America's Criminal Defense Group - Our Legal Blog

The Los Angeles Police Department Wednesday identified a 22-year-old South Los Angeles man who is accused of posing as a Vibe Magazine photographer and sexually assaulting young women.

“Keith Nichols is not a photographer,” Capt. Blake Chow stated. “All young women, especially those riding local trains, need to know Nichols is a fraud and potentially dangerous.”

In two cases under investigation, Nichols began talking to two women on the Metro Blue Line and each referred him to a roommate, he said.

The women told police they met Nichols and agreed to let him “measure” their most intimate body parts for “custom-fitted underwear,” Chow said.Nichols told the women if their measurements were right, they could get a modeling job for Vibe Magazine, Chow said.

The women, however, realized they had “been duped when Nichols never returned phone calls,” he said.

“The ‘measuring’ sessions often occurred spontaneously in secluded, public places, where Nichols used a measuring tape as a prop,” Chow said.

“While none of the woman recalled him taking photographs, Nichols did touch the women’s bare breasts and groins with his hands.”

“These crimes amount only to a misdemeanor at this point, but the potential for a more serious crime is there,” Chow said.

“We don’t know how many women Nichols has approached, how many have submitted, or if he has committed more serious crimes,” Chow said. “Our goal today is to educate, warn, and stop this activity before it becomes more aggravated.”

“The lure of Hollywood and a big career in modeling blinded these girls from reality,” Chow said. “That’s what con artists rely on.”

Nichols, who may be working as a security guard, has lived in Compton, Hawthorne and South Los Angeles. He is black, with black hair and brown eyes, 5 feet 11 inches and about 140 pounds.

Police urged anyone with more information about him to call detectives at (213) 972-1235 during normal office hours, or (877) LAPD-24-7 around the clock.

http://cbs2.com/local/Photographer.Vibe.Magazine.2.1334402.html

A sexualt assault charge can be devestating to a person’s life.  Should you find yourself in such a position, you still have rights available.  Contact Senior Case Manager, Todd Terry (non-attorney) at 818-225-2468 or visit www.americascriminaldefense.com to schedule a free consultation.

Washington, Oct 17 (ANI): Indian origin billionaire investor Raj Rajaratnam, founder of Galleon Group, was arrested over an alleged 20 million dollars insider trading scheme that US prosecutors called the biggest ever involving hedge funds.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested him on Friday in New York along with five others tied to the case.

Galleon Group said in a statement that it is “shocked by the arrest” of Raj Rajaratnam and had no knowledge of the investigation before today.

Federal authorities have uncovered what they say is the largest case of insider trading ever at a hedge fund – netting an alleged 20 million dollars in illegal profits, The Christian Science Monitor reported.

Hedge funds have been touted in recent years to wealthy investors and pension funds as a new “asset class,” to be tapped alongside traditional stocks and bonds. Often they rack up solid returns while carefully hedging their bets (hence their name). But they are also secretive, insular, and little regulated.

Authorities said the arrests on Friday show they are pursuing fraud at high levels of Wall Street with the same determination, and the same tools, that they use on drug lords or mobsters, the report says.

“This case should be a wake-up call for Wall Street,” said Preet Bharara, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, who announced the arrests along with the FBI. (ANI)

http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20091017/364/twl-indian-origin-billionaire-raj-rajara.html

Federal crimes usually carry a hefty punishment.  If you or someone you know is facing any federal charge, a solid defense team is necessary to avoid conviction.  America’s Criminal Defense Group can help.  Should you find yourself in such position, please contact Senior Case Manager, Todd Terry (non-attorney) at 818-225-2468 or visit www.americascriminaldefense.com to schedule a free consultation.

By Henry Chu
Reporting from Zurich, Switzerland – Gone are the red carpet and the luxury accommodations, at least for a while. Film director Roman Polanski will probably remain in prison for several months as he fights deportation to the U.S. in a 3-decade-old sexual assault case.

His Swiss attorney, one of the country’s top criminal lawyers, filed a request in court Tuesday that Polanski be set free while his extradition case winds its way through the judicial system.

But such releases are rare for nonresidents in Switzerland, who are generally deemed to be flight risks. And given the lengthy extradition and appeals process, Polanski faces jail time far in excess of the 42 days he spent behind bars in Los Angeles back when the charges against him arose.

“We are talking about three, four months easily,” said Peter Cosandey, a former prosecutor here with extensive experience in extradition cases. “If he’s not released on bail as requested by his lawyers, then he has to remain in prison.”

