As reported in the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia convicted Lance Emanuel Brown yesterday of malice mischief, for throwing a brick through the glass door of the U.S. Post Office and Courthouse in Columbus, Georgia. Brown’s act of vandalism resulted in $1,400 worth of damage. Brown… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Miscellaneous
Subscribe to Miscellaneous RSS FeedFour Year Blog Anniversary
Posted in MiscellaneousWell, it says something about me that on the biggest day of celebration in our little town of Savannah, St. Patrick’s Day, I started my blogging career, March 17, 2008. Tomorrow there are reportedly going to be a million folks wandering the azalea lined streets here, but I’m headed out at zero dark thirty to… Continue Reading
New Hampshire Jury Deadlocked in Case Against Woman with Alleged Involvement in Rwandan Genocide
Posted in MiscellaneousImage source: www.travel-to.info/2011/09/rwanda-the-most-hilly-place-of-the-world/ Beatric Munyenyezi may be found guilty on two counts of lying on applications to enter the U.S. in her trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire. Far, far more disturbing, Munyenyezi may also have been a ringleader in the 1994 genocide of ethnic Tutsis in Rwanda. Some allege… Continue Reading
Injustice in the U.S.
Posted in MiscellaneousIn a deeply troubling speech related to our criminal justice system, TED Talks has a powerful 24 minute talk from Alabama attorney, Bryan Stevenson, that reflects on our criminal justice system. He points out that, "This country is very different than it was 40 years ago. In 1972, there were 300,000 people in jails and prisons…. Continue Reading
DOJ E Discovery Guidelines
Posted in MiscellaneousThe Department of Justice has recently developed a best practices guide for the production of electronically stored information. The protocol was established by the Department of Justice in collaboration with the Office of the Federal Public Defender, the U.S. Administrative Office of the Courts and private counsel. The 21 page protocol is being disseminated to U.S…. Continue Reading
Government Opposes Clemens’ Request for Legal Fees and Costs Relating to Mistrial
Posted in Immunity, Miscellaneous, MistrialAs reported in the Wall Street Journal Law Blog, the government has opposed former MLB pitcher Roger Clemens’ request for reimbursement of the legal fees and costs incurred by him in the government’s prosecution of Clemens for perjury, false statements and obstruction of justice. Clemens’ trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia… Continue Reading
Georgia Resident and DOD Employee Charged with Bribery
Posted in MiscellaneousAs reported by Reuters, Desi Deandre Wade, of Climax, Georgia, was a chief of fire and emergency services for U.S. Department of Defense, based in Kabul, Afghanistan. Wade has been charged with allegedly accepting a $95,000 bribe from a contractor in exchange for providing the contractor with quotes from competing bidders. Wade was arrested last… Continue Reading
New Atlanta FBI Team to Investigate Corruption Among Georgia Judges and Legislators
Posted in MiscellaneousImage source: http://www.georgiaworkerscompensationlawyerblog.com In other Federal law enforcement news, the Houston Chronicle reports that the FBI has assembled a new team to investigate corruption among judges and legislators in Georgia. Brian Lamkin, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Atlanta Office, told reporters that the team was formed in response to a string of recent corruption… Continue Reading
Economic Concerns Driving DOJ’s Prosecutorial Discretion in Large Corporate Prosecutions; Government Files Civil Suit Against Deutsche Bank Over Alleged Massive Mortgage Fraud
Posted in Fraud, MiscellaneousFederal officials last week announced that Deutsche Bank and its mortgage division, MortgageIT, allegedly engaged in fraud on a massive scale as a civil complaint was filed against Deutsche Bank. The complaint alleges that the massive German bank allegedly defrauded the government of up to $1.2 billion through alleged reckless lending practices. The Federal Housing… Continue Reading
World Duck Calling Champion Indicted for Illegal Trafficking and Hunting of Ducks and Geese
Posted in MiscellaneousJeffrey B. Foiles, of Pleasant Hill, Illinois, was a world duck calling champion. According to ConnectTriStates.com and an indictment in the Central District of Illinois, Mr. Foiles was also allegedly a trafficker in ducks and geese and seller of guided waterfowl hunts in which hunters killed ducks and geese in excess of legal bag limits…. Continue Reading
Head of Georgia Medical Equipment Provider Indicted for Medicare Fraud; Atlanta Inmate Indicted for Selling “Cooperation” Information to Defendants
Posted in Fraud, MiscellaneousSamuel Curtis, III, a Texas resident, has been charged with four counts of health care fraud and aggravated identity theft in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia for allegedly attempting to steal more than $500,000 from Medicare, according to an article in the Florida Times-Union. Curtis is alleged to have operated… Continue Reading
Atlanta Investment Firm C.S. Capital Management, Inc., Ordered to Pay $2 Million in Restitution to Plumbers and Pipefitters Pension Plan
Posted in MiscellaneousPaul Saylor Capital Management Department Labor Plumbers Pipefitters pension plan consent order restitution bonds Playa Vista Atlanta Los Angeles interest
Operation Broken Trust Targets Financial Crime in Georgia
