New York Criminal Lawyer Blog

Published on: October 6, 2011

Ex-Qwest CEO Says That He Will Not Pay for His Lawyer’s Underwear

by Stephen Bilkis

On Wednesday, the former chief executive officer (CEO) of Qwest Communications, filed a lawsuit that alleges the lawyers who represented him during his insider-trading case overbilled him, a New York Criminal Lawyer has learned. The legal malpractice lawsuit was filed in state Superior Court in Newark, NJ, seeks punitive and compensatory damages totaling $25 million plus attorney’s fees. This is widely considered to be Grand Larceny.

The former CEO is currently located at a federal prison in Pennsylvania, serving a 70-month sentence for using insider information as a basis for selling $52 million in stock in his former employer, the NYC Criminal Lawyer was told. An appeals court also ordered him to pay a $19 million fine and to forfeit close to $45 million. His conviction was in 2007.

The former CEO’s current attorney has also informed the New York Grand Larceny Attorney that thanks to the law firm named in the suits failure to follow even the most “basic litigation procedures,” his client received not only strict fines, but also a lengthier prison sentence than what was necessary. The attorney also stated that due to these failures, the trial judge barred the defense’s sole expert witness. He also added that the case is sad, since his client not only received inadequate representation during his trial, but he was also overbilled in the process.

Published on: October 5, 2011

Camp Counselor Commits Suicide After Being Targeted by Sex Abuse Probe

by Stephen Bilkis

A camp counselor committed suicide on the camp grounds, after becoming the subject of a sex abuse investigation. This summer camp was one attended by U.S. Senator Scott Brown in his youth.

The day after the investigation began, the counselor committed suicide. A 35-year-old man claimed the counselor molested him back in 1985. The accuser said he gained his inspiration to come forward from Senator Brown, who had recently revealed he was also molested as a boy in summer camp.

N York Criminal Lawyers have learned the counselor was also an assistant director and had been at the camp for several decades. He was found dead in his vehicle in a wooded area of Camp Good News, police sources said. The police have already ruled it a suicide.

Published on: October 4, 2011

Maryland Man Extradited from Europe Faces Rape Charges

by Stephen Bilkis

A former Maryland man was extradited from Eastern Europe in March 2011 to face rape charges from more than a decade ago. He recently appeared in court for a preliminary hearing.

The 51-year-old defendant is being held without bond. The charges against him are first- and second-degree rape, third-degree sex offense, first-degree assault, three counts of second-degree assault and two counts of false imprisonment. Queens Sex Crimes Lawyers are well versed in these kinds of cases.

A retired Maryland State Police investigator said the complaint was first issued on November 30, 2000.

Published on: October 3, 2011

Teacher Confesses to Child Porn Possession

by Stephen Bilkis

A prep school teacher has become what some consider to be “a parent’s worst nightmare” after pleading guilty to child pornography charges, sources told a Nassau County Sex Crimes Lawyers.

The 28-year-old teacher admitted to using an internet file-sharing program to download videos of children engaged in sexual activities.

“I did use it to download material considered to be child pornography,” the ex-teacher told a federal district judge as the ex-teacher and his family sat in a nearly empty courtroom.

Published on: October 2, 2011

Man sues after being jailed without a lawyer or getting a court hearing

by Stephen Bilkis

A Dallas man is suing the county, the sheriff, and the district attorney after he spent 13 months in jail without access to a lawyer or a court hearing.

The 22-year-old man had been pulled over for a traffic stop. He wished to hide the arrest warrant for violating his parole on a drug charge against him so he used his cousin’s name. He thought the 25-year-old husband and father had a clean record. However, that was not the case; a New York Criminal Lawyer was told.

The cousin also had an arrest warrant with charges of fondling a young relative. The 22-year-old man was arrested, booked, and put into jail.

Published on: October 1, 2011

Breaking the Law by carrying a gun

by Stephen Bilkis

A police told a NY Criminal Lawyer that though a lot of people were frightened recently at a mall because they saw a man carrying his guns openly in the mall, he may not be liable. They think that he may not even have committed a crime.

Advocates of gun rights agreed that the man may not have been legally liable, but not because he could carry a gun in public should he have done so. It is a selfish act for him not to think about the fear that he would put in the hearts of the people who would see him. He has a duty to society to act responsibly and not to make people fear for their safety and existence.

It was the Police that told the Brooklyn Criminal Lawyer that they had received numerous 911 calls that Saturday morning about a man carrying a rifle and hand gun openly. When they went to investigate the incident, they found that the man was indeed carrying a rifle and a hand gun in plain sight, but the guns were not loaded. The management of the mall was very angry about the situation and asked the Police to remove the man from their establishment. With so many terrorism incidents taking place, the mall personnel did not want to leave anything to chance.

