South Carolina Criminal Lawyer Blog

Amanda Knox, a US citizen, is in an Italian appeals court in Italy for murduring her British roommate in 2007. Knox was convicted of murdering Meredith Kercher in the apartment they shared as exchange students. She is sentenced to 26 years in prison and her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, sentenced to 25 years. It seems that one of the only witnesses in this crime is a heroin addict who is now having trouble remembering specific dates and times that would link Knox and her boyfriend to the crime scene. According to MSNBC.com, "The contradicting testimony and confused dates offered by Antonio Curatolo, a self-described drug addict and homeless man now in prison for an unrelated conviction, cast doubts on his credibility. The defense called him flat-out unreliable, while the prosecution maintained that, despite some lack of precision, the witness was lucid and clear in what he remembered." The website also reports that "the witness has directly contradicted Knox and Sollecito's claim that they were at Sollecito's house the night of the murder."

The appeals trial will include a review of DNA evidence from the crime scene. Some reports are telling us that there may be too little DNA evidence in this case to hold Amanda Knox accountable for the murder. If that is the case, then prosecutors may have to find another way to link her to the murder, other than the DNA on the knife and the heroine-addict eye witness.

Even though the knife was linked to Knox, there is DNA evidence on the victim's bra clasp that ties Sollecito to the crime scene. According to one webiste, "Prosecutors had contended that they'd found Sollecito's DNA on the bra clasp which was cut from Kercher's body, but the scientists now say the clasp is too rusted to get a reading."

If you or someone you know is involved in a case as serious as the Knox case, you will need to hire a federal criminal attorney. Call one of the federal criminal attorneys at The Mace Firm for help.

Continue reading " Amanda Knox " »

This month, the mayor and police chief of a New Mexico border town were accused of participating in a ring alleged to have illegaly sent guns to Mexico. ABC news reports, "A federal indictment said the defendants have engaged in a conspiracy — based in Columbus, N.M. — to buy firearms since January 2010. Law enforcement officers executed search warrants Thursday at the Columbus Police Department, a gun shop and eight homes." There are a total of 11 defendants and 10 of them are set for initial apperances in federal court in Las Cruces. One defendant remains at large and is considered a fugitive.

In other recent news, 4 mexicans are facing trial on federal methamphetamine trafficking charges. According to HeraldBulletin.com, "A federal grand jury last week indicted 31-year-old Rosalba Acevedo, 38-year-old Heriberto Ibanez Garcia, and Lenin Aguirre and Juan Castillo. The U.S. attorney's office says the men are charged with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine." If the men are convicted, they could be sentenced to life in prison and be fined up to $4 million.

At the end of last year, the U.S. border police found a 600-yard tunnel used for drug smuggling which linked southern California with Mexico. The tunnel was even equipped with a rail system and had lights and ventilation. The tunnel was primarily used for trafficking marijuana and was run by an American citizen and his mexican wife. According to U.S. customs and border protection, "This wasn't a mom-and-pop operation, or in this case a husband and wife operation. This is clearly organized crime at work."

If you or someone you know are involved in a drug-related crime, you will need to hire a federal criminal attorney. Do not hesitate to contact one of the South Carolina federal criminal attorneys at The Mace Firm.

Continue reading " Drugs and Guns " »

The perjury trial of Barry Bonds has begun and the wasting of your tax dollars to prosecute what we all could care less about in this economy. The United States Attorney has a job to do and they at times do it well. It is difficult to convict many defendants that are sophisticated and can afford a great defense. In this case, the government is spending millions to stop Barry Bonds from ever lying to a grand jury again? Barry Bonds made one mistake, he opened his mouth. As with Martha Stewart, there seems to be some confusion about what the government can and cannot prove prior to any interview with a particular defendant. As in both of these cases the federal indictment is not based on some substantive violation of the federal code, but rather a lie to either the grand jury for federal law enforcement. In plain English, our government stands for the proposition," If you break the law, or we think you broke the law, we want you to go ahead and admit that you broke the law without us ever having to get any evidence besides your own words." The one caveat being, that you must be someone the government wants to get.
Barry Bonds is a great target. No well liked by most, defiant of authority and in general no a sympathetic person. Mr. Bonds's federal defense lawyer has had a few years to prepare for this case and I am sure the legal fees are in the millions by now. The more money you have for your defense the more of a chance you will have in federal court. There is no substitute for unlimited resources when in court. The federal government will spend millions and use every means necessary to convict Mr. Bonds. The criminal defense lawyer will need as much money and time as the government to defend this case. A good criminal defense lawyer spends hours, days, weeks, months and even years preparing for a federal trial. Our criminal defense lawyer in Charleston, South Carolina spends hundreds of hours preparing for federal trials each year.