Exactly where Polanski is being held has been kept secret for security reasons, which is normal procedure in Switzerland. Diplomats at the Polish Embassy, who met with Polanski on Monday, declined to disclose his location “to not make it easier for paparazzi to find him,” Consul Marek Wieruszewski said in a telephone interview from Bern, the Swiss capital.

Polanski has both Polish and French citizenship. French diplomats have also been in contact with the director.

He is entitled to unlimited access to his high-profile Swiss lawyer, Lorenz Erni, and to consular officials. But beyond that Polanski is living the life of any other jailed suspect, confined to a single cell that he most likely has to himself and allowed an hour of outdoor exercise a day.

“He stressed that he’s being treated very well . . . with respect and even some sympathy to his situation,” Wieruszewski said. “Conditions are good.”

Polanski’s arrest Saturday night, while in Zurich to receive a lifetime achievement award at a film festival, has inspired impassioned debate across Europe and in North America.

Artists and members of the film world on both sides of the Atlantic have rallied behind him, demanding his release, as have government officials in France and Poland. A letter from the Polish and French foreign ministers to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton asking her to intervene in the matter was due to be delivered in Washington on Tuesday.

But public reaction has been mixed, with many Europeans aghast at support for a fugitive who fled the U.S. in 1978 in the face of charges that he plied a 13-year-old girl with alcohol and drugs and then had sex with her. The director pleaded guilty to having unlawful sex with the girl, but left the country before sentencing.

The U.S. has 40 days from the arrest to lodge a formal extradition request, a period that can be extended to 60 days if necessary. The Swiss Justice Ministry then has a week or two to examine the request. If authorities accept the request, Polanski can file a formal appeal in federal court, which would take another few weeks.

Convincing authorities that he ought to be released on bail in the interim would be tough.

“If he lived here in Zurich, worked here in Zurich, had his family here in Zurich, we could say OK, his center of life is in Switzerland, so there’s low probability that he will escape,” Cosandey said. As that’s not the case for Polanski, “the court will say that the danger of escaping is too high.”

The director does own a residence in the Swiss resort town of Gstaad, and his attorney in France, Herve Temime, raised the possibility that Polanski could be confined there instead of in prison.

“He has a chalet in Switzerland. He would naturally accept to be placed under house arrest,” Temime told reporters in Paris.

Erni, Polanski’s Swiss lawyer, did not return calls seeking comment.

Once an extradition request from the U.S. is submitted, Swiss authorities have little room to maneuver in ruling on it, Cosandey said. Under the extradition treaty, the hearing is largely an administrative matter, and as long as proper procedures are followed and administrative criteria satisfied, Switzerland has little choice but to grant the request.

The question of why Polanski was arrested now continued to puzzle many in Europe, because the director has gone in and out of Switzerland for years.

Guido Balmer, a Justice Ministry spokesman, dismissed speculation that Switzerland was trying to improve ties with the U.S. after a rocky period in the bilateral relationship. “There is no link to any other issue,” he said. “It’s a police matter, so there is no place for any politics.”

Media here have speculated that Swiss authorities approached the U.S. first with information that Polanski would be attending the film festival in Zurich.

Balmer said such a scenario was possible, but would be perfectly within the realm of usual cooperation between U.S. and Swiss law enforcement. He added that Polanski’s intention to come to Zurich was well publicized beforehand.

At Polanski’s meeting with Polish diplomats Monday, “he looked normal,” Wieruszewski said. The director also received a visit from his wife, actress Emmanuelle Seigner.

Wieruszewski said he was working with Swiss authorities to try to establish a way for Polanski to communicate with the outside — for example, to contact the embassy if he wishes. As the defendant in an ongoing case, Polanski’s communications are restricted.

“I’m trying to explain that, in his case, the investigation was 30 years ago,” Wieruszewski said. “It doesn’t make sense. Not to give him a computer or the Internet, [but] let him communicate with his lawyer, his family or with the embassy.”

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-polanski-swiss30-2009sep30,0,4988989.story

If you or someone you know is facing an extradition, you still have rights available.  A solid defense team is necessary to avoid conviction.  America’s Criminal Defense Group can help.  Should you find yourself in such position, please contact Senior Case Manager, Todd Terry (non-attorney) at 818-225-2468 or visit www.americascriminaldefense.com to schedule a free consultation.