Published on: September 30, 2011

Man Who Carried Guns Near Mall Didn’t Break Law

by Stephen Bilkis

In Orem, Utah police were called to the scene when a man carrying a pistol and a rifle near a mall was spotted. Coming only a week after the Tucson shootings, Police responded quickly to the several 911 calls they received. They found the man walking down the street in front of the mall at the intersection of University Parkway and State Street.

Officers stated that when they found the man, he wasn’t pointing the guns at anyone. The guns were unloaded, and since he was not threatening anyone, it was determined he was not breaking the law, says the New York Criminal Lawyer. Otherwise, he would have been arrested for Gun Possession. In Queens and Manhattan, he might have been arrested.

Mall management asked that the man be removed from the property, however, and the police complied. A gun rights advocate stated that the property owners have every right to ask someone to leave their property, especially when they are business owners.

Published on: September 29, 2011

States Increasingly Want to Collect DNA on Arrest

by Stephen Bilkis

There is personal, and then there is personal. One of the most personal things that we have is our DNA, reports NY City Criminal Lawyers. DNA defines what we look like, and in many ways, it defines who we are. State and Federal law enforcement agencies have long since taken the fingerprints and mug shots of anyone who has been arrested, but now many states also want to take your DNA sample as well. This is particularly pertinent when it comes to Sex Crimes and the investigation of such.

DNA samples have been an accepted practice in the United States for some time for those who have already been convicted of a crime. A Brooklyn Sex Crimes Lawyer has reported in the past of many instances of where DNA has either convicted or exonerated individuals of crimes.

The concept of taking a DNA sample of anyone who has been arrested for major crimes is nothing new, as there are at least 25 states that already have laws on their books to do just that. One of the more recent states to seek this action is Connecticut. Brooklyn and Manhattan have not joined the others.

Published on: September 28, 2011

Age a factor in sentencing of 72 year old man

by Stephen Bilkis

There is an old saying that “with age comes wisdom”. Apparently, this proverb doesn’t hold true for everyone, according to a New York Criminal Lawyer. Some people seem inclined to stay rooted in their old behavior patterns no matter how devastating they may be, and others pick up proclivities and habits that are not at all becoming as they age. Should an ‘elderly ‘ person be granted leniency for such a crime because of their age?

Take for instance the 72 year old man who was recently sentenced to 3 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 5 year old child in 2006. No one knows for certain if this is a behavior problem that has manifested recently or if he has been carrying it around for decades, but whatever the case, it is unacceptable in our society. Such lascivious behavior should not go unpunished, no matter how old or young the perpetrator, and yet, his lawyers are attempting to keep him out of prison because he is an elder. In The Bronx and Suffolk County, this type of behavior would not be tolerated because of age.

In this case, the man’s defense attorney has requested a suspended sentence for this man because of his age, claims a Queens Sex Crimes Lawyer. The question is, does a man who raped a small child belong on the streets, no matter how old he happens to be? A crime is a crime and this one is particularly distasteful, because it stripped away the innocence of a young child and changed her life forever. Should this man be given a lighter sentence because he has spent more time on this earth? If the old adage were true, that age brings wisdom with it, then this man should have learned a long time ago that sexual assault on a child is not one of the best decisions that he could have made.

Published on: September 27, 2011

College baseball star accused of rape in the Bahamas

by Stephen Bilkis

What is it with sports super stars and rape? It seems like every couple of weeks we get to listen to another story of an athlete who was busted for rape in one capacity or another. According to a Nassau County Sex Crime Lawyer, most recently we have received word that a college baseball idol from Florida and his four friends were accused of raping a young woman while partying in the Bahamas. The 20 year old baseball player is hailed as a superstar because of the way he plays his sport, and no one wants to see a superstar go down for something that so easily could have been avoided, but if a man commits a crime, a man should do the time. This is certainly the attitude in The Bronx and Weschester County when it comes to Sex Crimes.

Perhaps when college guys get hit with the sports spotlight their ego grows a few sizes. Or perhaps they somehow come to see themselves as invincible, in a way, as if they can get away with anything, but no matter how revered a man is on the field, his off time actions will come back to haunt him if he makes the wrong play. Soon after they will see that the illusion of being untouchable was never real at all, despite their contracts, how sharp their game or what team they got signed to.

A mother of one of the young men who was there the night of the rape commented on how she had known all of the men involved for years and she could not fathom that these good, clean American boys could commit such a crime, reports the NY Criminal Lawyer. The mother admitted that she truly thought their innocence would be maintained. But police aren’t so sure, and they are conducting a full investigation to find out what really happened that night in the Bahamas. At this time the baseball player has been released on $10,000 bond and is awaiting trial.