South Carolina Criminal Lawyer Blog

According to the "Examiner" 41 defendants have been charged with mortgage fraud. The mortgage fraud indictment alleges there were several schemes in which the defendants inflated the values of dilapidated homes. This is common throughout many federal indictments. There is a scenario in which an appraisal shows the value of a property being extremely over inflated. The loan is rendered based on this inflated value. After the sale of the property, no payments are made and the seller walks away with the profit free and clear. The buyer allows the property to go into foreclosure. Many years ago this would not have been the basis for a federal indictment, but in todays environment the banks are pointing fingers at everyone for this home foreclosure epidemic. This Chicago case is against several key players to many mortgage fraud cases. There are mortgage brokers, loan officers, real estate investors, appraisers, attorneys, and the president of a title company. With this number of individuals there will be a rush to cooperate with the government. First to cooperate may make the best deal to testify against the rest of the defendants.

The government will make every effort to recoup the money that the banks will allege they have lost because of this group. The amount of money that is alleged to have been fraudulently obtained will be critical in determining what type of prison exposure these defendants will face at a sentencing. There is a strong possibility that this investigation has been on going for over a year and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has done an extensive review of the bank statements and closing documents related to the property transactions. The federal defense attorneys representing these defendants would be well served to communicate at some level to see if they may have the ability to defend the case in trial. Many times it will be just one defendant that can sink the rest by his/her statements to the government in a mortgage fraud case.

Investigation of a mortgage fraud case is never a quick process and the government will be sure to gather as many documents as possible prior to the indictment. Document organization and clarification will help to ensure that a defendant is not carelessly taken down with a group.

Continue reading "Chicago Mortgage Fraud Indictments" »

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Posted In: Mortgage Fraud

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There are going to be several mortgage fraud indictments in the coming weeks around South Carolina. The United States attorneys in South Carolina have been conducting investigations in the Myrtle Beach and Charleston areas for the past several months. These investigation will lead to several mortgage fraud indictments. Our office has spent an extensive amount of time preparing for these indictments. We have also had several clients come into our office to discuss the potential exposure from a federal mortgage fraud indictment. Many of these indictments will be based on documents submitted to and FDIC insured lending institution. Hiring an attorney with extensive knowledge regarding this type of indictment for fraud is crucial to any defense. Our team of federal defense attorneys is more than capable of representing individuals and company that are being investigating and prosecuted.

We expect the indictments to arrive with the next 3 months. If you believe you are a target of the investigation, contact our office to learn what you need to do immediately to protect your rights and your freedom.

Continue reading "Mortgage Fraud Indictments Coming Soon" »

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Posted In: Mortgage Fraud

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The Sentencing Guidelines on crack have been long outdated for the past two decades and until last week it appeared that no change would occur until next year. That all changed on Wednesday when a representative from the Department of Justice announced that the new (Obama) administration was taking the position that the prior crack to cocaine ratio would no long be this administrations position. Instead Obama came through on one of his promises. The Department of Justice announced at this hearing that the new position would be one of equal weight between crack and cocaine. In plan English, one gram of crack cocaine is equal to one gram of powder cocaine. The discrepancy has long impacted the black population of this country. The announcement will not allow for retroactive application, but will provide relief for many federal crack cases that are pending sentencing. The hope will be for Congress to pass an amendment that is retroactive.
Criminal defense attorneys will now be able to make the most of this statement and provide district court judges with very little room to give a crack indictment more weight than a cocaine indictment. The Justice Department will be hard pressed to allow a United States Attorney to continue arguing for a higher sentence for crack cocaine. Our firm currently has several crack/cocaine cases in Charleston, Florence, Columbia, Miami, Myrtle Beach, Ft. Lauderdale and New York. The new change will allow many mandatory minimum sentences to be avoided. Many defendant's facing a 20 year mandatory minimum will now be facing 3 to 6 years depending on their criminal history.

Continue reading "Crack to Cocaine Ratio Will Change" »

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Posted In: Federal Crimes

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In recent news it has been confirmed that Justice Souter, a United States Supreme Court Judge, will be retiring in the next few weeks. The media is already speculating about President Obama's potential nominees. Although the U.S. Supreme Court hears only a select number of cases each year, these cases often have a profound effect on the legal system across the country.

