As noted in the Duluth Patch, former Gwinnett County Commissioner Shirley Lasseter pled guilty in May to bribery charges in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The charges stemmed from Lasseter’s acceptance of a bribe from an undercover FBIagent who posed as a real estate developer seeking to do business in… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: John
The Commerce Clause and Federal Criminal Law: No “Generalized Federal Police Power” Yet
Posted in UncategorizedThe United States Supreme Court’s determination of the constitutionality of the individual mandate provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, 26 U.S.C. § 5000A, in June in the decision of Nat’l Fed’n of Indep. Bus. v. Sebelius, 132 S. Ct. 2566 (2012) generated much discussion of the Commerce Clause, although the… Continue Reading
Government Will Not Re-Try John Edwards
Posted in MistrialFrom the Winston-Salem Journal and numerous other sources has come the news that on Wednesday the Federal government announced that it would not seek to retry former U.S. Senator and Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidate John Edwards on the remaining campaign finance charges against him. Edwards’ trial ended in a mistrial on May 31. The jury… Continue Reading
Openings in Two High Profile Criminal Trials: Clemens & Edwards
Posted in High Profile CasesIn former Senator John Edwards’ trial, opening statements have concluded and Edwards’ former staffer, Andrew Young, is currently on the stand, according to the Greensboro, North Carolina, News & Record. Assistant United States Attorney David Harbach emphasized Edwards’ deception and manipulation of those around him in order to preserve his chance to become President. The… Continue Reading
Preview of the John Edwards Trial and the Potential Problems With the Government’s Case
Posted in High Profile CasesThe trial of former North Carolina Senator, Vice President nominee and candidate for President Johnny Reid (“John”) Edwards for alleged mishandling of campaign funds is underway in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. Opening statements in the case will take place next Monday. The outcome of the trial will be… Continue Reading
Atlanta Securities Lawyer Gregory Bartko Sentenced to 23 Years for Securities Fraud
Posted in Securities Fraud, SentencingImage source: www.gurneylawfirm.com/attorney-profile Gregory Bartko, a securities lawyer and Atlanta resident, was sentenced last Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina to 23 years’ imprisonment for securities fraud, as reported in the Columbus, Indiana, Republic. Bartko was convicted in 2010 at the conclusion of a 13-day trial on six counts… Continue Reading
78 Year-Old Indicted Warner Robbins City Councilman Released After Violating Probation for Alleged Fiancee Less Than Half His Age
Posted in Noteworthy CasesFormer City Councilman of Warner Robins, Georgia, John Williams, was released last Friday after spending two days in prison for violation of his Federal pretrial release, according to 13WMAZ in Macon. Williams has been charged with extortion in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia for trying to obtain money from a car dealer… Continue Reading
Julian Heicklen, 80 Year-Old Jury Nullification Advocate, Charged With Jury Tampering
Posted in Noteworthy Cases"No free man shall be captured, and or imprisoned, or disseised of his freehold, and or of his liberties, or of his free customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or in any way destroyed, nor will we proceed against him by force or proceed against him by arms, but by the lawful judgment of his… Continue Reading
Edwards Retains Attorneys Who Represented Former Mistress Rielle Hunter
Posted in High Profile CasesImage source: www.washingtonpost.com/national/us-judge-eyes-bid-by-john-edwards-to-add-defense-lawyers-who-represented-his-mistress/2012/03/15/gIQA59iiDS_story.html As reported in the Washington Post, former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate John Edwards announced yesterday in court that he would hire the same attorneys who represented his mistress, Rielle Hunter, in a lawsuit over a sex tape featuring Edwards and Hunter, to defend him against Federal charges. Edwards is charged in… Continue Reading
Execs of Medical Laser Manufacturer Acquitted on Most Counts
Posted in Acquittal, FraudAs reported by the Colorado Springs Gazette, former Chief Executive Officer John Schulte of Spectranetics Corp., a manufacturer of medical lasers, was convicted in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado yesterday on one count of lying to federal investigators but was acquitted on 11 counts of conspiring to defraud the Federal government. Trung Pham,… Continue Reading
Four Executives Acquitted in Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fraud Case
Posted in AcquittalAs reported in the Miami Herald, four former executives for Vanguard Fire and Casualty Co. were acquitted yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida in Tallahassee on charges that they allegedly defrauded the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund of $20 million. The charges arose from the 2004 hurricane season, one of the… Continue Reading
