DC Criminal Lawyer Blog

In a metropolitan city, where most people rely on public transportation to get around, the taxi industry is generally a powerful one. Washington DC residents spend great amounts of money on a daily basis using taxis to navigate the city. This large industry is under fire and in need of representation by DC criminal lawyers due to a new, widely publicized case regarding the purported bribing of DC city officials by a select group of its members.

According to investigators, the cab scandal began in 2007 when Washington DC changed their taxi system to one that charges passengers by a meter. Abdulaziz Kamus and his fellow conspirators allegedly wanted the city to limit the number of taxis allowed to conduct business in DC, and then obtain as many licenses for them as possible. Court documents maintain that their goal was "controlling and dominating the taxicab industry in the District" as easily as they could.

To support their control on the taxicab industry, Kamus and his associates allegedly gave over $270,000 in cash, tips, or offered trips to Washington DC officials. Also suspected in the DC fraud case is Ted Loza, the former chief of staff for DC Council member Jim Graham. Although he maintains his innocence, Loza left his position after an indictment accused him of accepting bribes. Kamus however, pled guilty in the U.S. District Court to DC conspiracy charges and one count of paying bribes to a public official.

Being accused of a DC fraud, bribery, or conspiracy charge is an overwhelming process for anyone to experience regardless if they acted alone, or within a group. As seen by the example of Abdulaziz Kamus and the expansive taxicab conspiracy scandal, pleading guilty to criminal charges can have permanent consequences. Not only can your reputation be scarred forever, but it is possible to face jail time. To fight these charges, you will need the best legal advice and legal representation to devise the highest quality defense for your case. In delicate situations such as these it is essential to contact a hard-working and aggressive DC criminal defense lawyer for help immediately.

This article is presented by The Law Offices of David Benowitz, representing clients in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia. For more information, please visit our Maryland Fraud Attorneys and Virginia Criminal Defense Lawyers websites.

During the legal career of an experienced Washington DC criminal attorney, it is common to represent individuals who have been accused of a variety of criminal charges. Among those that receive the most severe sentences, are the individuals who pose a threat to national security. Recently, a similar case has been brought to national attention, where a woman used the internet to recruit people to join the Jihad movement.

Under the alias name "JihadJane", Colleen "Fatima" LaRose was charged for using the internet to recruit participants for a terrorist mission. Additionally, she wanted to "wage violet jihad in South Asia and Europe" as a desperate means to help suffering Muslims. LaRose even had plans of carrying out terrorist attacks herself--according to a four-count indictment of felony criminal charges, she traveled to Sweden to kill civilians after being ordered to do so by an unnamed terrorist.

Investigators used her online correspondence with other Jihad enthusiasts. LaRose swapped emails not only with numerous people interested in becoming a martyr for the Jihad cause, but also with international terrorists instructing her to perform killings. She believed that her physical appearance made her suitable for carrying out terrorist attacks against Western societies.

In August of 2009, in an attempt to evade prosecution, LaRose removed her home hard drive, hid it, and traveled to Europe. She wanted to "live and train with jihadists, and to find and kill." However, she was promptly arrested by law enforcement officials when she returned to the United States in October of 2009.

This article is presented by The Law Offices of David Benowitz, representing clients in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia. For more information, please visit our Maryland Criminal Lawyers and Virginia Criminal Lawyers websites.

In a large and modern metropolitan area, a Washington DC criminal lawyer is likely to represent individuals accused of criminal charges because of information shared or submitted through the internet or mobile phone. With the boom of the technology generation, people are sharing information faster than ever. As a result, an advocate for immigrant and civil rights has recently started to use text messaging to warn residents along the U.S./Mexico border about crime sweeps performed by a high-profile local sheriff. Director of the nonprofit immigrant advocacy group Respect/Respeto, Lydia Guzman, has designed an advanced "text tree," that is made to contact many people at once. In minutes, residents can be altered to the details of the sweep. The notifications were started in response to the public concern that these sweeps were conducted to round-up immigrants, not targeting crime or criminal activity.

