Posted on September 29, 2021 in Federal Crimes

You may be wondering why you have been charged with a crime at the federal instead of state level, especially if you and any alleged victims are all in the same state, or you never left Illinois while allegedly committing a crime. There are a number of reasons that a crime may be federally prosecuted. Being charged with any federal crime is a very serious matter that puts both your freedom and, often, your financial well-being at grave risk. It is important to contact an experienced and well-qualified attorney as soon as you learn that you are facing federal charges.

What Are Some Reasons a Crime Might be Prosecuted in Federal Court?

For a crime to be charged at the federal level, it must affect some kind of national interest. Internet crimes like fraud and possession of child pornography are frequently prosecuted under federal law because they may impact interstate commerce or involve victims outside of Illinois. Here are some other reasons your charges may be treated as federal offenses:

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 Posted on September 22, 2021 in Federal Crimes

In short, immigration marriage fraud is when a citizen and a non-citizen enter into a “sham marriage” strictly for the purpose of gaining some type of legal benefit relating to immigration status. Because this type of immigration fraud is common, marriages between a U.S. citizen and an immigrant who is facing challenges due to their legal status may fall under scrutiny. Immigration fraud is a serious crime and carries severe penalties for both parties - including deportation for the immigrant. If you are being investigated for immigration fraud related to your marriage, always contact a qualified attorney as soon as you can.

What is a Sham Marriage?

A sham marriage is one that was entered into for the sole purpose of allowing an immigrant to obtain lawful permanent residence in the U.S. It may be referred to as a “green-card marriage.” If the married couple actually intended to form a real marital relationship and build a life together, then it is not a sham marriage. Even if a couple was partially motivated by immigration benefits, the marriage can still be legitimate as long as immigration concerns were not the only reason the couple married. It can be very difficult for government officials to tell the difference between a legitimate marriage that was entered into in good faith and a sham marriage that was entered into for the purpose of committing immigration fraud.

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 Posted on September 16, 2021 in Federal Crimes

If you are convicted of or plead guilty to a federal charge of card fraud, the penalties can be quite severe. Sentencing for credit card fraud at the federal level can include prison time, fines, restitution orders, and forfeiture of assets. If you find yourself charged with federal credit card fraud, both your freedom and your financial future are at great risk. It is critical that you contact an experienced Credit Card Fraud Attorney as soon as possible to minimize your risks.

What Legal Penalties Could I Face for Federal Credit Card Fraud?

• Prison - Credit card fraud at the federal level is punishable by up to ten years in prison.

• Fines - You could be fined up to $10,000, not including the cost of restitution.

• Restitution - You can be ordered to reimburse the victim or victims for any financial harm that was done to them as a result of the fraud. This amount of restitution ordered is not limited to the amount of money a victim was defrauded out of. It can include a variety of other financial losses a victim suffered as a direct result of credit card fraud. For example, if the victim lost wages because he or she had to attend court, that amount can be included in a restitution order. As you can imagine, the amount of restitution ordered can easily exceed the dollar amount of the fine depending on the number of victims and the amount of money they lost. Failing to pay restitution, when it is ordered, can result in a litany of other legal consequences, such as being charged with a probation violation. The value of any forfeited assets does not count towards restitution. The court will not consider your ability to pay before it orders restitution.

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 Posted on August 27, 2021 in Identity Theft

A New York man was sentenced to 36 months in prison for computer fraud and aggravated identity theft. According to the Justice Department news release, he hacked into a college’s network, stole email account information, including passwords. He used that information to gain access to female students’ social media accounts, where he collected nude photos and videos. Then, he traded the private photos with others online.

In response, the college allocated money and resources to address the network breach and assess and repair the damage. Because of that, the court also ordered the man to pay more than $35,000 in restitution and fees to the college.

As far as internet and computer fraud goes, the incident sounds fairly basic, but it begs the question: what is aggravated identity theft?

Identity Theft

Identity theft is whenever you use someone else’s personal identifying information without their permission for fraudulent purposes. What qualifies as personal identifying information is fairly broad. It could be a person’s name, birthdate, address, credit card number, social security number, email, etc. If you are convicted of identity theft at the federal level, you could face up to 15 years in prison.

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 Posted on August 21, 2021 in White Collar Crime

Federal prosecutors indicted a suburban Chicago man who owns a drug wholesale company for buying $57.2 million worth of unregulated prescription drugs and re-selling them to unsuspecting drug stores and distributors. According to court documents, the man allegedly bought diverted prescription drugs at a discounted rate from unlicensed suppliers, told his employees to clean up the materials so they looked regulated, and then told buyers he acquired them from a licensed supply chain.

