Georgia Criminal Defense Lawyers Blog

What is a PSR Interview?

Published on: September 18, 2023 | By Conaway & Strickler, P.C.

The PSR interview consists of meeting with the assigned probation officer for about two hours, and you have the right to have your attorney present during the interview. The probation officer will ask you about, among other things: your childhood, any abuse you have gone through, family members and their support of you, places you have lived, marriages, divorces, children, medical history, mental health, education, military service, any drug problems, your past arrests and convictions, any terms of probation or parole, and, about how you got involved in the offense.

Your probation officer will also ask you about how you’ve accepted responsibility for breaking the law. It is important to be aware that, in the federal system, defendants who do not clearly accept responsibility for their actions can receive harsher sentences than those who admit they broke the law, follow the rules of the Court, and continue to follow the law.

Your probation officer will also ask you about the assets you and your spouse own, any cash you have, and any debts you owe. This is because in some cases the Court is required to determine if you have the ability to pay a fine or, in some cases, restitution to victims. Restitution can be mandatory, and the financial information you provide will be used to determine monthly payments. Because of this, and because your officer will investigate and confirm the information you provide, it is very important you give truthful information about your financial situation. You may also be asked to provide documents such as, but not limited to, statements, deeds, and titles, which support the information you provide verbally, and on a variety of financial forms. Finally, you will be asked to sign a variety of release forms that will allow your officer to access government records, as well as educational, medical, psychiatric, and employment information about you.

What is a Presentence Investigation Report (“PSR”)?

Published on: September 18, 2023 | By Conaway & Strickler, P.C.

A Presentence Investigation Report, often abbreviated as “PSR” or “PSI”, is a document created by the United States Probation Office after an individual has been convicted of a felony in federal court. The PSR documents the convicted individual’s life history and background and is provided to the Court to assist in determining a fair sentence.

After a defendant pleads guilty (or is found guilty by a jury or judge), the judge will order the probation officer to create the PSR. The assigned probation officer will conduct a PSR interview with the defendant as well as an independent investigation into the offense to gather information.

Once the initial PSR is complete, the report is sent to your attorney, the Government’s attorney, and the Court. Once disclosed, your attorney is required to review the report with you. If you see any information that is incorrect, or if you disagree with how the guidelines are computed, your attorney can file objections to the PSR. The final PSR will make any corrections and note any objections in the PSR Addendum. If there are still any unresolved objections by the day you are sentenced, the Judge will resolve any disagreements before pronouncing your final sentence.

Georgia RICO Defined

Published on: September 1, 2023 | By Conaway & Strickler, P.C.

Trump has been indicted in Fulton County Superior Court.

So, what is RICO and why is it important in this case?

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, was original designed to fight organized crime. It was enacted in 1970 after being signed into law by President Richard Nixon. And, within a few years, Georgia enacted their own version, and of course, as years went by, both state and federal prosecutors saw opportunities to expand the use to other types of cases.

Health Care Fraud

Published on: July 29, 2023 | By Conaway & Strickler, P.C.

By: Onisuru Ojegba, Legal Intern to Firm

J.D. Candidate, Class of 2025

The George Washington University Law School

Insurance Fraud

Published on: July 29, 2023 | By Conaway & Strickler, P.C.

By: Onisuru Ojegba Legal Intern to the firm

Insurance fraud consists of crimes where an individual consumer or insurance company, agent, or adjuster commits deliberate deception to obtain illicit profits or benefits. While the classification of insurance fraud is broad and consists of many different variations, including health care fraud, life insurance fraud, and unemployment fraud, the crime occurs in the same manner; during the process of buying, selling, or underwriting insurance.

While every state has its own laws which criminalize insurance fraud, federal law does not specifically address the crime. Instead, federal law addresses insurance fraud through The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (1994), which gives the Federal Government jurisdiction over insurance fraud once a transaction crosses state lines (either physically or through wire). The alleged fraud then falls into the federal government’s jurisdiction and will be prosecuted at the federal level. Title 18 U.S. Code § 1033: specifically outlines this jurisdiction as Crimes by or affecting persons engaged in the business of insurance whose activities affect interstate commerce. This law separates insurance fraud into 5 categories including:

How is White Collar Crime Generally Prosecuted?

Published on: July 10, 2023 | By Conaway & Strickler, P.C.

The Department of Justice investigates and prosecutes cases where large amounts of money is alleged to have been taken. Examples of white collar crimes are money laundering, bank, wire and mail fraud, tax evasion, insider trading, insurance fraud, mortgage fraud, bribery and embezzlement. Of course Homeland Security, the FBI, the IRS, Customs and Border Patrol and SEC can also investigate and prosecute cases of fraud as well.