Three Los Angeles police officers were charged today with perjury and conspiracy for allegedly lying under oath in a drug possession case that was dismissed last year when a videotape sharply contradicted their testimony.

The felony charges were brought by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

In February, the U.S. Justice Department opened its own investigation into the officers’ actions.

At issue are the actions of officers at a Hollywood apartment complex where a security camera documented the 2007 arrest of Guillermo Alarcon Jr.

At Alarcon’s trial last year, Officers Richard Amio and Evan Samuel testified that they were on patrol in Los Angeles when they chased Alarcon, 29, into his Hollywood apartment building. The officers told jurors that they saw him throw away a black object.

They testified that Samuel quickly picked up the object and found about $260 worth of powder and crack cocaine inside. But footage from a security camera at the apartment building, which is managed by Alarcon’s mother, showed that officers searched for more than 20 minutes before an object allegedly containing cocaine was found.

They were aided by other officers, including Manuel Ortiz, who testified about the case at a preliminary hearing in January. The quality of the tape, a copy of which was obtained by The Times, is poor and it is difficult to clearly hear what is being said. But at one point, soon after the drugs were found, an officer seems to make a reference to the arrest report that needed to be filled out.

“Be creative in your writing,” the officer appears to tell another after the discovery. Alarcon’s attorney argued at trial that his client was innocent and that the officers had planted evidence and then lied about it.

After viewing the videotape, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Monica Bachner dismissed the charges at the request of prosecutors. The judge also declared Alarcon factually innocent.

–Jack Leonard

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/10/3-lapd-officer-charged-with-perjury-conspiracy-after-videotape-contradicts-their-account.html

Anthony Partipilo (attorney) states that “this is a product of how our society’s motives are not geared towards the furtherance of justice, but towards a conviction, regardless of whether it is realistic or rightful.  The best way to avoid a conviction is by hiring a strong team of attorneys to represent you.”  We at America’s Criminal Defense Group can help.  If you or anyone you know has been accused of a crime, contact Senior Case Manager, Todd Terry (non-attorney) at 818-225-2468 or visit www.americascriminaldefense.com to schedule a free consultation.

By KAREN MATTHEWS Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK(AP)—Former New York Giants star Plaxico Burress was indicted by a grand jury on weapons charges for shooting himself in the thigh at a Manhattan nightclub and faces a minimum prison sentence of 3 1/2 years if convicted, prosecutors announced Monday.

The indictment charged the 31-year-old Burress with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of reckless endangerment, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said.

“The grand jury applied the law to the facts of this case,” Morgenthau said. He said the accidental shooting at the Latin Quarter nightclub on Nov. 29 was treated “like any similar case against any other defendant.”

Burress’ lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said he was disappointed but not surprised by the indictment, which came after Burress testified before the grand jury and expressed remorse.

“When you have the mayor and the district attorney both publicly demanding a maximum prison sentence, it was perhaps too much to hope for the grand jury to conduct a sympathetic review of the unique facts of this sad case,” Brafman said in a statement.

Burress’ former teammate Antonio Pierce(notes), who was with Burress in the club and drove him to the hospital, was not indicted.

The panel also did not indict the nightclub security guard who carried the gun to Pierce’s car or the hospital staff members who failed to notify police that Burress had been shot.

Morgenthau said hospital personnel were guilty of “a screw-up rather than a cover-up” and the security guard exhibited “bad judgment in the first degree” but did not commit a crime.

Pierce, who also testified before the grand jury last week, was practicing with the Giants in Albany when he learned of the panel’s decision.

Giants President John Mara said the team was pleased that the linebacker was not indicted.

“We said last week we felt strongly that Antonio’s actions did not warrant criminal charges, and obviously the grand jury, having heard all of the testimony, felt the same way,” he said.

Pierce’s lawyer, Michael Bachner, said, “By appearing before the grand jury for almost three hours and answering the grand jury’s very direct and very considered questions, it was clear to us that they understood that Mr. Pierce acted as any citizen under extraordinary circumstances would have acted.”

Burress was at the Latin Quarter nightclub Nov. 29 when a gun tucked into his waistband slipped down his leg and fired, shooting him in the right thigh.

Prosecutors said Monday that after taking Burress to the hospital, Pierce drove the gun to his own home in New Jersey – not to Burress’ home, as was originally reported. They said he later arranged for it to be taken to Burress’ home.

Assistant District Attorney John Wolfstaetter said the bullet that hit Burress narrowly missed a nightclub security guard who was standing inches away.