Atlanta Man Indicted in New York for Securities Fraud, Insider Trading
Posted in Fraud, indictment, Securities FraudImage source: www.google.com/imgres Scott Allen, of Atlanta, was charged last week with securities fraud and insider trading in the U.S. District Court Southern District of New York, according to the Wall Street Journal. The government alleges that Mr. Allen and John Bennett of Norwalk, Connecticut, conspired to make more than $2.6 million in profits on insider trades… Continue Reading
Mistrial in First Trial Following Massive Foreign Corrupt Practices Bribery Sting
Posted in MistrialAs reported by Reuters, last week, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia declared a mistrial in the trial of four arms salesmen for alleged bribes under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The defendants, Andrew Bigelow, Pankesh Patel, Lee Tolleson and John Wier, were accused of attempting to bribe two individuals who… Continue Reading
“Hero” or “Terrorist” Cuban Exile Luis Posada Carriles Feted in Miami Following Acquittal on 11 Counts; Deportation Sought by U.S. Government
Posted in Fraud, TerrorismLuis Posada Carriles was 30 years old at the time of the 1959 Cuban Revolution. He was sent to prison by the regime of Fidel Castro and subsequently sought asylum in Mexico. Posada then emigrated to the United States where he helped to organize President John F. Kennedy’s and the CIA’s failed 1961 Bay of Pigs… Continue Reading
FBI Investigating “Pay for Play Plan” Allegations Surrounding Auburn Quarterback Cam Newton and Father
Posted in Fraud, High Profile CasesIt is college football season, and appropriately the most notable news in an otherwise slow Federal criminal news day appears to be that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has interviewed John Bond, a former quarterback for the Mississippi State Bulldogs, regarding Auburn quarterback Cam Newton, according to the Atlanta Journal and Constitution. Bond told Mississippi… Continue Reading
Blagojevich Recap (Part II)
Posted in BlagosphereThe recap of the trial thus far of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, from the coverage of the Chicago Tribune’s "Blagojevich on Trial" Blog and the Springfield State Journal-Register’s Blagojevich trial coverage continues. Thursday, June 17, 2010: Former Democratic Party fundraiser Joseph Cari testifies that Blagojevich spoke with him about presidential ambitions and getting contributions… Continue Reading
Blagojevich Trial “Halftime” Recap (Part I)
Posted in BlagosphereNormal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Since the prosecution of former Illinois Governor Milorad R. “Rod” Blagojevich has rested its case, we take the opportunity to recap the testimony and evidence in the first 23 days of the trial, drawing upon the excellent coverage of the Chicago Tribune’s “Blagojevich on Trial” Blog, and also WGN-TV Team 9′s Trial… Continue Reading
Sarah Palin E-mail Hacking Case Goes to Jury
Posted in High Profile CasesKnoxvillenews.com has been intensively covering here, here, here and elsewhere the trial of David C. Kernell, son of Tennessee State Representative Mike Kernell of Memphis and former University of Tennessee student, who was charged in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee with hacking into the electronic mail account of former Governor of Alaska and Vice… Continue Reading
Justice John Paul Stevens on Criminal Law
Posted in Courts and Judiciary, SentencingSupreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who notified President Barack Obama last week that he will be stepping down from the Court when its current term is over in June or July, has written nearly 400 opinions over his nearly 35 year tenure on the Court. Justice Stevens has weighed in on many occasions on… Continue Reading
Chief Justice John Roberts Issues Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary; Judiciary “Operating Soundly”; New Criminal Cases at Highest Levels Since 1932
Posted in Fraud, MiscellaneousAs the final hours of 2009 were running out on New Years’ Eve, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued the Chief Justice’s Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary, available here, a tradition begun by Chief Justice Warren Burger in 1970 to address the most critical needs of the federal judiciary. The Chief Justice… Continue Reading
Rothstein Investigation Widens to Include Attorneys, Police Chief; Pols Return Donations
Posted in Fraud, High Profile CasesThe fallout from Fort Lauderdale attorney Scott Rothstein’s alleged fraudulent scheme to bilk investors out of hundreds of millions continues to fall. Florida Governor Charlie Crist has told the media that he will return campaign contributions received from Rothstein and employees of his law firm, a total of $76,250. The announcement by Crist follows a… Continue Reading