- Adoption
- Child AbuseBy the mid-1980's, the trafficking of child pornography within the United States had been almost completely eradicated through a series of campaigns waged by law enforcement. Producing child abuse images was both difficult and expensive, and reproducing images was equally difficult and expensive. Purchasing and trading such images was extremely risky. Anonymous distribution and receipt was not possible.
- Criminal DefenseJohn Floyd has been voted and recognized as one of Houston's Top Lawyers For the People for being among the best and brightest attorneys practicing criminal law.
- DUI/DWI
- Sex CrimesChild Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the US Attorney’s Office works with the 93 United States Attorney offices around the country and investigative agencies to vigorously combat this growing problem. By maintaining a coordinated, national-level law enforcement focus, including coordinating nationwide and international investigations and prosecutions, CEOS attempts to deter the production, distribution and possession of child pornography by aggressively investigating and prosecuting of these crimes.
- FraudUnder Federal Law "There are two elements in mail fraud: (1) having devised or intending to devise a scheme to defraud (or to perform specified fraudulent acts), and (2) use of the mail for the purpose of executing, or attempting to execute, the scheme (or specified fraudulent acts)." Schmuck v. United States, 489 U.S. 705, 721 n. 10 (1989); see also Pereira v. United States, 347 U.S. 1, 8 (1954) ("The elements of the offense of mail fraud under... § 1341 are (1) a scheme to defraud, and (2) the mailing of a letter, etc., for the purpose of executing the scheme."); Laura A. Eilers & Harvey B. Silikovitz, Mail and Wire Fraud, 31 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 703, 704 (1994) (cases cited).
- Robbery"Racketeering activity" is described in 18 U.S.C.A. § 1959(b)(1) as having the same meaning as Section 1961 under the RICO chapter found at 18 U.S.C.A. § 1961. Under that section, "racketeering activity" includes kidnapping, robbery, and dealing in narcotic drugs, which are chargeable under state law and punishable by imprisonment for more than one year.
- Burglary
- White Collar CrimesA. General Department of Justice Principle: Corporations should not be treated leniently because of their artificial nature nor should they be subject to harsher treatment. Vigorous enforcement of the criminal laws against corporate wrongdoers, where appropriate results in great benefits for law enforcement and the public, particularly in the area of white collar crime. Indicting corporations for wrongdoing enables the government to address and be a force for positive change of corporate culture, alter corporate behavior, and prevent, discover, and punish white collar crime.
- Theft
- Misdemeanors(e) Except as provided by Subsection (f), an offense under this section is: (1) a Class C misdemeanor if the value of the property stolen is less than: (A) $50; or (B) $20 and the defendant obtained the property by issuing or passing a check or similar sight order in a manner described by Section 31.06;
- EmbezzlementThe investment or transfer of money from racketeering, drug transactions or other embezzlement schemes so that it appears that its original source either cannot be traced or is legitimate.
- Drug CrimesA SEIZURE is by definition the deprivation of liberty, or the enjoyment in exercising dominion or control over a thing, be it property or person (see Stop and Frisk). Police can temporarily seize private property for about 14 days (this varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction), and usually hold it indefinitely if it is material evidence in a criminal case. Temporary seizure or detention of a person is allowed for shorter periods of time, usually 72 hours. Asset forfeiture laws apply to criminal cases, and among other things are intended to show that crime does not pay. While these are technically civil law procedures that exist on both federal and state levels, seized property can be auctioned off for money to fund the criminal justice system, or in some cases, used by the police departments themselves in operations; e.g., as an undercover vehicle. With asset forfeiture, the crime must fall under some version of a R.I.C.O. (Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization) Act, or be part of on ongoing criminal enterprise designed to be profitable, such as drug trafficking. In most cases, a person who has had their assets seized under forfeiture laws must make a showing of good cause why the property should be returned in civil court within 90 days.