For example, when the Court ruled in Booker v. United States that the United States Sentencing Guidelines were no longer mandatory, th sentencing methods in Federal Court were drastically changed. District Court Judges were no longer bound by the guidelines and were free to give a "reasonable" sentence after considering the sentencing factors in 18 U.S.C. section 3553(a). In United States v. Kimbrough, the court addressed the crack cocaine ratio and the disparity it created in sentencing.

In South Carolina, a federal case begins in the District of South Carolina. South Carolina has one district with several divisions, including Florence, Aiken, Spartanburg, Columbia, Charleston, and Greenville. If a defendant wishes to appeal a conviction and sentence in the District Court of South Carolina, it must be filed in the Fourth Circuit. The Fourth Circuit hears cases from all of the district courts in Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Maryland.
Once an opinion is issued in the Fourth Circuit, a defendant has the option to file a writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court.

Appellate attorneys in South Carolina and across the country will be paying close attention to Obama's Supreme Court nomination.

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Posted In: Appeals

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The United States Supreme Court has recently made a crucial decision on individual rights related to police searches. The decision comes from a lower court state criminal case in Arizona. A defendant was arrested for driving without a valid license. The resulting search produced cocaine and a felony arrest for cocaine. The case reached the United States Supreme Court based on the impact on individual protections. These searches of vehicles can only be attacked by a motion to suppress. In South Carolina State court this motion is not heard until the day of trial unlike most other jurisdictions. This puts the criminal defense attorney in South Carolina in a difficult position to prepare for trial. The case can change dramatically depending on the Court's ruling. The Gant decision will provide the basis for many motions to suppress in South Carolina. The case law in South Carolina is very limited compared to many jurisdictions. One reason for this is the population of South Carolina is very rural and the actual number of cases going to trial is also very limited.
The Federal Courts in South Carolina will take immediate notice of this Supreme Court decision. Many of the State courts will most likely have to litigate the issue and provide the United States Supreme Court analysis for their local decisions. Any good criminal defense lawyer in South Carolina will be familiar with this decision and be able to apply this to any potential case. A good criminal defense attorney will also try to expand the meaning of this ruling to other cases that may be similar. Many attorneys will see this decision as hurting individual rights in the future, but the opposite should be true. This decision should be expanded to other areas of search and seizure law in the United States and South Carolina.

Continue reading "U.S. Supreme Court Rules on Gant" »

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Posted In: State Crimes

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Many times when a couple decides to separate, they do not wish to pursue a divorce, but would rather enter into a legal separation. However, in South Carolina, there is no such thing as a "legal separation" instead, a party must file an action for separate support and maintenance.

An action for separate support and maintenance in South Carolina is similar to an action for divorce, however, in an action for separate support and maintenance, the parties may remain on eachother's health insurance policies and receive many of the financial benefits of being married. However, the parties can not re-marry and if they choose to reconcile, any separation agreement may become null and void.

If a couple decides that they want a divorce in South Carolina, and do not have grounds for a fault based divorce, they may pursue a no fault divorce by remaining continuously separated for more than one year. Once a couple separates, meaning one party actually vacates the marital home, the clock begins to run. During this year, the parties often enter into a separation agreement.

A separation agreement is basically a contract between the two parties in which they decide a variety of issues, including child custody, visitation, property distribution and alimony arrangements. It becomes an enforceable court order when incorporated into a final action, meaning if one part refuses to comply with it terms, the other party can seek to enforce the order by filing a rule to show cause, and seking a contempt order from a family court judge.

Continue reading "Legal Separation and Separation Agreements" »

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Posted In: South Carolina Divorce Law

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The Augusta Chronicle has reported that mortgage fraud cases are extremely abundant in South Carolina. The paper has reported that the Federal Bureau of Inestigation believes South Carolina is a "Hot Spot" for mortgage fraud. Although the article focuses on lawyers involved in closings and the possible ramificatoins of their participation, the central theme is the loss to the entire country for mortgage fraud. Georgia lawyers are not required to supervise every step of a realestate closing. South Carolina attorneys face a serious potential for trouble because they are required to participate in almost every level of a realestate transaction. With this in mind they must be extremely careful when reviewing documents for closings.

