hard to compare this with happens with other cases.”

Of course! It is the perfect case in which to throw Constitutional safeguards out the window in favor of “feel good” rulings! After all…it’s good politics!

Oh, wait…you mean this isn’t the governmental arm that is supposed to be political?

Uh-oh.

Attorney Sam’s Take On Bad Guys And Constitutional Rights

Yesterday, I wrote about hypocrisy and it would appear that that “h”word has lifted its ugly head again. Perhaps we should just throw in the towel and handle these cases the way the government, and, it would seem, many of us, would prefer.
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IF you thought you heard me weighing in on wbz radio yesterday about my last blog’s subjected matter…you were right.

All afternoon long!

Somehow, issues like the right to counsel is important to me. No matter what we think of a particular criminal defendant.

And this defendant, although fascinating, is not very well-loved.

The orange jump-suited Whitey Bulger (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) was brought once again to Boston’s federal court yesterday afternoon via an escort that one would expect would be reserved for a comic book super villain, or at least the late Osama Bin Laden. With security in and around the building, the Defendant found himself surrounded by familiar faces.

There was, for example, the Donahue family…wife and son of one of the Defendant’s alleged victims. They are vowing to attend as many of the proceedings as possible.

Also, there was the so-called “provisional attorney” who has been appointed to represent the Defendant until someone else, private or court-appointed, takes over.

Also, a small bevy of lawyers were there…waiting in the wings to potentially become associated with this high-publicity criminal matter.

One person we know was not there.

That would be Brother Billy. Perhaps that had something to do with the fact that the government is trying to dip into his pockets to find monies that may arguably belong to the Defendant.

Earlier, federal prosecutors had moved to drop the 1994 racketeering indictment against Bulger in order, so they said, to focus on the later indictment that charged the Defendant for other crimes…such as 19 Massachusetts homicides.

In its papers, U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said that prosecutors consider the later 1999 indictment charging the Defendant with 19 murders to be the stronger case.

This is true. The Defendant faces life in prison, or death, on those charges. Further, even if the court were to forget that the Defendant had been “on the lam” for so long, it would not likely grant any chance of bail in the homicide cases.

This move brings a new wrinkle to the genesis of what already promises to be a long drawn out legal drama. You see, the Defendant has to decide whether to accept the dismissal or still try to force the government’s hand to prove him guilty.

What the government’s motion did do was to postpone the decision on whether the Defendant will receive court appointed counsel. As you may recall from Monday’s blog, the Defendant is saying that, without access to the monies that the government has already taken from him, he cannot afford to hire counsel.

The government is basically setting precedent by weighing in on the subject, arguing that there are other means by which the Defendant can procure counsel.

And so, aside from all expectations of an afternoon of legal action…nothing really got done. Instead, a new time-table was set by the court which is now to play out (at the moment, at least) this week.

Attorney Sam’s Take On Prosecutorial Investigations And Even Playing Fields

In the criminal justice system, whether it be state or federal, we like to fantasize that both sides have equal footing.
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I have often told you that the days in which the only people who have to worry about getting investigated or charged with wrongdoing was one of “Them” are long over. Them would be the “typical” criminal-type who spends his or her life engaging in criminal activity. Clearly, these are people who know upon each waking day that the day’s activities may well end with them in government custody.

I don’t think that Paul Brasco, president of the Waltham City Council, and Paul Tracey, a Waltham police officer, (collectively, the “Accused”) expected that they would suddenly find themselves subjects of an internal affairs investigation. Further, they probably never expected that said investigation would result in a request to the United States Attorney’s Office to look into bringing federal charges against them.

Yet, that is what has happened.

A tenant of Mr. Basco’s, 33-year-old Edgar Gonzalez, 33, (hereinafter, the “Tenant”) says that the Accused improperly threatened him with deportation during a visit back in February. As a result, he says that his civil rights were violated. The resulting investigations have found against the Accused. The Tenant is now asking the US Attorney to take action.

Brasco tells a sharply different story, saying that Gonzalez has no lease and is squatting on his property and that at no time did he and the officer threaten Tenant with deportation. He did, he says, only warn that he would be served with a notice of eviction within 24 hours.
Officer Tracey, may face disciplinary action after the internal investigation found he appears to have violated department policy by accompanying Brasco.

Tenant said through an interpreter yesterday that he had stopped paying rent because of malfunctioning lighting and heating in the apartment. He said that he is Guatemalan and that he has lived in Waltham for 18 years, but he declined to comment on whether he is a legal resident.

Brasco said he called Tracey because the officer is his neighbor and friend. Brasco said it was late in the evening, and he wanted to find out who was on his property so he could follow through with eviction proceedings. When his property management company could not send someone with him to the apartment, Brasco said, he asked Tracey, who was on duty, to meet him there.

Attorney Sam’s Take On Criminal Allegations And Free Speech

First of all, before you indulge your Constitutional Right to free speech argument, understand that your speech is not quite so free.
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