By Robert G. Stahl and Laura K. Gasiorowski Universities around the country have been aggressively investigating hazing. These investigations have been propelled by several tragic events that have resulted in fatalities or serious injuries usually resulting from excessive alcohol consumption. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signs “Timothy J. Piazza’s Anti-hazing Law” Most university [...]
Courts uphold federal government’s ability to seize a convicted defendant’s 401(k) accounts to satisfy an Order of Restitution after a conviction at trial or a guilty plea.
Cybercrimes – hacking, phishing, ransomware and the like - are well-known to every user of the internet. We are bombarded weekly with emails and texts claiming that we need to update our passwords, personal profile, and the like. Now comes the rise of what has been called “romance scams”. The typical scheme starts with a [...]
The Department of Justice just announced charges against 21 individuals in a nationwide crackdown of COVID-19 related prosecutions that resulted in $150 million worth of fraud. The schemes were varied and involved medical doctors, medical labs, marketers and others in the healthcare field. For instance, two owners of a lab in California allegedly billed more [...]
It’s 6 a.m. or 8 p.m., your doorbell rings and two people are standing outside holding up their badges and credentials. They say they are Special Agents with the FBI or IRS and would like to talk with you for just a few minutes about something important. They ask if they could come in [...]
When someone is facing criminal charges they usually worry about the effects on family, reputation and their freedom. And while one’s freedom is of primary importance, there are also serious collateral consequences from a guilty plea or conviction. The loss of voting rights, inability to own firearms, loss or suspension of professional licenses and freedom of movement are some of the long-lasting effects of a criminal record.
A felony conviction has a serious impact on a defendant’s life, even beyond the obvious immediate consequences of sentencing. A person who has a felony conviction on their record forfeits certain rights that other members of the community enjoy. In some jurisdictions there exists a process by which an individual can seek to have a felony conviction expunged from their record, but even this process may not fully restore every right and privilege that the person held prior to their conviction.
Now that tax season is over, you may be worried about getting audited. Common mistakes, such as math errors, and red flags, such as filing a return as "self-employed," make it more likely that you will be audited. Still, the IRS understands that the tax code is complicated and that people make mistakes. As a result, the IRS distinguishes mistake or negligence from tax fraud, as discussed in an earlier post.
One of the earmarks of the steady expansion of government at the New Jersey state level and the federal level is that more and more laws and regulations make it easier to find yourself in violation of them. It is similar to walking through a minefield: the more mines that are laid in your path, the more likely it is that you will finally step on one of them.
If you are a non-citizen facing criminal charges, you face more than just the loss of your liberty. Criminal convictions can have serious immigration consequences. The outcome of a criminal case may affect a non-citizen's ability to remain in the United States, to become a citizen, or to re-enter after leaving to travel or visit family. Certain criminal convictions and/or terms of imprisonment make non-citizen criminal defendants, even those with legal permanent resident status, subject to mandatory detention and removal (deportation).