Articles Posted in Federal Crimes

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The attorneys in the Chuck Turner corruption case are expected to make opening statements today, Already, however, issues have arisen which cast doubt on Mr. Turner’s ability to have a fair trial. In other words, from the defense’ view, should there be a conviction, appeal issues have already begun to present themselves..

Last week, we discussed the government’s witness who no longer wishes to be a witness in the white collar criminal case
As the week went on, jury selection began.

As you know, the purpose of jury selection is to pose various questions to prospective jurors to weed out those who cannot be fair and impartial to both the defendant and the government. One of the areas in which the court inquires is whether or not the prospective jurors already have heard anything about the case prior to the trial. This is because the jury is supposed to limit their consideration of the facts to the evidence as presented at trial.

As you also know, every fact that exists about a matter, or that was reported in the press, is not necessarily admissible at trial.

Well, it would appear that many of the prospective jurors in the Turner case already knew something of this case prior to coming to federal court to potentially sit on it. Some knew the basic outline of the federal corruption case, others barely anything at all.

But one thing was engraved on the minds of many: the explosive photographs of former state senator Dianne Wilkerson and Turner allegedly taking bribes in 2007 and 2008
In particular, several prospective jurors mentioned a widely disseminated picture of Wilkerson stuffing 10 $100 bills into her bra at No. 9 Park, a posh restaurant near the State House.

Game over for said potential jurors? Not quite.
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The federal white collar trial for City Councilor Chuck Turner is set to begin today. Already, the human drama and strategic dances have begun and nary a juror has been selected (or rejected) yet.

And, actually, that’s the way it should be.

The trend is for courts to try to avoid any last minute surprises during the trial. The issue presenting itself here is regarding one of the main witnesses against Mr. Turner.

As you may recall, charges were brought against Turner and, in a related matter, Diane Wilkerson for corruption. For his part, Turner is accused with accepting a bribe. In fact, the United States Attorney claims that there is video showing Turner accepting the bribe from Ron Wilburn, a businessman (hereinafter, the “Witness”) trying to get a liquor license. During the investigation, the F.B.I. claims that Turner lied to them about the events.

The Witness is now apparently claiming his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, trying to refuse to testify. This, of course, means that he has broken any agreement he might have had with the prosecution and may be looking at imprisonment himself.

No word from Ms. Wilkerson who has already pleaded guilty, but who’s sentencing is still pending.
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Some MA folks think that the authorities only conduct criminal investigations into drug operations when the drugs, themselves, are illegal, such as in the cases of heroin, cocaine and marijuana.

These people should think again.

Take the case of Marino S., of Peabody (hereinafter, the “Defendant”), for example. Suffolk County prosecutors allege that he is a major supplier of prescription drugs in Greater Boston. He was arrested for the second time in nearly three months on Friday.

In fact, the arrest took place as he entered the Boston Municipal Court.

The Defendant was entering the BMC when state police and federal agents arrested him on charges that he was the kingpin of a drug ring responsible for 5,000 Percocet pills seized at the MBTA’s Copley Square station on Thursday, according to Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley’s office.
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Usually, the “Attorney Sam’s Take” postings take place on Fridays. However, this past week, I was finishing a jury trial and so could not post in a timely manner. I did not feel I could not simply shelve this subject, though, because we may have solved a problem plaguing the criminal justice system…in Boston and beyond.

As you have probably, heard, the ten alleged Russian agents recently rounded up in the Boston area and other parts of the Northeast, have pleaded guilty at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Most of the defendants admitted that they are Russian citizens and are agents working for the Russian Federation.

The sentence?

Well, a swap has been arranged. The Russian Federation will receive the spies in their custody and in turn will release four individuals claimed to be connected to American intelligence agencies, according to the United States Department of Justice.

In a Department of Justice press release, Attorney General Eric Holder said, “This was an extraordinary case, developed through years of work by investigators, intelligence lawyers, and prosecutors, and the agreement we reached today provides a successful resolution for the United States and its interests.”

Everybody is excited about this solution.
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This weekend, we have been celebrating the birth of our country. Even a Boston criminal defense attorney recognizes the importance in that. In the meantime, the Cambridge couple (hereinafter, the “Defendants”) who were among 10 people arrested in three cities last week as part of an alleged Russian spy ring have been arraigned in Federal Court and await an opportunity to make bail and recover their freedom.

Good luck.

The government says that the Defendants were sent to live in the United States under false identities to hobnob in spheres of influence, an idea one civil liberties lawyer called laughable given their jobs as a software company executive and a real estate agent.

“These so-called spies really had a racket,” said Harvey Silverglate, author of Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent. “The idea that they were going to pick up useful intelligence in the circles they were moving in is absurd. They have defrauded the Russian intelligence agencies and gotten a decade of free support in exchange for no useful information.”

