As we have discussed several times on this site in the past, minimum mandatory sentences are among the most counterproductive and just plain stupid ideas our government has come up with, and that is saying a lot given the state of our government these days. Among other problems, they are…
As we have discussed on here several times, the federal government finally got around to reducing (not eliminating) the huge disparity between sentences for powder cocaine crimes and crack cocaine crimes. Under the old law, which was in effect for a long time, the difference between prison sentences for crack…
As the federal deficit skyrockets on a continuing basis, one area that is not discussed very often as a contributing factor is the amount of money allocated to the Department of Justice, the building of more prisons and the overcrowding of the prisons we already have. People may assume money…
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) recently issued a statement indicating what everyone else already knows- continuing to increase prison populations is getting extremely expensive and is unsustainable in the current economic environment (or any other realistic environment for that matter). The DOJ asked the United States Sentencing Commission…
As we have discussed on our criminal defense lawyer blog in the past, the federal sentencing guidelines, which play a significant role in the ultimate sentence a federal criminal defendant will receive, used to be much more severe for crack cocaine cases as opposed to powder cocaine cases. They still…
A defendant from California who was accused of practicing law as a criminal defense lawyer without a license was charged with a variety of federal crimes, including mail fraud and wire fraud, and ultimately convicted and sentenced to nine and a half years in federal prison. The defendant never went…
The federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) was intended to be an anti-hacking criminal statute to go after people who hack into databases and computer systems without authorization to misappropriate data. However, certain prosecutors have attempted to expand their powers under the Act and use the Computer Fraud and…
As we have discussed several times in the past, the old laws dealing with prison sentences were very different for crack cocaine crimes as opposed to powder cocaine crimes. Basically, a person charged with an amount of crack cocaine often faced a much more severe prison sentence than a different…
The FBI is using more aggressive means to get personal emails and information about internet usage. In the past, the FBI was permitted to use administrative subpoenas that were not initially presented to a judge for review. These administrative subpoenas, or national security letters, were sent to internet service providers…
A postal supervisor with the United States Postal Service was arrested for stealing merchandise that was ordered from online stores and shipped through the mail. The defendant was sentenced to three years in federal prison for stealing over $150,000 in merchandise. One of the ways the defendant was tracked was…