This article goes on to address the issue of mortgage brokers and real estate appraisers providing fraudulent documents to the closing attorney. The attorney cannot be expected to hire an independant appraiser for the property or verify each statement in the loan application. Mortgage fraud almost always involves several people. There is just no way to get the money from the lender without several people agreeing on the fraudulent documentation. Many times the key for the government will be to get one of the codefendants to spill the beans on everyone else and this will lead to many innocent people possibly being indicted. Defending mortgage fraud indictments requires a tremendous amount of time and effort for the defense attorney.

If you are indicted for mortgage fraud, be ready to fight to the end. In the current economic crisis, every dollar you have will be subject to federal seizure if possible. Your freedom and you finances must be preserved in your defense. Our defense attorneys practice in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. We also travel nationwide on federal indictments.

Continue reading "FBI declares South Carolina a Mortgage Fraud "HOT SPOT"" »

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Posted In: Mortgage Fraud

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Five middle eastern men have been found guilty by a federal jury in New Jersey. This was the case that depicted several individuals firing assault rifles on camera and making comments about the United States. There seemed to be very little evidence of an actual conspiracy to attack the military base as alleged in the federal indictment. This case is similar to a case in Miami where the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrest several individuals on charges that they conspired to attack the Sears Tower in Chicago. Both cases are based on FBI informants that are either being paid by the FBI or are getting some type of deal from the government for their information. In this federal indictment in New Jersey, the informants were allowed to stay in the United States for the information they provided.

The aggressive tactics deployed by the FBI after September 11th have resulted in many arrests and probably some convictions of innocent people. These five individuals should have been watched until they made some overt attempt to organize for the purpose of violating the law. They appeared to have no common plan or scheme to attack the United States, but rather were just talking and shooting some guns. Anyone charged with CONSPIRACY in Federal Court is well aware that the hand of one is the hand of all. In other words, whatever act any member of the conspiracy commits is attributable to all co-conspirators. Conspiracy indictments are the most common charge presented in federal court. Defending a conspiracy count in federal court is not easy, but a good criminal defense attorney can find several ways to explain a defendant's actions.

This could have been a case of the government deciding to indict and arrest because the suspects were not going to do anything more in furtherance of the alleged conspiracy. Arrest them now and release a statement that a plot has been foiled to attack the United States. One thing that has not been mentioned is the alleged target these guys had selected. An ARMY BASE was the target. Well, of all the targets in this country, that is the last one a terrorist group would attack. Not only will they most likely be killed in this attack by an ARMY RANGER, but there is a chance for the act to get our soldiers even more fired up and increase moral in the Middle East. I find it hard to believe that any group would try to attack a military installation in the United States.

Continue reading "Federal Convictions for Conspiracy" »

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Posted In: Federal Crimes

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An inmate at the Lieber Correctional Institution has received the death penalty for the murder of another inmate. The defendant stabbed the other inmate at least twelve times with a makeshift knife. He pleaded guilty and asked for no mercy, stating to the Circuit Judge that he wanted to die for his crimes. He was in prison for life for killing two people during a robbery several years earlier.

Since this man plead guilty, his direct appeal will be limited to the plea colloquy and sentencing transcripts. Therefore, it is most likely this conviction will be upheld by the South Carolina Court of Appeals, unless an appellate attorney in South Carolina can show that the plea was coerced or involuntary. Additionally, the defendant may decide to pursue a postconviction relief motion, comonly known as a PCR, in an atempt to show he received ineffective assistance of counsel. He received the death penalty, so a South Carolina criminal attorney will most likely be appointed to represent him during a PCR hearing. However, it is doubtful that this motion will be successful since the inmate asked for the death penalty, his statement will be on the record.

