White Collar Attorney Michael J. Petro discusses rules public officials must know to avoid corruption charges for “official acts.”
US v. Joel Rivas, No. 13-3526. A fingerprint examiner (“Rottman”) testified at trial that he was certain the partial fingerprint found on a 9 millimeter handgun belonged to Joel Rivas. Rivas’s only argument is that his rights under the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment were violated when the district court did not allow him to cross-examine the […]
US v. Joshua N. Bowser. Appeal of: Bradley W. Carlson. No. 15-2258. This appeal involves the government’s efforts to seize personal property bearing the insignia of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club (the “Outlaws”), and the effort of a representative of the Outlaws to intervene to prevent those forfeitures. The forfeiture actions stemmed from criminal cases brought against […]
In the Matter of GRAND JURY PROCEEDINGS, Involving William Thullen and Kenneth Dvorak, Witnesses Before the Special January, 1999-2 Grand Jury Nos. 99-3131, 99-3317. A grand jury investigating alleged tax fraud by Dr. Basaam Osman subpoenaed numerous documents from two accounting firms hired by his attorneys. Dr. Osman sought to block production of the documents. He […]
US v. Brian Wilkozek, No. 15-1537. In 2003 Brian Wilkozek pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud for his participation in a mortgage-fraud scheme. By the time the third-party lenders uncovered the scheme, all they could do was foreclose and sell the properties. They suffered losses of more than $700,000. After Wilkozek was caught and […]
US v. Brian Wilkozek, No. 15-1537. In 2003 Brian Wilkozek pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud for his participation in a mortgage-fraud scheme. By the time the third-party lenders uncovered the scheme, all they could do was foreclose and sell the properties. They suffered losses of more than $700,000. After Wilkozek was caught and […]
US v. Raymond Lambis, 15cr734 (SDNY, Judge Pauley, July 12, 2016). In 2015, the Drug Enforcement Administration (the “DEA”) conducted an investigation into an international drug-trafficking organization. As a part of that investigation, the DEA sought a warrant for pen register information and cell site location information (“CSLI”) for a target cell phone. CSLI allows […]
US v. Raymond Lambis, 15cr734 (SDNY, Judge Pauley, July 12, 2016). In 2015, the Drug Enforcement Administration (the “DEA”) conducted an investigation into an international drug-trafficking organization. As a part of that investigation, the DEA sought a warrant for pen register information and cell site location information (“CSLI”) for a target cell phone. CSLI allows […]
US v. Jose Herrera-Valdez, No. 14-3534 Jose Gustavo Herrera-Valdez was prosecuted for illegal reentry after being deported. Before trial, he filed a motion to disqualify the District Court Judge from presiding over his prosecution because the judge served as the District Counsel for the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) at the time Herrera-Valdez was deported. Because we […]
US v. Christian Peterson. No. 14-3716. Before running into legal trouble, Christian Peterson, an entrepreneur doing business in Madison, Wisconsin, owned several manufacturing and realestate development firms. He misused corporate finances, frequently making unauthorized intercompany loans and occasionally using corporate funds to pay off his personal gambling debts. Eventually all of his business ventures failed, […]