According to Guzman, the texting tree system is used to protect Latinos and other minority groups living along the border from becoming victim to racial profiling by deputies from the sheriff's department. Many police officers in the area have been accused of stopping Hispanic citizens in particular for minor traffic violations or other criminal charges just to check on their immigrant status. The Sheriff in question, Joe Arpaio, has repeatedly insisted that his deputies do not engage in racial profiling, and that he also publicize the details of the sweeps in advance.

Because of this, he suspects that the point of sending massive text messages to residents is a way to help illegal immigrants avoid arrest. Since March 2008, Arpaio has conducted thirteen sweeps, and have arrested 669 individuals. Half of these people were held on immigrant violations. According to the sheriff, the mass texters are walking a very thin line between "exercising free speech and breaking the law by helping immigration violators avoid detection." Furthermore, he believes that the texts are also tipping off underground human-smuggling services.

Although sending messages with the specific intent of helping illegal immigrants avoid arrest could be taken as being an accomplice to a crime, spreading truthful information is protected by the Constitution. First Amendment scholars believe that these text messages are protected free speech because they are only telling people what Arpaio is doing. This is very similar to alerting people of DUI checkpoints and speed traps, or flashing your headlights when police are nearby. "It's not unlawful. It's the conveyance of truthful information."

This article is presented by The Law Offices of David Benowitz, representing clients in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia. For more information please visit our DC Immigration Lawyer and Virginia Criminal Lawyers websites.

Being in the nation's capitol, a Washington DC criminal lawyer certainly is alerted to the actions of federal regulators, particularly in their recent plight against individual accused of fraud charges. In response to past failures to spot and stop financial fraud, U.S. officials are heightening regulation and punishments for the crime. Following the massive $65 billion fraud by Bernard Madoff in 2009, increased measures are being taken to ensure that similar scandals do not happen again.

In 2010, regulators are scrambling to uncover the fraudsters, while closing the gaps in regulation through new legislation. Additionally, law enforcement officials would receive more resources on how to handle fraud. However, this proves to be a difficult process as it hard to discern where one fraud begins and ends. Old investors to financial fraud are being paid off with funds from new investors. This became particularly evident after the recession dried up all incoming and new money. Nonetheless, the Securities and Exchange Commission became significantly tougher on the issue in 2009, and is likely to hand out more criminal referrals in the upcoming year.

One of the cases brought before the SEC in 2009 was of Allen Standford, the financier, who was accused of embezzling a $7 billion Ponzi scheme through off shore bank accounts. After being indicted on criminal charges, he pled not guilty to all accusations. Examples such as these are what former SEC chairman Harvey Pitt cites when discussing where the current system is lacking. "Scams like this underscore the failure of the regulatory system to provide the checks and balances needed to deter financial misconduct and detect it early," he explains.

In the 2009 fiscal year, the SEC filed 664 civil complaints, and has pledged to continue taking an aggressive stance in 2010 against fraud. However, due to a lack of evidence, it is doubtful that many CEOs will face punishment for their financial crimes. According to William Black, the senior financial regulator during the savings and loans crisis two decades ago, the actual financial scandal of 2009 was "the failure to even have an indictment, much less a conviction, of any major senior insiders at the non-prime lending specialists." The other problem Black sites is ineffective regulators--unless completely organized and prepared, it is impossible for regulators to prosecute complex fraud scandals of this nature.

This past May, President Obama signed into law the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act. This new legislation is geared at cracking down on mortgage fraud and predatory lending that sparked the current financial crisis. Furthermore, Congress is expected to pass more laws giving the SEC and other regulatory agencies more power and resources to police the financial markets more closely.

This article is presented by The Law Offices David Benowitz, representing clients in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia. For more information, please visit our Maryland Criminal Lawyers and Virginia Criminal Lawyers websites.