The bullet lodged in the floor and was recovered by a bartender, Morgenthau said.

“He wanted it as a souvenir but we told him he had to turn it over,” he said.

The gun was not licensed in New York or in New Jersey, where Burress lived, prosecutors said. Burress’ license to carry a concealed weapon in the state of Florida had expired in May 2008.

The charges Burress was indicted on carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 3 1/2 years in prison. He pleaded not guilty to weapons charges earlier this year and is free on $100,000 bail.

The grand jury indictment comes after plea bargain negotiations broke down, apparently because Morgenthau was insisting that Burress serve at least two years in prison under any plea agreement.

Assistant District Attorney Mark Dwyer said it is standard policy to request a two-year sentence as part of a plea bargain on such serious charges.

Burress, who caught the winning touchdown for the Giants over the New England Patriots in the final minute of the 2008 Super Bowl, also could face disciplinary action by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Goodell’s office announced in June that the league already had started its examination of the shooting, and NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Monday’s indictment “will be considered as part of that review.”

The Giants released Burress in April and he has yet to sign with another team.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news

Anyone accused of an illegal weapons charge should contact Senior Case Manager, Todd Terry (non-attorney) at 818-225-2468 or visit www.americascriminaldefense.com as soon as possible before speaking with law enforcement.

Holiday break-ins in South Charlotte thought to be part of international effort

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say they’ve broken up a professional burglary ring that targeted south Charlotte homes over holiday weekends and sent the stolen goods to New York and South America.

Over a two-week investigation, CMPD tied four July burglaries to a group of five men and say the operation is likely part of a larger international ring. Police say the break-ins resemble about a dozen others in south Charlotte over the past two years.

Authorities couldn’t estimate the value of stolen goods, but said one home this month lost $30,000 in jewelry and other property. Police have arrested four men, and a fifth is still wanted. The men, originally from Colombia, have been living and operating in the Charlotte area since 2006, authorities believe.

CMPD detectives say the burglars knew which wires to cut to disable alarms, knew when residents weren’t home and stole mostly jewelry – taking time to select the most valuable pieces.

Police found binoculars and crowbars in one suspect’s car.

“What we normally see is thieves coming in from other parts of town on a whim. These guys, they spent some time,” said CMPD Capt. Rod Golding.

One of the suspects, 46-year-old Pablo Castro, was featured on “America’s Most Wanted.” He was wanted for immigration violations and was profiled on the TV crime show as a chronic offender with 51 felonies. Castro, also known as Refugio Miguel Bravo-Castanon, spent time in a New York prison for grand larceny.

The Charlotte burglary investigation began with a 911 call on July 18 about a suspicious car on Colony Road. An officer responded but didn’t stop the car because it had a valid tag and registration, police said. But the officer jotted down the tag number.

Fifteen minutes later, a Colony Road couple called 911 after surprising two burglars who ran from their home.

Officers combed through previous calls about suspicious vehicles in the neighborhood, and discovered the tag noted earlier belonged to a rental car. Rental car company records led police to a Pineville apartment.

The same day, officers found four men at the apartment, one matching the description of a suspect in the Colony Road burglary attempt.

A witness identified Christian Aguirre as one of the burglars, police said. He was arrested and charged with second-degree burglary.

The next day, officers returned with a search warrant and found two ounces of cocaine and items later identified as stolen from three south Charlotte homes, police said. They also found shipping labels to New York and Colombia.

Officers staked out the apartment and were on hand July 21 when three men arrived, police said.

Officers stopped them in their car and one bolted. Officers chased him and discovered they had captured the high-profile Castro – leading them to unravel international connections.

Police arrested Darwin A. Sierra Cruz on a charge of not having a driver’s license and found a duffel bag with $25,600 in cash in the car.

Three days later, police arrested Carlos Bonetti and charged him with cocaine trafficking and possession of stolen goods.

They’re searching for a fifth suspect, Fidel Emilio Sandoval.

The investigation is continuing.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/860312.html

Let us not forget that those accused of a crime are innocent until proven guilty.  The best way to avoid a conviction is by hiring a strong team of attorneys to represent you.  We at America’s Criminal Defense Group can help.  If you or anyone you know has been accused of a crime, contact Senior Case Manager, Todd Terry (non-attorney) at 818-225-2468 or visit www.americascriminaldefense.com to schedule a free consultation. 

