Illinois Lawyer Referrals and Legal Guidance

The best time to hire a Federal criminal defense attorney is as soon as you think you are under investigation

Unlike charges in State court, when the Federal government arrests you they almost always go for a conviction. There are many reasons for this, the least of which is because the government spends a lot of time, money and resources investigating a case.

If you are charged with a Federal crime it is likely that the government will seek jail time. Even if you are innocent you will incur significant expenses in defending yourself. To reduce these costs and avoid the possibility of jail time, the best thing you can do is hire a lawyer as soon as you believe you are under investigation. A lawyer will talk to the government for you and without saying things that can be used against you, can often negotiate a plea deal that keeps you out of jail or help the FBI see that you have done nothing inappropriate.

The FBI will work with you if you work with them. A good Federal defense attorney will make sure you don’t say anything that can harm you, but will also make sure that if possible you avoid an arrest at all.

The best time to hire a Federal criminal defense attorney is as soon as you think you are under investigation

Unlike charges in State court, when the Federal government arrests you they almost always go for a conviction. There are many reasons for this, the least of which is because the government spends a lot of time, money and resources investigating a case.

If you are charged with a Federal crime it is likely that the government will seek jail time. Even if you are innocent you will incur significant expenses in defending yourself. To reduce these costs and avoid the possibility of jail time, the best thing you can do is hire a lawyer as soon as you believe you are under investigation. A lawyer will talk to the government for you and without saying things that can be used against you, can often negotiate a plea deal that keeps you out of jail or help the FBI see that you have done nothing inappropriate.

The FBI will work with you if you work with them. A good Federal defense attorney will make sure you don’t say anything that can harm you, but will also make sure that if possible you avoid an arrest at all.

It can take months for a defendant to be sentenced once they are convicted in Federal court.

When you are found guilty in a Federal court, there are guidelines that help a judge decide what your sentence should be. But even though you have been found guilty, prosecutors, defense lawyers and a probation office that advises the court will still argue over exactly what harm your crime caused and as a result which guidelines the judge should go by in making his/her decision.

For example, if you are convicted of bank fraud in the amount of $100,000.00 your sentence would be less than if your actions caused a ten million dollar loss. It’s not usually crystal clear how much the loss was and that is why at the end of the trial there is still a lot of work to do. If you have been convicted of a Federal crime, you should make sure that your lawyer has expertise in the sentencing phase of your crime. Failure to do so could literally land you in jail for many months or years more than would have happened with the right lawyer. If you need an attorney referral please call us at (312) 346-5320.

Disgraced NFL quarterback Michael Vick got a 23 month prison sentence which was more jail time than any of his co-defendants. While cynics would argue that Vick got a longer sentence because of his celebrity, the reality is likely it was something else.

We believe Vick got a longer sentence because he originally lied to Federal investigators and because he used marijuana while out on bail. Staying off of drugs was a condition of his release and we think the judge took this as a sign that Vick wasn’t taking the process seriously. Lying to investigators is also viewed as a slap in the face by the judge.

Vick is just one of many celebrities and non-celebrities (Marion Jones is the latest) who are spending time in jail for the cover up as much as the crime. If you are investigated by the government, don’t lie. If you can’t tell the truth exercise your right not to answer.

Five quick tips for anyone who is being investigated or charged with a Federal crime.

No case is the same as another, but if you face being a defendant in a Federal crime, we highly suggest the following:

1. Don’t talk without a lawyer present. As they say, anything you say can and will be used against you. You have a right to say nothing.
2. Don’t lie. Countless people go to jail every year for lying to investigators. It’s better to say nothing at all than lie.
3. Only hire a lawyer who can show a track record of defending cases in Federal Court. The rules in Federal Court are much different than state court. Hiring a former Federal prosecutor can ultimately be the difference between winning and losing.
4. If you are going to seek a plea deal, it’s usually best to be the first defendant to do so rather than the last.
5. Be honest with your lawyer. If they don’t have the whole story and get surprised by something at court it can destroy your case.

Not one Federal or state wiretap request was rejected in 2006.

According to a recently published report, all 1,839 wiretap requests that were made in 2006 were granted by the judge's who were charged with making that decision. As everyone knows, there was a big controversy last year about the Bush administration wiretapping people without court permission.

It seems pretty clear that if a wiretap is needed to pursue Federal crime charges or fight terrorism, a court will surely grant it. In the end it seems that the whole uproar was much ado about nothing because had the Justice Department, CIA or FBI just gone into court (which takes almost no time), they would have legally been able to obtain the wiretaps that they sought.

