Georgia Criminal Defense Lawyers Blog

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.

Cryptocurrency Fraud

Published on: March 30, 2023 | By Conaway & Strickler, P.C.

We posed some questions about cryptocurrency using Bard (Google’s version of Chat GPT),

First we asked, WHAT IS CRYPTOCURRENCY?

Its response:

Federal Criminal Law – Wire Fraud and Possible Alternatives

Published on: March 26, 2023 | By Conaway & Strickler, P.C.

By Brandon Fitz

Wire Fraud is a serious white-collar crime and is defined under 18 USC §1343 and states:

Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, transmits or causes to be transmitted by means of wire, radio, or television communication in interstate or foreign commerce, any writings, signs, signals, pictures, or sounds for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. If the violation occurs in relation to, or involving any benefit authorized, transported, transmitted, transferred, disbursed, or paid in connection with, a presidentially declared major disaster or emergency (as those terms are defined in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122)), or affects a financial institution, such person shall be fined not more than $1,000,000 or imprisoned not more than 30 years, or both. 18 U.S.C.A. § 1343.

Basics of Tax Evasion

Published on: March 3, 2023 | By Conaway & Strickler, P.C.

By Maya Fouad

Tax evasion is the most common federal tax crime and involves the failure to report taxes, reporting taxes inaccurately, or failing to pay taxes. Federal law defines the crime broadly; 26 U.S.C. 7201 states, “[a]ny person who willfully attempts in any manner to evade or defeat any tax imposed by this title or the payment thereof shall, in addition to other penalties provided by law, be guilty of a felony. . .” The penalties for tax evasion can include significant monetary fines, imprisonment, or both.

To establish a case of tax evasion, the Government must prove three elements beyond a reasonable doubt:

Covid Related Fraud Enforcement Update

Published on: February 19, 2023 | By Conaway & Strickler, P.C.

On May 17, 2021, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the establishment of the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force.

On March 10, 2022, Garland announced Associate Deputy Attorney General Kevin Chambers as the Director For Covid-19 Fraud Enforcement.

In August, 2022, President Biden signed laws that give the Department of Justice and other federal agencies more time to investigate and prosecute Covid-19 fraud. It extended the statute of limitations for fraud charges involving PPP and EIDL fraud to ten years.

Basics of a Federal Criminal Appeal

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

The federal criminal appellate process begins when a person is convicted at the district court. A conviction can occur after a jury trial or after a plea of guilty.

If a person has entered in to a plea agreement, the person may have agreed to waive many of their rights to appeal.

If a person had a jury trial, there can be some issues that can be argued on appeal. The first thing that occurs after judgement/conviction, is the attorney must file a “notice of appeal” which usually must be filed within ten days following the district court’s entry of judgment. If the government is appealing the district court’s decision, a timely notice of appeal may be filed within thirty days following entry of judgment.