Federal Crimes

March 16, 2010

Scooby Doo Named In Ongoing Boston-Area Drug Investigation – Experienced Defense Attorney Needed

I live in the Boston area and, as I have mentioned from time to time, have kids. When I am not “fighting the good fight“, I try to spend some time with them. In this day and age, that will include some television. One of the shows we watch actually began when I was a kid…Scooby Doo.

Well, if your kids also watch the show, I suggest you hide today’s blog from them lest they lose all hope.

While on TV, Scooby is a hero, I have found a news story to shake the foundation of childhood fantasy.

Scooby has been arrested for heroin dealing.
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March 5, 2010

Attorney Sam’s Take: Boston Federal Prosecution For Embezzlement Exemplifies Need For Experienced Criminal Defense Attorneys

by Altman & Altman

More bad choices in the Boston area. Another defendant who needed a lawyer.

And now…another statistic. one more white collar conviction.

Richard W., 42 (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) apparently worked as a practice assistant in the ear, nose and throat department of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. From January 2006 through April 2009, he is said to have stolen more than $1 million by stealing checks written to the department and by seeking fraudulent refunds for hearing aids and other items.

This is called the white collar crime of embezzlement.

On the 3rd, the Defendant pleaded guilty before the Honorable United States District Court Judge Joseph L. Tauro to one count of health care theft and embezzlement, the US attorney’s office said in a statement.
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February 24, 2010

Massachusetts Kidnapper Faces Charges In Federal And Two State Courts

by Altman & Altman

Message from a Boston criminal defense attorney to Ms. Kimberly J., 38 (hereinafter, the :Defendant”) – it is not as bad as you think.

It is actually worse.

The Defendant had been wanted by Massachusetts law enforcement in the alleged kidnapping Thursday of her half-sister’s one-year-old daughter. She has been apprehended in Altona, Pennsilvania and immediately arrested by investigating officers. The Defendant had been staying at a women’s shelter where she is said to have been using an alias and a stolen I.D.

Lest you think she is inconsistent, though, she was also allegedly driving a stolen vehicle .

The one that was apparently used in the abduction.
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February 11, 2010

Larceny Suspect From Boston Municipal Court Is Indicted On Fraud Charges

by Altman & Altman

George P., a 48-year-old man from Medford, (hereinafter, the “Defendant”), has been indicted by a Suffolk County Grand Jury in Boston. This means that if he has a court-appointed lawyer, he or she had best be “superior court certified”. Somehow, though, given the charges…the Department of Probation may not find him indigent.

He is charged with stealing millions of dollars from former employers and covering those thefts by overbilling his clients. Specifically, the charge is four counts of larceny over $250 and procurement fraud. When he was arraigned in district court in December, he was released on $25,000 bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned in superior court later this month.

Unbeknownst to the Defendant, the attorney general’s office had been investigating him for months. They were looking into his actions while under the employment of two construction management companies. The Commonwealth claims that, while serving as vice president of a company in the Greater Boston area, he “routinely submitted reimbursement requests that contained fake receipts, invoices, and correspondence.”

The company allegedly relied on the Defendant’s documentation and paid him several million dollars in reimbursements from 2007 until his departure in January 2009.
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January 7, 2010

Massachusetts law enforcement official pleads guilty in federal white collar investigation

by Altman & Altman

For those of you who still hold fast to the fantasy that law enforcement never lies, prepare for a shock. Of course, this case does not feature law enforcement lying to convict a defendant. Instead, it is a Massachusetts law enforcement official lying to federal law enforcement who needs a criminal defense attorney.

Arlindo R., a 37-year-old former Stoughton police detective, (hereinafter, the “Defendant), admitted in federal court yesterday that he lied to FBI agents during an ongoing investigation into corruption in the police department and had promised to help authorities in their probe.

The Defendant pleaded guilty in US District Court in Boston to one count of making false statements last July 13. Agents had asked whether he knew of Stoughton police officers receiving stolen gift cards and other items from an informant secretly cooperating with the FBI. According to the government, the Defendant had been among the recipients.
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December 22, 2009

East Boston Reacts To Federal Indictments And Bail Hearing In Drug Case

by Altman & Altman

A Boston federal drug case is keeping lawyers and politicians on their feet.

