Federal Criminal Defense Blog : Georgia Federal Criminal Defense Lawyer & Attorney : Gillen Withers & Lake Law Firm : White Collar Crime, RICO, Trial : Atlanta, Savannah, GA

Two years ago, Deputy Sheriff David Swanson and Sheriff's Captain Raul DeLeon of the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department in California were indicted in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California for making alleged false statements to federal investigators regarding leaks during a federal investigation of Road Dog Cycle in Denair, California. The owners of Road Dog Cycle, Robert and Brent Holloway, were also indicted for heading a racketeering enterprise, which involved members of the East Bay Dragons outlaw motorcycle club of California; the Merced, California, chapter of the Hell's Angels; and the Red Devils outlaw motorcycle club of Sweden. The defendants were charged with acts of trafficking in stolen motor vehicle parts, robbery, making extortionate extensions of credit and collecting extensions of credit by extortionate means.

Swanson was charged with allegedly leaking confidential law enforcement information to an associate of Robert Holloway who informed Holloway of search warrants which were to be executed at Road Dog Cycle. DeLeon was similarly charged with allegedly concealing his relationship with Robert Holloway and having contact with Holloway during the execution of a State search warrant at the residence of one of Holloway's employees in order to enable the employee to conceal evidence. Swanson and DeLeon faced a maximum of 15 years imprisonment.

Well, as reported by the Modesto Bee, the prosecution of Swanson and DeLeon turned out to be a case of prosecutorial overreaching when a jury acquitted Swanson and DeLeon on all charges earlier this month. Following the verdict, one juror told reporters that Swanson and DeLeon had been "railroaded." The problems in the government's case caused it at one point to offer Swanson the chance to plead to one felony count with no jail time and not even any probation. Even courthouse employees told the defense that they did not believe that he could have conspired to impede the federal investigation into the Holloways' activities.

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Georgia leads the nation in bank failures this decade, with 32 failed banks since 2002, 25 of those in 2009 alone, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Fraud has undoubtedly played a substantial role in the failure of many of these banks, and the FDIC and other agencies are especially vigilant in detecting and prosecuting fraud in the wake of bank failures.

Brent Merriel of Atlanta, Georgia, was indicted last week in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on four counts of aggravated identity theft and two counts of making false statements to the FDIC as announced by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia. Merriel is alleged to have obtained several million worth of loans on properties in his name and the names of family and friends from Omni National Bank (Omni). Omni failed on March 27, 2009, and was taken over by the FDIC. Merriel then asked the FDIC to forgive $2.2 million in loans and to allow him to make a "short sale" of two properties to purchasers. A short sale is a sale of a property for less than the full amount due or owed, which serves to reduce a lender's losses or assist the property owner. However, in Merriel's case, the alleged purchasers were allegedly persons whose identities had been stolen. Merriel is also alleged to have forged sales contracts and loan commitment letters which he submitted to the FDIC.

The release notes that other individuals have been prosecuted relating to Omni, including Mark Anthony McBride, who fraudulently obtained millions in mortgage loans from Omni and other lenders and who pled guilty last April, and Delroy Oliver Davy, who similarly obtained millions in fraudulent loans from Omni and others. It quotes FDIC Office of Inspector General, Southeast Region Special Agent In Charge C. Ed Slagle as stating that FDIC will aggressively investigate and prosecute fraudulent acts uncovered in the FDIC's process of liquidating assets of failed banks in order maximize recoveries. The release also quotes Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) Neil Barofski, Department of Housing and Urban Development Inspector General Kenneth M. Donohue and U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge, Atlanta Division Martin D. Phanco on fraud and enforcement.

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