With acquittal rates at historic lows in the federal system, sentencing has become the most crucial stage of the federal criminal justice process. In most cases, the pre-sentence investigation report (PSI) prepared by the probation officer and the sentencing hearing conducted by the judge are the primary means for determining the nature and circumstances of the offense and the history…
James Schneider, a Boca Raton securities attorney was convicted by a federal jury last week after a two-week trial in Miami of one count conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud, five counts of securities fraud, six counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and 20 counts of money laundering in connection with a scheme to fraudulently register…
Etevaldo Ferreira De Souza, 47, of West Palm Beach, was found guilty by a jury on November 9 of one count of making false statements in a naturalization proceeding, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1015(a). According to the evidence presented at trial, De Souza was charged with aggravated homicide and armed conspiracy in Brazil in 1993. According to the Brazilian…
A federal judge delayed the criminal trial of Palm House developer Robert Matthews, his wife and a real estate attorney until next summer. All three defendants, who are free on bond, face charges related to the unfinished Palm House hotel-condominium project in Palm Beach. Judge Victor A. Bolden of the U.S. District Court in Bridgeport, Connecticut, said in an order…
A Port St. Lucie, Florida, man was convicted by a federal jury yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida of ten counts of aiding and assisting in the filing of false income tax returns and three counts of filing false income tax returns. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, from 2012 through…
In a recent publication, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) found, “There is ample evidence that federal criminal defendants are being coerced to plead guilty because the penalty for exercising their constitutional rights is simply too high to risk.” In its Trial Penalty report, NACDL examines sentencing and other data underlying the fact that, after a 50 year…
As previously blogged on this site, on June 28, 2018 the Department of Justice announced what was called “the largest health-care fraud takedown in history,” with more than 1,000 law enforcement officers charging 601 people — including 76 doctors, 23 pharmacists, 19 nurses — with more than $2 billion in fraud. The takedown included 124 defendants in South Florida —…