Posted in Fraud, MiscellaneousAccording to a news release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia, Attorney General Eric Holder announced last week the results of Operation Broken Trust, an unprecedented nationwide law enforcement operation targeting a variety of investment schemes. President Obama established an inter-agency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, consisting of federal agencies, regulatory authorities,… Continue Reading
President Obama Issues Pardons; To Rob or Not to Rob? 78 Year-Old Georgia Man Charged With Bank Robbery
Posted in MiscellaneousToday’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution has an article on the nine pardons announced by the White House on Friday–the first pardons issued by President Obama. The pardons related to a variety of offenses dating all the way back to 1960. Only recipient appears to have been charged with an alleged federal, "white collar" crime–Laurens Dorsey, of Syracuse,… Continue Reading
Georgia Piano Importer Charged Over Alleged 100 Year Old Elephant Ivory; Loganville Man Allegedly Bilked New York Investor Into Paying $5 Million in Foreign Currency Scheme
Posted in Fraud, indictment, MiscellaneousIn Georgia Federal Criminal news, the Associated Press reports that Federal prosecutors charged A-440 Pianos, Inc., a piano importer in the Atlanta area, and its owner, Pascal Vieillard, last week with alleged illegal smuggling of 855 elephant ivory key tops into the U.S. Mr. Vieillard and the company pled not guilty, and Mr. Vieillard’s counsel has stated… Continue Reading
LAPD Officer Acquitted on Weapons Export Charges
Posted in MiscellaneousIt is a rather slow news day, so the Blog would like to take the opportunity to note that, earlier this month, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California acquitted Los Angeles Police Department Officer Johnny Augustus Baltazar on charges of illegally exporting weapons and ammunition to the Central… Continue Reading
Rascos Give Up the Fight; U.S. Senate Assumes Role of a Court for Impeachment Trial of Louisiana District Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr.
Posted in Fraud, Immunity, MiscellaneousWe have commented on the case of Alfredo and Niurka Rasco of South Georgia, who were charged in a $6.5 million Medicare fraud scheme. Well, despite a heated and well-founded defense against the charges based upon illegal use of immunized evidence by the government, Mr. Rasco and his wife pled guilty to the charges against them… Continue Reading
In-House Counsel to the Mob? Court Denies Government’s Motion to Disqualify Attorney Joseph Corozzo, Jr.
Posted in Disqualification, MiscellaneousAs reported by the New York Law Journal, Michael Scarpaci is current charged as an alleged associate of the Gambino crime organization in the Southern District of New York in an indictment charging racketeering violations, including murder, witness tampering, murder of a witness, extortion, narcotics and sex trafficking a minor. In a twist, however, Scarpaci’s… Continue Reading
Smith & Wesson Investigated for Foreign Corrupt Practices Violations; Ponzi Schemer Scott Rothstein’s Partner Invokes Fifth in Deposition
Posted in MiscellaneousAshby Jones of the Wall Street Journal Law Blog writes today that Firearms manufacturer Smith & Wesson is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice for alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The company disclosed the investigation and potential future criminal indictments of the company and its officers and employees to investors in filings… Continue Reading
Warning to Tax Violators by U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Georgia; Marietta Men Sentenced for Investment Schemes Involving Raquel Welch, Faster Growing Trees
Posted in Miscellaneous, SentencingGeorgia federal criminal news today includes: A warning by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia to would-be tax law violators, listing recent tax prosecutions (which has become something of an annual tradition as April 15 approaches). Two Marietta, Georgia, men were sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District… Continue Reading
It’s April First
Posted in MiscellaneousApril Fool’s Day is not listed among the "legal holidays" in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6(a)(6). The courts do not close when April 1 falls on a weekday. It cannot be excluded in calculating the amount of time one has to file a response to a motion (even a frivolous one). In general, the… Continue Reading
More Suggested Guidelines for Electronic Evidence in Federal Criminal Investigations from the National Law Journal
Posted in MiscellaneousToday’s National Law Journal has another article relating to electronically stored information in criminal investigations. For large organizations, subpoenas or requests for information by the government in a criminal investigation are always an unwelcome development, frequently as much because of the potential massive expenditures of time, money and resources they entail as because of their… Continue Reading
Responding to Criminal Subpoenas for Electronically Stored Information
Posted in MiscellaneousAn article in the New York Law Journal today analyzes the difficulty faced by corporations having countless bytes of electronically stored information when they are served with subpoenas in a federal criminal investigation. In addition to a need for caution in disclosing information so as not to waive any privileges, companies can face staggering costs… Continue Reading
Firm’s Brand New Website Launched
Posted in MiscellaneousGillen Withers & Lake LLC has launched a new website at http://twitherslaw.com/. The site lists many of the notable successes which the firm has had in its history. We would like to thank our readers and encourage them to take a look at the new site.