Category: Federal Criminal Law
Ifrah Quoted in News Outlets Coast to Coast
On March 2, 2011, Jeff Ifrah, founding partner of the Ifrah Law firm in Washington, D.C., provided commentary on two different breaking news items to The Washington Post, the Associated Press, ABC News, the Blog of the Legal Times and several other major news outlets. That day, an article in The Washington Post quoted Ifrah… Read More
Is This Domain Name Seizure a Bad Omen for Internet Freedom?
If anyone needed evidence that federal and local prosecutors are taking cybercrime seriously and in some cases pushing for tougher enforcement, just look at a domain name seizure announced recently in New York City. At the request of federal prosecutors in Manhattan and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, a magistrate judge seized 10 websites that… Read More
Why Is an Assault on Congress Member a Federal Crime?
The charges against Jared Loughner for shooting Representative Gabrielle Giffords put into sharp focus a little-known federal statute, 18 U.S.C. 351. This law provides for a death penalty for killing a member of Congress, a presidential or vice presidential candidate, or a Supreme Court justice, as well as imprisonment up to life for attempting to… Read More
Harry Reid Folds His Hand: No Online Poker Bill This Year
It now appears that despite a flurry of interest earlier this month, Congress isn’t going to take a good look at legalizing and regulating online poker this year. Staffers for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had been circulating a bill, backed by many bricks-and-mortar casinos in Reid’s home state of Nevada, that would have created… Read More
Federal Strike Forces Will Boost Medicare Fraud Enforcement
In October 2010, federal enforcers announced a plan to nearly triple the number of its Medicare fraud strike force units around the nation. In view of the magnitude of health care fraud, this plan is understandable, but the vast majority of providers, who comply with the law, will also see their compliance and other costs… Read More
ISPs Take Note: Court Rules E-mails Have Full 4th Amendment Protection
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit has just issued a trail-blazing opinion that is good news for anyone who has ever sent an e-mail – and that needs to be carefully read and adhered to by all Internet service providers (ISPs). We noted six months ago that ISPs have been all too… Read More
Often It’s Not the Crime, It’s the Cover-Up
On November 12, 2010, Prince Georges County Executive Jack Johnson and his wife, incoming Prince Georges County Councilmember Leslie Johnson, were arrested by the FBI on charges of tampering with and destroying evidence in a political corruption probe. As has been widely reported, FBI agents found $76,000 in cash in Leslie Johnson’s underwear, allegedly the… Read More
Plea in Major FCPA Case Raises Entrapment Issues
Government informant Richard Bistrong’s recent guilty plea to Foreign Corrupt Practices Act charges will probably fuel arguments that defendants in the largest-ever FCPA case were entrapped. While those arguments may not succeed, they do have merit. Best known as “Individual 1” in the so-called Africa Sting case, Bistrong helped the FBI build the single… Read More
Perjury Statute May Pose Problem for Clemens Prosecution
Last month, a federal grand jury indicted former Major League Baseball pitcher Roger Clemens on charges of obstruction of Congress, making false statements, and perjury. The six-count indictment alleges that Clemens obstructed a congressional inquiry in 2008 and lied to a House committee in 15 statements under oath, including denials that he had never used… Read More
Can the Constitution Shield a Congressman From an Extortion Probe?
Federal prosecutors recently responded to an appeal filed by former U.S. Representative Rick Renzi before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which seeks a dismissal of Renzi’s February 2008 extortion indictment. The indictment stems from a government land-swap deal that prosecutors say illegally benefited Renzi’s former business partner. Prosecutors claim that Renzi,… Read More
IFRAH Law