Continue reading " Federal Trial for Barry Bonds Begins " »

Rodell Vereen has been released from the South Carolina department of corrections according to the Sun News. Mr. Vereen was previously convicted for having sex with a horse. Apparently he was video taped in the act. The original sentence was five years, but Vereen only served 18 months. It is unknown whether he was represented by a Conway lawyer or by a Myrtle Beach Lawyer. The charge is referred to as "buggary" in South Carolina and rarely will a South Carolina criminal lawyer have to defend anyone for this charge.
As Howard Stern said in a recent show, "the nerve of this guy, thinking he can satisfy a horse."
Mr. Vereen is now a registered sex offender in South Carolina. He will be forced to register with local authorities as such and cannot have contact with the horse, "Sugar." Our Myrtle Beach criminal lawyers do no represent individuals charged with abusing animals and this is a case that we would not normally agree to represent. Mr. Vereen has stated he has changed and will not commit the offense again.

Continue reading " Horry County Horse Molestor Released on Probation " »

The United States Attorney office in Charleston, South Carolina announced this week the plea of Blair Witkowski in a bank fraud indictment. Mr. Witkowski, who was a mortgage loan officer in Hilton Head, will faces prison time in the face of this fraud charge. Under the federal sentencing guidelines, a fraud indictment provides that the amount of prison time a defendant may face will be based on the amount of loss the government is able to prove at the sentencing. There will no doubt be more indictments to come related to this case. Witkowski has undoubtedly cooperated with the government in this case. His cooperation will allow him to reduce his possible prison sentence. The more information that he provides and that cooperation leads to the arrest and indictment of other individuals, the lower his prison sentence will be. The major problem with all these so called mortgage fraud indictments is the key defendant is never charged. THE BANK is the key to all of these cases.
The government never indicts the bank, only the employees and the other low level players. Very seldom does any bank president, or bank manager get charged as a co-conspirator. The fraud cannot occur without their consent. No matter how it is viewed, banks made money off these bad loans and our tax dollars bailed them out and now they will not lend money to anyone. The government never investigates the bank to determine if they were allowed to right off the loss on their taxes and actually receive a benefit from the loss. The banks did no checks to determine who they were loaning the money to and what they were doing with the money. The banks wanted to give the money away because they could sell the notes to other institutions at a premium. A good Charleston criminal lawyer should fight these indictments and show the jury and the court that the key to all of this was in the bank's hands.
In Witkowski's case, he has plead guilty and will now do what he can to reduce his time. It would be nice if he would actually describe what the bank did in this case beside point the finger. These banks have a duty of due diligence when loaning thousands or millions of dollars. Clearly that was not done by most of the banks giving out loans in the past 8 years. Fighting a federal fraud indictment is difficult, but hiring a good federal attorney will make a tremendous difference in the outcome of a case.

Continue reading " More Fraud Indictments to come in Charleston " »

Fraudulent and unethical behaviors in business environments aren't hard to come by on the evening news. We have all heard about Enron, right? Enron executives hid billions of dollars of debt from failed business deals, causing the company to go bankrupt. A lot of the executives at Enron were federally indicted for multiple charges and sentenced to prison. According to Time.com, "the jury convicted the entire firm, but it focused the blame on a single person, Andersen's Chicago-based lawyer Nancy Temple, who, according to the legalese, played the 'corrupt persuader' who led others astray."

What about WorldCom? Time.com reports that "investigators revealed that WorldCom had executed what was then the largest accounting fraud in history, with more than $11 billion in accounting misstatements. It was also alleged that CEO, Bernie Ebbers, had taken $366 million in personal loans from the company." It seems as if these large company executives are becoming very greedy with money that doesn't belong to them. Their situations seem to irreversibly spiral out of control which gets them in way over their heads.

What if you work for a company who commits fraudulent acts? What if you didn't say anything about those accounting discrepancies? What if your silence is mistaken for admission of guilt? You shouldn't have to go down with a company who is defrauding their stock-holders if you had nothing to do with the crime. Our Charleston Criminal lawyer is available to defend this type of case.

If you or someone you know or work with is involved in a white collar crime, you may need to contact one of the South Carolina federal criminal attorneys at The Mace Firm.