- Assault
- MurderAnd both men were targeted as suspects by investigators because of their behavior immediately after the fires. According to neighbors who witnessed the Willingham fire, the father “crouched down” in his front yard and refused to make any effort to recuse his children despite pleas by the neighbors that he do so. Similarly, witnesses said Willis, who was high on pain killers and beer, looked distant as he impassively smoked cigarettes while watching the fire burn that killed the two women. This apparent lack of “proper” emotion and empathy for the people being burned alive was sufficient reason for investigators to manipulate the forensic evidence to change the fires from accidents into intentional acts of murder.
- Identity TheftFictitious/Stolen Identity - A fictitious/stolen identity may be used on the loan application. The applicant may be involved in an identity theft scheme: the applicant's name, personal identifying information and credit history are used without the true person's knowledge.
- Homicide(a) Homicide. - Whoever kills a national of the United States, while such national is outside the United States, shall - (1) if the killing is murder (as defined in section 1111(a)), be fined under this title, punished by death or imprisonment for any term of years or for life, or both;
- Arson“They were both country boys—Willis from New Mexico, Willingham from Oklahoma—who liked hunting, drinking, and carousing. Both were unemployed and living in small Texas towns when they were accused of setting fires that killed people (in Willingham’ case, his three small daughters in 1991). Both were convicted of capital murder on the basis of testimony of investigators who believed they had found evidence of arson. Both were sent to death row. Eventually both were vindicated by modern science, which determined that there was absolutely no evidence of arson in either case. The fires were almost certainly accidents.”
- ForgeryMaking or Using a Forged Passport: Section 1543 of Title 18 proscribes the forgery, alteration, etc., of passports or the use of or furnishing to another of a forged, altered, void, etc., passport or purported passport. It applies to instruments issued or purportedly issued by foreign governments as well as by the United States. See United States v. Dangdee, 616 F.2d 1118 (9th Cir. 1980).
- Money LaunderingSection 1956(a) defines three types of criminal conduct: domestic money laundering transactions (§ 1956(a)(1)); international money laundering transactions (§ 1956(a)(2)); and undercover "sting" money laundering transactions (§ 1956(a)(3)).
- KidnappingIn Blakely, the defendant pled guilty to kidnapping his estranged wife, an offense for which the law allowed a maximum sentence of 53 months. But the judge concluded the defendant had acted with deliberate cruelty and enhanced the sentence to 90 months. The Washington Court of Appeals affirmed.
- Manslaughter(2) if the killing is a voluntary manslaughter as defined in section 1112(a) of this title, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and
- Internet CrimesThe Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Forces have announced a national law enforcement initiative aimed at combating the growing volume of illegal child pornography distributed through peer-to-peer (P2P) file trafficking computer networks.
- ProstitutionProhibited sexual activities with aliens: Section 1328 prohibits three kinds of sexual activities with respect to aliens: (1) importing aliens for prostitution, (2) holding aliens for prostitution, and (3) keeping, maintaining, controlling, supporting, employing, or harboring aliens for prostitution. Each of the three is a separate crime. See Dalton v. Hunter, 174 F.2d 633 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, 338 U.S. 906 (1949). The phrase, "in pursuance of such illegal importation," was added to § 1328 in 1910 to establish an interstate commerce nexus because the Supreme Court had held that the statute infringed on state police powers. See Keller v. United States, 213 U.S. 138 (1909). Also, "alien" was substituted for "woman or girl" to make it clear that the statute applied to both sexes. The phrase, "or for any other immoral purpose," probably includes only immoral purposes relating to sex, and not, for example, the selling of babies. See United States v. Baker, 136 F. Supp. 546, 549-550 (S.D.N.Y. 1955).
- ExtortionOne of the things the malicious can do with root access to a computer is to hold its files for ransom. By encrypting them, they are rendered useless to the victim who will have to pay or otherwise to receive the decryption key needed to access the files again. Attacks of this kind were first described by Young & Yung (Malicious Crtypography, Wiley) and have now been seen in reality.