The government has a special United States Guideline Chapter dedicated to “basic” economic offenses. For purposes of this blog, this chapter will be discussed in more detail below. As with anything involving federal criminal litigation, nothing is crystal clear in the law. Therefore, there is also a chapter in the United States Guidelines dedicated to tax offenses, election fraud, gambling, and money laundering in the United States Sentencing Guidelines.

This USSG chapter DOES cover extortion, bribery, kickbacks, counterfeiting, embezzlement, health care fraud, computer fraud, insurance fraud, securities fraud, mortgage fraud, identity fraud, bankruptcy fraud, etc. What is most important in this chapter is the loss amount. All charges start off with a base offense level of 6 or 7 depending on the statutory max of the offense charged. Then, you look at what the “loss amount” is using the below table.

Loss (apply the greatest)	Increase in Level
(A) $6,500 or less	no increase
(B) More than $6,500	add 2
(C) More than $15,000	add 4
(D) More than $40,000	add 6
(E) More than $95,000	add 8
(F) More than $150,000	add 10
(G) More than $250,000	add 12
(H) More than $550,000	add 14
(I) More than $1,500,000	add 16
(J) More than $3,500,000	add 18
(K) More than $9,500,000	add 20
(L) More than $25,000,000	add 22
(M) More than $65,000,000	add 24
(N) More than $150,000,000	add 26
(O) More than $250,000,000	add 28
(P) More than $550,000,000	add 30.

The loss amount is a pandora box of confusion and the government is able to add all kinds of relevant conduct and intended loss conduct to inflate these numbers.

To further make things complicated, there are enhancements in this section that permit the government to add levels for things such as the use of sophisticated means, role in the offense, number of victims, a defrauding a charity, mass marketing, among others.

Navigating the federal criminal system is a task that should not be endured alone. Contact our team today for more information about we can protect your rights and your freedom.

United States Sentencing Commission proposed USSG amendments for fraud cases

Published on: May 18, 2023 | By Conaway & Strickler, P.C.

On April 5, 2023, the United States Sentencing Commission announced amendments to the United States Sentencing Guidelines that will come in to effect on November 1, 2023. Below is a summary of those changes as it relates to just fraud cases.

Under proposed USSG 4C1.1, a client will receive a 2-level decrease to their offense level if

a)no criminal history points,

What is Mariam’s Law and how does it affect the Sex Offender Registry in Georgia

Published on: May 12, 2023 | By Conaway & Strickler, P.C.

This news article explains most of the details of Mariam’s law, a law that was passed just last week. It expands the restrictions on sex offenders.

The biggest wrinkle that this bill has caused so far is the requirement to be fitted by the Department of Community Supervision with a device capable of tracking the location of the sexual offender (aka ankle monitor) while on probation or parole and awaiting risk assessment classification from SORRB if the person has previously been convicted of a felony sexual offense. Basically, if the SORRB hasn’t leveled you yet, you will be contacted to get an ankle monitor at your expense, of course.

Or, if your assigned community supervision officer determines that a special need exists for you to wear an ankle monitor due to the ‘immediate danger to society the offender poses based upon a substantial risk of perpetrating a future dangerous sexual offense.’ then here they come as well with that ankle monitor.

Q&A with Meg Strickler

Published on: April 12, 2023 | By Conaway & Strickler, P.C.

Meg Strickler recently signed up for some new adverting with Avvo

So, after filling out all of these various things for the Avvo profile, we decided to ask some direct questions of managing partner, Meg Strickler

Where did you go to law school? Emory law

Bitcoin/Cryptocurrency Money Laundering

Published on: April 12, 2023 | By Conaway & Strickler, P.C.

What is Bitcoin money laundering? Bitcoin money laundering is the process of using Bitcoin to conceal the origins of illegally obtained money. This can be done by transferring the Bitcoin to multiple accounts, mixing it with other Bitcoin, or using it to purchase goods or services. Some believe that Bitcoin transactions are anonymous. There are, however, transaction records that are stored in the blockchain and publicly visible. The FBI recently stated “Criminals always leave tracks, and …[this] is a reminder that the FBI has the tools to follow the digital trail, wherever it may lead” .

Bitcoin is definitely attractive to money launderers because it is a decentralized currency that is not subject to government regulation. This makes it difficult, but not impossible, to track and trace Bitcoin transactions. Additionally, Bitcoin is often used in online transactions, which makes it easy to conceal the identity of the sender and receiver.

There are a number of ways to launder money using Bitcoin. One common method is to use a mixer, which is a service that mixes Bitcoin from multiple sources together. This makes it difficult to trace the original source of the Bitcoin. Another method is to use a tumbler, which is a service that breaks up Bitcoin transactions into smaller pieces and then reassembles them. This makes it difficult to track the individual transactions.