The Conrad Black Federal crime trial in Chicago may be delaying R Kelly from having his day in court.

Musician R Kelly was supposed to go to trial on charges of having sex with a minor last year. The trial was delayed when the judge got ill. Now Kelly's criminal defense attorney, Ed Genson, is representing Conrad Black in a Federal crime trial that should take months. When an attorney is working on one case, they can't be working on another. As a result, the R Kelly trial won't happen any time in the foreseeable future. While he does have a right to a speedy trial, if Kelly wants Genson as his attorney he will have to wait. The guess here is that he is happy to delay things as long as possible. The longer it takes to go to trial, the better the chance that a witness will not be seen as having a credible memory. Plus since Kelly is free on bond with permission to travel, he can come and go as he pleases. We guess that if this case is going to trial it won't be until this fall at the earliest and likely not until 2008.

Conrad Black goes on trial. The world watches. Chicago yawns.

Former Chicago Sun Times big wig Conrad Black is on trial in Chicago's Federal criminal court facing a whole series of charges that he stole from shareholders. Because Mr. Black has such high standing in countries like Canada, England and Australia, there is an incredible amount of coverage going on worldwide with this trial. The courtroom is packed every day and the amount of spectators rivals that of the George Ryan trial. Yet even though he ran a Chicago newspaper, most people in Chicago don't know who Conrad Black is and more importantly most don't care. Meanwhile, there are scores of other Federal criminal cases going on at the Dirksen Building and there is almost no coverage of any of it.

Did you know????

When it comes to sentencing in Federal crime cases, the judge's are guided by a points system. Essentially, the type of crime that you are convicted of carries a certain amount of points. It is also relevant whether or not you have any criminal background. You get less points if you plead guilty and more points for factors like financial loss. The greater the financial loss, the more points you will receive. In other words, someone convicted of bank fraud that resulted in a $1,000,000.00 loss will get a greater sentence than someone who caused a $100,000.00 loss.

The guidelines aren't mandatory, but a judge's decision can be reversed if they stray too far from them. A copy of the guidelines is available at http://www.ussc.gov/2005guid/5a.htm. If you have any questions or need a referral to a Federal crime defense attorney in Illinois, please call us at (312) 346-5320.

Vice-President Cheney will not testify in the trial of aid Scooter Libby

The defense team for former aid to Dick Cheney, Scooter Libby, has decided not to call the V.P. or the defendant in his Federal crime trial. Mr. Libby is charged with perjury before a grand jury and obstruction of justice.

Man charged with extortion for trying to collect $150,000 from pro athlete

Demanding money from another in exchange for keeping quiet with personal information is extortion and it is against the law. Not only can a person face fines that far exceed the amount they were demanding, they can also face prison time.

An illustration of this point occurred recently when a professional athlete impregnated a woman from central Illinois, and her father demanded $150,000 from the athlete in exchange for his leaving the athlete alone. Now, the father could face up to 20 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines if convicted.

Are we going to see a whole new set of U.S. attorneys?

Each Federal district in the United States has a main U.S. attorney that runs the office. These lawyers are appointed by the President with input from the Senate. In Illinois there are three Federal districts. It was just revealed that in the last Patriot Act, language was slipped in that allows the President to unilaterally appoint U.S. attorneys. This was allegedly done to make sure the head lawyers are adept at fighting terrorism. Skeptics think that politics have a lot more to do with this. Fuel was added to the fire recently when the lead U.S. attorney in San Francisco resigned. The rumor mill has started that he was forced out in part because of the BALCO scandal. It will be interesting to see who the replacement is and if the BALCO cases take a different path from here on out.

How much influence do corporations have over who gets prosecuted?

According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, The Chamber of Commerce and leaders of big companies have been lobbying the Justice Department and Bush administration to stop going after white collar crime as aggressively as they have. In other words, since these companies donate a lot of money they want to be spared the tough scrutiny they face. In our opinion this is ridiculous. The Justice Department shouldn't even listen to pleas like this. It's one thing for a bank to point out schemes that they want to stop, but when someone doesn't get prosecuted because they know the right person or they work at the right company that is a violation of everything that is decent about our legal system.

Federal Court is a different universe than state and county court.