Yesterday, there was a detention hearing for Lawrence T., 51, of wakefield (hereinafter, “Defendant 1”). He stands accused of illegal sale of OxyContin. Defendant 1 has a co-defendant, John F., 31 (hereinafter, “Defendant 2”). Defendant 2 just happens to be a key City Hall operative who faces an indictment charging him with the drug crimes.

Well, Defendant 2’s status as an “operative” is a bit more specific than that…he is Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s neighborhood liaison to East Boston. His indictment came down on Thursday for possession with intent to distribute OxyContin and possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

East Boston residents are speaking out about the matter, pointing out that drugs have been a plague on the neighborhood for years. But, now, there is even more evidence of how “high up” the problem reaches –namely, the arrest of one of the area’s rising political stars.
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December 1, 2009

Massachusetts Assault And Robbery Lead To Arrest For White Collar Crime And Possible Federal Prosecution

by Altman & Altman

Recovery from a long weekend, such as the Thanksgiving weekend we have just enjoyed, can mean different things to different people. For me, for example, it meant waking up yesterday not being able to get online and so not posting my blog (sorry about that, by the way). For Sonny T., 21, of Wareham (hereinafter referred to as the “Defendant”), it meant being in contact with his new criminal defense attorney and dealing with fallout from some alleged indiscretions over the holiday.

These indiscretions include criminal charges such as counterfeiting, armed robbery and assault.

According to the Commonwealth, the Defendant was not in the most thankful of moods last Thursday night when he met up with two people he knew at an oil change business.

Violently unthankful.
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November 12, 2009

Cambridge Man Suspected Of Armed Robbery, Assault And Larceny Faces Federal Prosecution

by Altman & Altman

The Cambridge Police Department is on the hunt for a gentleman who may end up actually being prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office in Federal District Court. This time, it is a white collar crime, as well as a crime of violence, and it reads like the backdrop to the 2002 movie “Catch Me If You Can”

The investigation is not a new one. In fact, the Cambridge Police issued an arrest warrant for 45-year old John B. (hereinafter, the “Suspect”) back on April 9th. While the authorities believe the Suspect is still in the area, he has yet to be caught. In the meantime, he keeps changing his identity. His primary two aliases are a gun toting federal agent and, the other, a well-dressed restaurant owner.

While the chase is on, he has been able to cheat his unsuspecting victims out of thousands of dollars.

Police say the Suspect’s method of operation is to meet his victims at their homes under the pretense of selling them a dark blue Chrysler 300. He then robs them or simply drives them somewhere, takes their money and then drives off.
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October 26, 2009

Celebrity Suspect Is Arrested North Of Boston In Drug Sting

by Altman & Altman

Welcome to the year 2009, more than twenty years after 1984, which was the title of a famous book by George Orwell. The book depicted a society where “Big Brother”, the government, was always watching. Ironically, while the show “Big Brother” was not the downfall of Adam J., a 31-year-old PR executive, (hereinafter, the “Defendant”), the government was. It was about a week ago, while in Massachusetts, that he developed the need for a defense attorney.

Big Brother is a CBS reality show that films contestants 24 hours, 7 days a week and makes them evict fellow houseguests one by one for a chance to win the big prize. The Defendant won the money in April 2008. He may not have been evicted then, but he risks being convicted now.

The charge? He is charged with, and has purportedly admitted to, trying to sell 2,000 oxycondone pills to a government informant. He is also said to have admitted that he used his $500,000 Big Brother prize money to purchase the drugs, which he distributed along the east coast for months.
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October 6, 2009

Man Accused of Stalking Erin Andrews is Released on Bail

by Altman & Altman

The man charged with interstate stalking using harassing and intimidating surveillance for making a nude video of ESPN sportscaster Erin Andrews was released from police custody today. A judge ordered Michael David Barrett to wear an electronic bracelet. He is prohibited him from using the Internet.

The 47-year-old man allegedly tried to sell footage of a nude Andrews to the Website TMZ.com. He also is accused of uploading video of other women onto the Internet.

According to an FBI affidavit, most of the Andrews footage was shot while she was a guest at the Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt University in September 2008. The lawyer for Andrews says that Barrett asked the hotel put him in the room next to the one where Andrews was staying. He then allegedly modified the peephole so he could use a cell phone camera to shoot the nude footage of the reporter.