- Corporate LawWhile the Department recognizes that no compliance program can ever prevent all criminal activity by a corporation's employees, the critical factors in evaluating any program are whether the program is adequately designed for maximum effectiveness in preventing and detecting wrongdoing by employees and whether corporate management is enforcing the program or is tacitly encouraging or pressuring employees to engage in misconduct to achieve business objectives. The Department has no formal guidelines for corporate compliance programs. The fundamental questions any prosecutor should ask are: "Is the corporation's compliance program well designed?" and "Does the corporation's compliance program work?" In answering these questions, the prosecutor should consider the comprehensiveness of the compliance program; the extent and pervasiveness of the criminal conduct; the number and level of the corporate employees involved; the seriousness, duration, and frequency of the misconduct; and any remedial actions taken by the corporation, including restitution, disciplinary action, and revisions to corporate compliance programs.[6] Prosecutors should also consider the promptness of any disclosure of wrongdoing to the government and the corporation's cooperation in the government's investigation. In evaluating compliance programs, prosecutors may consider whether the corporation has established corporate governance mechanisms that can effectively detect and prevent misconduct. For example, do the corporation's directors exercise independent review over proposed corporate actions rather than unquestioningly ratifying officers' recommendations; are the directors provided with information sufficient to enable the exercise of independent judgment, are internal audit functions conducted at a level sufficient to ensure their independence and accuracy and have the directors established an information and reporting system in the organization reasonable designed to provide management and the board of directors with timely and accurate information sufficient to allow them to reach an informed decision regarding the organization's compliance with the law. In re: Caremark, 698 A.2d 959 (Del. Ct. Chan. 1996).
- Business TransactionsFollowing the passage of the FCPA, the Congress became concerned that American companies were operating at a disadvantage compared to foreign companies who routinely paid bribes and, in some countries, were permitted to deduct the cost of such bribes as business expenses on their taxes. Accordingly, in 1988, the Congress directed the Executive Branch to commence negotiations in the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to obtain the agreement of the United States' major trading partners to enact legislation similar to the FCPA. In 1997, almost ten years later, the United States and thirty-three other countries signed the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions. The United States ratified this Convention and enacted implementing legislation in 1998. See Convention and Commentaries on the DOJ web site.
- AntitrustB. Comment: In determining whether to charge a corporation, prosecutors should take into account federal law enforcement priorities as discussed above. See USAM § 9-27-230. In addition, however, prosecutors must be aware of the specific policy goals and incentive programs established by the respective Divisions and regulatory agencies. Thus, whereas natural persons may be given incremental degrees of credit (ranging from immunity to lesser charges to sentencing considerations) for turning themselves in, making statements against their penal interest, and cooperating in the government's investigation of their own and others' wrongdoing, the same approach may not be appropriate in all circumstances with respect to corporations. As an example, it is entirely proper in many investigations for a prosecutor to consider the corporation's pre-indictment conduct, e.g.,voluntary disclosure, cooperation, remediation or restitution, in determining whether to seek an indictment. However, this would not necessarily be appropriate in an antitrust investigation, in which antitrust violations, by definition, go to the heart of the corporation's business and for which the Antitrust Division has therefore established a firm policy, understood in the business community, that credit should not be given at the charging stage for a compliance program and that amnesty is available only to the first corporation to make full disclosure to the government. As another example, the Tax Division has a strong preference for prosecuting responsible individuals, rather than entities, for corporate tax offenses. Thus, in determining whether or not to charge a corporation, prosecutors should consult with the Criminal, Antitrust, Tax, and Environmental and Natural Resources Divisions, if appropriate or required.
- Property Damage(9) whether any other claim for insurance payment has been communicated to any other insurer concerning property damage or loss to the same property.
- Citizenship and Naturalization
- Probate
- Bankruptcy
- ForeclosureThe defrauding of mortgage lenders should not be compared to predatory lending practices which primarily affect borrowers. Predatory lending typically effects senior citizens, lower income and challenged credit borrowers. Predatory lending forces borrowers to pay exorbitant loan origination/settlement fees, sub-prime or higher interest rates, and in some cases, unreasonable service fees. These practices often result in the borrower defaulting on his mortgage payment and undergoing foreclosure or forced refinancing.
- Tax Law
- Debt Collection(3) any property constituting, or derived from, any proceeds which the person obtained, directly or indirectly, from racketeering activity or unlawful debt collection in violation of section 1962.