The family of the young man who was murdered by this inmate may be able to file a civil action against the prison for negligence, wrongful death, or file a claim in Federal Court as a violation of his civil rights. However, because the prison is a state facility, the prison officials will have some protection from liability. A wrongful death attorney in South Carolina will have to show that prison officials were not properly trained, and failed to properly supervise the inmates at this facility, which led to the young man's death.

Continue reading "Inmate gets Death Penalty after South Carolina Prison killing" »

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Posted In: Murder

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The United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida has announced the extradition of Diego Montoya to the United States to face charges of drug trafficking, money laundering, and murder. The government has stated that Montoya was in charge of North Valley Drug Cartel in Columbia. Several of Montoya's brothers have been taken to the United States and have been convicted on federal drug trafficking charges. The U.S. attorney has alleged that Montoya's organizatio smuggled more than 10 billion dollars in cocaine into the United States. If convicted, Montoya will face life in prison. He is a so called "KINGPIN."

Montoya should already have a good criminal defense attorney in Miami. He should have a detention hearing tomorrow in front of Federal Magistrate in Miami. This is basically a bond hearing. Montoya has been in the custody of the Columbia government waiting to be extradited to the United States. The government has alleged that Montoya was the head of Columbia's most powerful drug cartel. This state has been repeated by the government at least 4 times in the past 10 years with regard to a new case. The term "kingpin" has also been used to describe several prior federal indictments. In the future there will be another "kingpin" from Columbia that is indicted. There will never be an end to the cocaine trafficking business. Most Columbians are indicted in the South District of Florida (Miami to be precise). The question of contacts and ties to Miami present themselves in the form of property and money that has been invested in Miami.

Our attorneys practice in Federal Court in Miami and our first office is still in Miami. We now taken that expertise and have opened another office in South Carolina. We represent clients charged with drug trafficking in South Carolina.

Continue reading "Columbian Kingpin Extradited to US" »

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Posted In: Drug Trafficking

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The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) has stated in a report by the Charleston Post that cuts in funding will reduce the number of investigations for mortgage fraud, gang related crime, and violent crime. The director of SLED has stated that many investigations are going to be dropped as more and more positions at SLED are cut. SLED provides chemical analysis for most of the police departments in South Carolina.

The purposed reductions in mortgage fraud investigations will not truly affect the number of indictments that are going to occur across the county. Most mortgage fraud investigations are done by federal agencies such as the Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Secret Service could get involved depending on the funding resources used in the fraud. The FBI has dedicated over 150 agents to mortgage fraud investigations in the past year. These investigations will cover cases based on straw buyers, broker fraud, application fraud, appraisal fraud and any type of information that was used to get the loan for the property. The cut in funding for SLED will not affect mortgage fraud investigations on the federal level.

Defending a mortgage fraud indictment is not simple and should not be done by an attorney new to the federal justice system. The exposure of substantial prison time must be controlled as much as possible from the time there is any inclination that one might be facing a mortgage fraud indictment. Understanding how the United States Sentencing Guidelines will affect the case and the extreme importance of speaking to a federal defense lawyer cannot be understated.

Continue reading "Mortgage Fraud Investigations Could Slow" »

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Posted In: Mortgage Fraud

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Eight teenagers have been charged with abusing elderly victims at a nursing home in Minnesota. According to reports, the teens assaulted the victims by spitting at them, poking at them, and rubbing their genitals. The victims were suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

These teenagers allegedly took inappropriate pictures of the elderly residents and also intentionally antagonized them. The teenagers could be charged with a variety of crimes, including assault, battery, abuse of a vulnerable victim, and sexual assault. These teenagers will need to hire a criminal defense attorney to represent them because they could be facing jail time.

The victims may also have valid claims in civil court. They could sue the nursing home for negligence, negligent hiring, and negligent supervision. To prove negligent supervision, the victims would have to prove that the nursing home knew or had reason to know that the teenagers were harming the elderly residents. in other words, that nursing home employees were on notice of the abuse and did nothing to stop it. The victims could also sue the teenagers individually for civil assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Local authorities have not determined whether any other employees working at the nursing home will face criminal charges.

Continue reading "Teens charged in Nursing Home Abuse" »

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Posted In: assault and battery

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