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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Based on these known facts, it appears that this was not a murder. The parties involved did not have the intent to kill the man, but were trying to prevent a theft. Murder requires the intent to kill or a willful disregard for human life, known as depraved heart murder. Additionally, these individuals could not be charged with voluntary manslaughter because this homicide also requires an intent to kill but is mitigated by the state of mind of the individual or the circumstances surrounding the case. Involuntary manslaughter is negligent homicide and does not require an intent to kill.

However, depending on the results of autopsy, the deceased family may have a claim for wrongful death. The family would have to prove the man's death was caused by the individuals that wrestled the man to the ground. Therefore, the autopsy will be the key piece of evidence in this case.

A Federal judge denied his bail at a bond hearing and stated that he was a danger to the public. At the time he was federally indicted, McGowan was on parole for shooting an Horry County police officer in 1996. He was released after serving ten (10) years in prison for shooting he officer in the hand while he was being arrested for disorderly conduct. He will now have a rough road and will need a good criminal defense attorney to represent him.

McGowan's metal status is obviously an issue and will need to be investigated by his defense attorney. A request for a psychiatric evaluation should be done at the earliest opportunity and a good criminal defense lawyer would seek out a psychiatrist with experience in these type of evaluations.

Local law enforcement, including the Myrtle Beach Police Department, may release some conflicting information in the future. Horry County authorities agree that the crime level in Myrtle Beach is closer to the national average and is not nearly as high as suggested by this recent report. Other areas in South Carolina also ranked high in this report. Florence was ranked sixth (6th) most dangerous place to live, Sumter was ranked fifth (5th) and Charleston-North Charleston metro area was ranked twenty-first (21).

Many lawyers in Myrtle Beach have started practicing criminal law over the past few years. These criminal attorneys will agree that Horry County has a significant crime rate. However, most myrtle beach attorneys have not practiced criminal law in a major city such as Miami. The crime rate in Miami is on a large scale, for example, the head of the drug cartele in Colombia was extradited to Miami last year. He manufactured 80% of the worlds cocaine at one time. Therefore, it is hard to believe that Myrtle Beach is ranked so high when compared to urban areas.

Hopefully this report will not hurt tourism to the Myrtle Beach area, especially with the current economy woes. Only time will tell how accurate this report is and whether it will have any impact on tourism this year.