Although the rules of evidence are the same, the process of Federal Court criminal (and civil) cases is much more formal than what you see in state and county court houses in Illinois. If you are facing federal criminal charges in any of the Illinois Federal Courts, you are best served by getting a criminal defense lawyer that focuses his/her practice in those courts. Not only are the connections that they make important to you, but the formalities and desires of the various judges are extremely important to a case and could be the difference between winning and losing. In most, but not all situations, we recommend former U.S. Attorneys who are now criminal defense lawyers. Their experience and connections are vital when your life is on the line.

What you read isn't always true.

Although I am sure that this will surprise no one, I am really shocked at the difference between what was really reported on a federal crime trial in one of the Chicago papers as compared to what is actually happening. If you had read the account in the paper, you would assume that the defendant is guilty. However, the account in the paper made no mention of the web of lies that we saw from the prosecution witnesses who had struck a deal with the government and had a background as convicted drug dealers. Having seen the trial first hand, it is really disturbing that the newspapers in Chicago don't always take a more neutral tone. While we are not mentioning the specific case out of respect for the privacy of the defendant, we will not at all be surprised to see a finding of not guilty be entered in the case we were observing.

When does an employer have to worry about a gender-based-pay lawsuit?

Under federal law, there is a 180-day filing deadline for gender-based-pay discrimination lawsuits under the Civil Rights Act. Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the question of whether the clock should start running when an employee is first hired or whether the clock restarts each time a paycheck is issued. Although the justices are waiting to render their opinion in July, some of them have already made their opinions known. Justice Ginsberg said that each check is rooted in discrimination and should create an independent basis for a claim. On the other hand, Justice Roberts stated that employers should not be penalized for pay decisions that employees seemingly consented to for years.

Does a city have the right to seize the cars of unlicensed drivers?
U.S. court says Waukegan’s car seizure policy is unconstitutional.

Up until recently, the city of Waukegan has been seizing and impounding cars that are driven by unlicensed drivers. This past week, an opinion by U.S. District Court Justice Lefkow declared Waukegan’s seizing and impounding ordinance unconstitutional. In compliance with the Fourth Amendment, any seizure by the government must be reasonable. Because there was no reasonable basis such as public safety for impounding the vehicles, the seizure ordinance was declared unconstitutional.

State prison is liable for inmate’s rape of employee.

An employee of a Wisconsin state prison complained to the warden about a threatening inmate and expressed that she was afraid that the inmate might rape her. The warden apologized to the employee and stated that accommodations would be made to prevent the inmate from threatening the employee in the future. Days later, the employee was brutally raped by the inmate and he escaped the prison in her car. The employee sued the prison under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. A jury found the prison liable for $300,000 for subjecting the employee to a hostile work environment based on her sex.

Couple faces federal criminal charges for overt sexual activity on an airplane.

A California couple made out on an airplane from California to North Carolina. At certain points during the trip, the couple’s behavior bothered other passengers. Apparently the man was kissing the woman on her chest and in between her legs. When a flight attendant told them to stop, they complied for a while but then started right back up again. When the flight attendant told them to stop a second time, the man allegedly yelled at the flight attendant and told her to get out of his face. When the flight landed in North Carolina, police officers were waiting for the couple. Now, the couple faces federal charges for refusing to stop overt sexual activity on an airplane. They are claiming that the man was sick and that the flight attendant misinterpreted their actions.

Software accounting fraud scandal ends in 12-year sentence for CEO.

Last week, a 44-year-old software CEO was sentenced to prison for 12 years and fined $8 million for orchestrating an accounting scandal in order to report over $2 billion in false revenue. The CEO was heavily involved in backdating contracts and completing deals days after the quarter-end and removing time stamps so that the deals could be reported as having been completed in previous quarters. As a result, the accounting scandal cost investors $400 million and was grounds for a life-sentence. The US District Court judge probably gave the CEO a lesser sentence because he apologized before the court and admitted that what he did was wrong. However, the judge was still irritated that the CEO refused to admit that the scandal cost shareholders an estimated $400 million.

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Is the SEC paying close enough attention to hedge funds?
Senate begins review of SEC investigations

The Securities and Exchange Commission is responsible for policing US financial markets. The SEC opened 975 investigations in 2004, 947 in 2005, and so far this year, it has begun 939 investigations. The Senate’s concern is that the SEC has not been coming down hard enough on hedge funds. Hedge funds control more than $1.2 trillion in assets and for the most part, dominate the world’s markets. The Senate wants to make sure that powerful and influential members of hedge funds are not getting access to private information.

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