Prosecutors argue that because the prescription drugs did not come through a legitimate supply chain, they are unregulated and pose a serious health risk to those who use them. Pharmaceuticals, like the drugs in question, are supposed to be regulated by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), whose criminal investigative division investigated the case.

The man was charged with six counts of mail fraud, four counts of wire fraud, and three counts of money laundering. In other words, a fairly common stack of white-collar financial crimes.

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 Posted on August 14, 2021 in Weapons

The term “straw purchase” is a type of gun crime often used in reference to buying a firearm illegally. More specifically, it is when you go into a gun store and buy a firearm for a person who is legally prohibited from buying or possessing one. The reason the prohibited person might do this is fairly straightforward. He or she would be unable to honestly complete the process.

When you buy a firearm, you have to fill out a form and answer questions showing that you are legally allowed to buy and possess a firearm. The gun dealer then submits the form for review by the FBI, specifically by the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Checks System, or NICS for short, to review your criminal record.

The term has been in the news recently because the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago filed charges this week against an Indiana man for conspiring to straw purchase a handgun that was used in the shooting of two Chicago police officers, an incident that left one officer severely injured and the other dead.

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 Posted on August 06, 2021 in Fraud

The Justice Department recently indicted 10 men from the Chicago area on bank fraud charges. According to a press release issued by the department, the men allegedly deposited the counterfeit money orders, which were issued by the U.S. Postal Service, into bank accounts they had access to and then immediately withdrew the money. The indictments allege that the men committed fraud by altering the money orders, changing them from $10 to a higher sum, typically $800 or $1,000, and then depositing the fraudulent amounts. In all, the men allegedly defrauded more than $1 million from various banks.

For many, a couple of things might jump out in this case. First, the alleged crime was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Although you rarely hear about the Postal Inspectors, they are actually one of the oldest federal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. Like the FBI, they have the power to enforce a wide range of federal laws, but the crimes usually have to somehow involve the Postal Service.

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 Posted on July 28, 2021 in Federal Crimes

In response to a sharp increase in gun deaths across the country, the Department of Justice this week launched a multi-jurisdiction strike force to target illegal gun traffickers. Officials hope cutting off the supply of illegal weapons will result in fewer gun deaths.

With 19,410 victims killed in 2020, last year saw about a 20 percent increase in gun-related murders, according to the Gun Violence Archives, an organization that tracks gun violence across the country. Almost seven months into the year, 2021 has already seen 11,635 people die from gun violence.

The Justice Department said the strike force is part of a larger comprehensive strategy introduced by the attorney general and president earlier this year. For the strike force, the feds will work with local and state officials, and while the entire country is fair game, they will primarily focus on regional areas like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, the Bay area, and the District of Columbia.

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 Posted on July 22, 2021 in Federal Crimes

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois indicted a Chicago man for allegedly producing child pornography earlier this month. According to the news release, the man allegedly persuaded several minors to engage in sexual activities and then secretly recorded it. When federal agents searched his home, they found a plethora of explicit material of a similar nature on hard drives, a cell phone, and a computer. Given the severity of the alleged child sex crimes, the man could face serious prison time.

Federal Child Pornography Laws

According to federal law, there are about half a dozen statutes covering child pornography, but they can be categorized into four groups: producing child pornography; buying and selling it; possessing, distributing, and receiving it; and producing sexually explicit depictions of a minor for importation into the U.S.

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 Posted on July 16, 2021 in Federal Crimes

Earlier this month, the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed charges against a Chicago man for trafficking cocaine and transferring a loaded submachine gun. While it is fairly common to hear about drug and gun charges being filed together, machine gun charges are actually kind of rare. In fact, only about 7 percent of the more than 65,000 federal gun charges filed between 2008 and 2017 involved a machine gun.

A History of U.S. Machine Gun Laws

One partial explanation for the small number of machine-gun charges is that the federal government started cracking down on machine gun ownership following the Prohibition Era. In 1934, Congress passed the National Firearms Act, which requires anyone who buys an automatic weapon, short-barreled rifle or shotgun, or silencer to register the item, pay a $200 tax, and complete a number of other bureaucratic steps.

A half-century later, after a number of high-profile assassinations, Congress passed the Gun Control Act of 1968, and then updated it in the 1980s amid an uptick in crime. The latter limited machine gun transfers by essentially prohibiting the production of machine guns after 1986.

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