Three teenagers have been arrested after a drug-sniffing dog uncovered more than half-a-ton of marijuana beneath the deck of their 22-foot boat when it docked at San Diego’s Shelter Island, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The three were returning Saturday from Mexico when agents made a routine inspection. The three told agents they had been on a fishing trip off Ensenada. Beneath the deck, agents found 277 packages of pot, weighing 1,060 pounds and worth about $636,000, officials said.

The boat was seized and the teens _ two men, one woman _ were turned over to authorities for possible prosecution.

– Tony Perry in San Diego
latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/07

Anyone charged with possession of drugs, or any other crime, should contact Senior Case Manager, Todd Terry (non-attorney) at 818-225-2468 or visit www.americascriminaldefense.com to schedule a free consultation. 

By DAVID PORTER (AP)

NEWARK, N.J. — The mayors of three New Jersey cities, two state legislators and several rabbis were among more than 40 people arrested Thursday in a sweeping corruption investigation that began as a probe into an international money laundering ring that trafficked in goods as diverse as human organs and fake designer handbags.

Among 44 people arrested Thursday were Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano III, Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell, Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini, state Assemblyman President L. Harvey Smith and state Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt.

Ridgefield Mayor Anthony Suarez, who is also an attorney, is charged with agreeing to accept an illegal $10,000 cash payment for his legal defense fund.

Gov. Jon Corzine reacted to the corruption probe Thursday morning by saying, “any corruption is unacceptable — anywhere, anytime, by anybody. The scale of corruption we’re seeing as this unfolds is simply outrageous and cannot be tolerated.”

In separate money laundering complaints, several rabbis from Brooklyn and New Jersey were charged with offenses ranging from the trafficking of kidneys from Israeli donors to laundering proceeds from selling fake Gucci and Prada bags.

Van Pelt is accused of accepting $10,000 from a cooperating government witness posing as a developer who sought help in getting permits for a project in Ocean County.

Smith, the Jersey City Council President, and several other current and former Jersey City public officials also are accused of accepting money to help the fake developer gain permits and approvals.

Beldini, 74, is charged with conspiracy to commit extortion by taking $20,000 in illegal campaign contributions. Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy said Thursday the charges were “a little shocking.”

“I have full faith in Leona,” Healy said. “She’s a good friend of mine — was and will be.”

Cammarano, 32, who won a runoff election last month, is charged with accepting $25,000 in cash bribes from an undercover cooperating witness. Elwell is charged with taking $10,000.

Joseph Hayden, an attorney representing Cammarano, said his client “is innocent of these charges. He intends to fight them with all his strength until he proves his innocence.”

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the investigation initially focused, with the help of the cooperating witness, on the money laundering network that operated between Brooklyn, Deal, N.J. and Israel. The network is alleged to have laundered tens of millions of dollars through charities controlled by rabbis in New York and New Jersey.

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said he has heard of the story but knows nothing of kidneys being sold by Israelis.

The investigation widened to include official corruption in July 2007 when the cooperating witness approached public officials in Hudson County posing as a developer seeking to build in the Jersey City area.

Hoboken’s waterfront has proven to be an especially lucrative piece of real estate across from midtown Manhattan. Developers have put up dozens of buildings in the last 15 years in the mile-square city. It had a prime view on July 4 of fireworks over the Hudson River.

The fears that the city was being overdeveloped has become a hot topic during elections among candidates.

In secretly recorded conversations outlined in the complaint against Cammarano, the candidate made it clear to prospective campaign donors that he was a friend of developers.

When a cooperating witness posing as a developer who was donating $5,000 to the campaign told Cammarano just days before the mayoral election that he wanted to make sure he had his support with “some properties we’re working on,” Cammarano is quoted as saying, “I’ll be there.”

In Deal, Mike Winnick of the Elberon section of Long Branch was praying inside the Deal Synagogue when it was raided by FBI, IRS and Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office agents.

“Everyone was looking at each other, like, `What’s going on here?’ ” he said.

Winnick said four FBI agents escorted a rabbi from the synagogue into his office and blocked the doorway.

Winnick said he left shortly afterward.

Nearby, FBI and IRS agents removed several boxes from the Deal Yeshiva, a school that educates the children of Sephardic Jews.

Busloads carrying those arrested were brought to the FBI’s Newark field office Thursday morning. One agent slowly walked an elderly rabbi into the building as another covered his face with a felt hat.