As Attorney Silverglate also points out, unless the investigation the FBI conducted over nearly a decade yields more damning evidence than what has so far been released, the people most harmed by the whole affair, Silverglate said, may turn out to be the American taxpayers.
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Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr is having a field day on this one. Who can blame him?: The surface-layer ironies here are numerous!

“Hey”, he muses, “they don’t call it the Red Line for nothing.”

The rollicking news that some Cambridge residents have been arrested and accused of being Russian spies should be enough to keep us in stitches with puns focusing on titles like “Reds”, “Ruskies” and ( of course) “The People’s Republic Of Cambridge” for weeks to come.

Anyone out there miss the “good old days” of the 1950’s? Here is your chance to experience yesteryear.

The story treating us to all this hilarity is the arrests of accused Russian agent Donald Heathfield and his wife, Tracey Lee Ann Foley (hereinafter, collectively, the “Defendants”), among others in other locations not as humorous, for espionage. According to federal authorities their investigation shows that they are a part of a Russian spy ring arrested this past weekend.

It remains in doubt, according to the federal prosecutors, how much useful information from the Defendants or their co-defendants actually reached Moscow. It is clear, however, that the Defendants and their alleged cohorts were in places where valuable information was available.
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Benjamin F. Haskell, one of three white men who originally pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges in a civil rights violation related to the burning of a predominantly black Springfield church, is scheduled to plead guilty during a change of plea hearing on Wednesday. It has not been revealed what charge he will plead guilty to is or whether there is a plea agreement involved.

Haskell, 23, Michael Jacques, 25, and Thomas Gleason Jr. 22, were charged in connection with a blaze that destroyed the Macedonia Church of God in Christ on November 5, 2008, just hours after President Obama was elected. All three men were arrested in January 2009 based on information provided by an informant.

The defendants allegedly confessed that they entered the church, which was under construction at the time, through a side window and used about five gallons of gas to douse the structure on the outside and the inside. Three firefighters sustained minor injuries as they attempted to put out the blaze.

Gleason and Jacques have pleaded not guilty to charges of damaging religious property because of race, color, or ethnic characteristics, civil rights violations, and using fire to commit a felony. Their criminal defense lawyer attempted to get their confessions tossed out as evidence on the grounds that law enforcement officials allegedly threatened and bullied the two men during hours of interrogation but a judge denied that motion. Haskell, who is facing lesser criminal charges, did not take part in the suppression hearings.

Guilty plea expected in Mass. black church arson, AP, June 13, 2010
Tipster led authorities to 3 men charged with setting Macedonia Church of God in Christ on fire hours after President Obama elected, court testimony indicates, MassLive, May 26, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Post-election church arson at predominantly black parish probed as possible hate crime, MassLive, November 5, 2008
Federal Crimes, Cornell University Law School Continue reading

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Last week, the Boston legal community had alittle excitement which spread from Capitol Hill to the United States District Court. That’s right, the federal one.

Many people are still debating it and question whether it should have happened. As for me, although I had not had a chance to blog on it yet, I was interviewed on WBZ radio (1030 on your a.m. dial). That interview, incidently, can be found here.

In case you had not heard, former state Senator. Dianne Wilkerson pleaded guilty to eight counts of attempted extortion and now faces up to four years in jail when she’s sentenced this fall.

Ms. Wilkerson had been arrested in October 2008, prior to leaving the State House office she held for six terms, on indictments alleging she pocketed $23,500 in bribes between 2002 and 2008, including $1,000 she was photographed stuffing in her bra at an upscale Beacon Hill restaurant.

The Roxbury Democrat was to go on trial June 21. Thinking better of it as time grew shorter, she came to an agreement with the federal prosecutors and, last week, she pleaded guilty.
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I thought this was an ironic follow-up to Monday’s blog. It involves a former official for the US Department of Homeland Security. She was just convicted in Boston of encouraging her illegal immigrant housekeeper to remain in the country.

She is Lorraine H., 52, (hereinafter, the “Defendant”). She had been Boston’s port director for Customs and Border Protection. The guilty finding was apparently a shock to both the Defendant and her attorney.

According to news accounts, her only comment was, “I’m stunned” .

Her lawyer’s comment was “I’m sick”.

The case carries an important message that we do not discuss that often on the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog.
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Has anyone else noticed that air travel has become a bit more tense in recent years? Gee, you go to Boston’s Logan International Airport and you would think it had been involved in a terrorist act sometime over the past ten years or something! In fact, sometimes you feel you should bring a lawyer along just in case..

Some people find that they need a lawyer as they leave the airport.

Today’s case in point is Paul P., 50 of Sanford, Maine (hereinafter, the “Defendant”). Last week, he ended Saint Patrick’s Day (Evacuation Day in Suffolk County) detained by the Massachusetts State Police at Logan.

The Defendant’s troubles began when he “accidently” lit a match on a flight bound for Logan that fateful night. This apparently occurred when he removed a book of them from his pocket during the flight.
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