In Florida and across the country, prosecutors are bringing more criminal cases against people suspected of committing mortgage fraud. Mortgage fraud can be committed in a number of ways. Some examples include: buyers using fake identities to obtain loans and purchases houses, using fraudulent appraisals to inflate the price of…
Last Month, the Jacksonville, Florida law firm of Lasnetski Gihon Law which handles state and federal criminal defense, personal injury, wrongful death and business litigation matters in Jacksonville and throughout Florida and Georgia prepared a blog post about an issue that has potentially crippling ramifications for companies but of which…
A St. Augustine, Florida woman (Pamela Niland) allegedly dumped hazardous waste taken from Flagler Hospital, including vials of blood and drugs and old needles, into a dumpster belonging to a St. Johns County construction company, according to an article at Firstcoastnews.com. As most people know, hospitals and doctors’ offices have…
Where a company employee commits a federal crime while acting in the course and scope of his/her job duties and acts with the intent to benefit the company, the company will likely be criminally liable for the employee’s actions along with that employee. This is called vicarious liability, where one…
A Missouri woman was convicted of three federal misdemeanor crimes for pretending to be a teenage boy, courting a 13 year old classmate of her daughter’s and then sending abusive messages over Myspace to the young girl. Apparently, one of the messages sent by the defendant told the young girl…
Four Department of Driver Services employees in Georgia (similar to the Florida DMV) were charged with the federal crimes of identity theft and conspiracy to commit fraud after allegedly issuing false driver’s licenses to over 130 illegal immigrants. According to an article at AJC.com, the illegal immigrants paid $7,000 –…
Students at Florida A & M University were indicted recently for allegedly hacking into the school computer and changing the grades and residency status of approximately 90 people, according to a local news website. According to school and law enforcement officials, the students changes numerous grades from F’s to A’s…
Largely in an effort to crack down on illegal aliens in the United States, the government enacted the federal crime of aggravated identity fraud which is punishable by a mandatory two year prison sentence. This is a very severe mechanism used by the federal government to address the issue of…
In the federal criminal system, when a person is arrested for a crime, or a corporation is being investigated for criminal conduct, credit for cooperating with the government can be obtained which can translate into a lower sentence. Federal law enforcement officials may ask a corporation’s representatives to cooperate by…
The answer is yes in federal criminal court. Most of us understand the criminal system in Florida to provide that if a criminal defendant is acquitted (i.e. found not guilty by a jury) of a crime, that defendant should not serve any prison time based on that criminal charge. That…