Angela Delli Santi and Beth DeFalco in Trenton, Wayne Parry in Deal, Samantha Henry and Victor Epstein in Newark and Larry Neumeister in New York contributed to this story.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article

Let us not forget that those accused of a crime are innocent until proven guilty.  The best way to avoid a conviction is by hiring a strong team of attorneys to represent you.  We at America’s Criminal Defense Group can help.  If you or anyone you know has been accused of a crime, contact Senior Case Manager, Todd Terry (non-attorney) at 818-225-2468 or visit www.americascriminaldefense.com to schedule a free consultation. 

WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal agents have arrested a convicted murderer for allegedly providing the gun later used to kill ex-NFL quarterback Steve McNair.

Adrian J. Gilliam Jr. was arrested by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

A criminal complaint unsealed Friday in Nashville says that Gilliam — who was convicted of murder and attempted armed robbery in 1993 in Florida — admitted he sold the gun to the woman who later shot McNair.

McNair was shot to death on July 4 at his condo by his 20-year-old mistress Sahel Kazemi, who then turned the gun on herself.

The complaint, signed by ATF agent Mickey French, charges Gilliam with illegally possessing a firearm, which he is barred from doing as a felon.

Detectives traced the gun to its 2002 sale at a pawn shop, according to the complaint. Gilliam eventually bought it from an individual for $100 about a year ago. According to court documents, Gilliam admitted to detectives he sold the gun to Kazemi for $100.

Federal prosecutors in Nashville planned to announce the case at a press conference later Friday.

Police announced in a news conference last week that Kazemi purchased “a fully loaded nine millimeter pistol from a private individual” who met her in the parking lot of the mall where she worked at a Dave & Busters restaurant.

Kazemi met the person when she was trying to sell her car. She mentioned to him that she was looking to buy a gun and he told her he had one for sale, police said. The sale took place two days before McNair’s shooting.

Authorities believe McNair was asleep when Kazemi put the pistol to his head and pulled the trigger. She put two more slugs into his chest and a fourth bullet into the other side of his head before shooting herself.

McNair, a married father of four, walked away from the NFL last year. “Air McNair” was known as a gutsy quarterback who played through serious injuries and led his Tennessee Titans to a Super Bowl.

Though the gun sale in question did not involve a licensed gun dealer, the ATF recently warned all gun dealers in Tennessee that they must still comply with federal gun laws despite a new state law aimed at easing such requirements for weapons manufactured and sold in-state.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/9820438/Felon-arrested-for-sale-of-gun-that-killed-McNair

Although we are greatly saddened and sympathetic to the death of Steve Mcnair, Anthony Partipilo, Senior Criminal Attorney with over 35 years of experience, and America’s Criminal Defense Group are of the opinion that we should not be so quick to judge Adrian J. Gilliam, Jr. He is still entitled to a fair trial and is still innocent until proven guilty by a jury of his peers. 

Anyone accused of illegally possessing a firearm, or any other crime, should contact Senior Case Manager, Todd Terry (non-attorney) at 818-225-2468 or visit www.americascriminaldefense.com to schedule a free consultation. 

Convicted killer Jesse James Hollywood has been spared the death penalty by the Santa Barbara jury that found him guilty last week of first-degree murder and kidnapping. He will spend his life in prison.

The jury concluded that Hollywood, 29, ordered the execution of a 15-year-old West Hills boy after snatching him off the street near his home and driving him to Santa Barbara. A marijuana dealer at the time, Hollywood kidnapped Nicholas Markowitz to avenge a $1,200 drug debt owed by the boy’s older half-brother, Ben. 

Defense attorneys contended that Ben Markowtiz had been threatening Hollywood’s life for months and had poisoned his dog before Hollywood impusively picked the boy up. They claimed the killing was done independently by friends of Hollywood who wanted to earn his approval.

The trial, which started May 15, was attended every day by members of the Markowitz and Hollywood families. 

The crime was notorious when it was committed in 2000 and became the basis for the 2006 film “Alpha Dog.”  

The last of four men convicted in the case, Hollywood fled after the crime and was arrested in Brazil in 2005.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/07/do-not-post-do-not-post-do-not-post-.html

If you or someone you know has been charged with murder or mansluaghter, a criminal attorney is a necessity. Those so accused should hire an experienced criminal defense attorney who can help defend the case through trial.

Anyone charged with such a crime should contact Senior Case Manager, Todd Terry (non-attorney) at 818-225-2468 or visit www.americascriminaldefense.com