Continue reading " White Collar Crime " »

It is such a shame when you hear your favorite athlete was involved in any type of criminal activity. Take for example Michael Vick, who was the quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. According to NFL.com, he and other men were accused of "conspiring to stage dogfighting events and create dogfight training facilities for profit." Vick's actions were unimaginable and it is one of the very few types of cases that our federal defense attorneys will not defend. Our firm does not tolerate animal abuse at any level.

Who could forget the O.J. Simpson case? Simpson's athletic career started with the Buffalo Bills and was eventually traded to the San Fransisco 49ers. He has even been in quite a few television shows and movies throughout the years. However, Simpsons criminal career involves very serious allegations including battery, burglary and murder. Some athletes have such extensive criminal backgrounds, its a wonder they have a job at all! Randy Moss, who now plays for the Tennessee Titans, has been charged with careless driving, failure to obey an officer, and possession of marijuana. Not only that, he was involved in numerous physical fights in his younger days that apparently got him kicked off one college football team and he lost his scholarship to another. It is shocking that the NFL doesnt have a filter for criminals in the league.

The MLB also has quite a few criminal offenders on its hands. Years ago, infamous right fielder for the New York Mets, Daryl Strawberry, was convicted of possession of cocaine and soliciting a prostitute. More recently, Barry Bonds, left fielder for the San Fransisco Giants, was federally indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice.

It is bad enough that some of our athlete role models turn out to be criminals, but its even worse when you or someone you are close to is involved in criminal behaviors. If you do, in fact, find yourself involved in criminal activities, please call one of the South Carolina federal criminal attorneys at The Mace Firm.

Continue reading " Criminal Athletes " »

Drug abuse in South Carolina is disturbingly common. A recent study by the National Drug Abuse Index reports that "the primary drug of abuse in the State of South Carolina is cocaine, and its derivative cocaine base (crack). Multi kilogram cocaine investigations and seizures are common-place throughout the state." Another resource, SoberPursuit.com, states that "there will be around 26,325 people arrested this year for drug-related charges in South Carolina," and, "it is believed that there are around 34,172 cocaine addicts living in South Carolina."

In some cases, even the "good guys" are bad. In December 2010, a state trooper in South Carolina was charged with buying cocaine. According to SCnow.com, "43-year-old Bobby Lee Spurgeon was arrested and charged with drug posession after police say he bought more than three grams of a white powder that tested positive for cocaine." Apparently, Horry County police had Spurgeon under surveillance before his arrest.

Despite what we see in the newspaper headlines, not all offenders are locals. A good portion of drugs in the state of South Carolina are being transported to and from by illegal immigrants from Mexico. This year, an illegal immigrant from Mexico was charged with arranging the transportation of large quantities of marijuana and cocaine from Texas to South Carolina.

If you or someone you know finds themselves involved in a drug-related crime and need representation, please call The Mace Firm to schedule a free consultation with our South Carolina federal attorney or state criminal lawyer.

Continue reading " SC Drug Dilemma " »

It seems like celebrities get special treatment when they commit crimes and normal people get in more serious trouble. Crimes that range from something minor such as public intoxication to more serious offenses like DUI, celebrities often get released from jail early and receive lighter sentences. It must be that they have endless amounts of money to bail themselves out, or that they have a great criminal attorney.

For instance, Matthew McConaughey was arrested in his home for possession of marijuana and violating a noise ordinance. His drug charges were eventually dropped and he was ordered to pay a measly $50 fine. Another example is Lindsay Lohan, who was arrested for possession of cocaine and driving under the influence. Lohan served only one day in jail and 10 days of community service. Paris Hilton was also arrested for driving under the influence. Just when we thought she would be the celebrity that would get a tough sentence and serve it, she only served 22 days of her 45-day jail sentence. Apparently, she was released because the jail was overcrowded.

In the real world, a person arrested for driving under the influence would probably get their license suspended or revoked and serve jail time. Not to mention spend a ton of money on fines and hiring a criminal attorney. According to DrivingLaws.org, "whether or not your DUI case was the cause of injuries or death to another will play a big part in [deciding your sentence]. The judge will also take into consideration your personal economic and social circumstances, and whether or not you express any regret or remorse for your conduct." No matter how easy celebrities get off on criminal charges, we cannot expect to be treated the same.

If you or someone you know has been charged with a federal drug crime, state drug crime, or any other criminal offense, contact a South Carolina federal lawyer or state criminal lawyer at The Mace Firm today.

Continue reading " Celebrity Criminals " »