Every few months the Chicago Tribune or Chicago Sun Times will run an article about a huge drug bust where police seize a vehicle containing between $100,000 and $1,000,000 of marijuana or illegal drugs.. Some Chicago residents may find it reasonable for the City of...
Proven Trial Attorney
Handling The Toughest Cases
Year: 2015
Police Body Cameras in Illinois
Police body cameras will not be mandatory on January 1, 2016, but Public Act 99-0352 creates a policy for their use throughout the state of Illinois. Public Act 99-0352 is the nation’s most comprehensive piece of legislation related to police body cameras. Both law...
White Collar Crime Mistrials
The recent decision by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office not to retry Steven H. Davis, the former Chairman of Dewey & LeBoef, the once-prominent New York law firm that collapsed in bankruptcy in 2012 sheds new light on the difficulty of securing a...
Thanksgiving: DUI & Speeding Crackdown
The Wednesday before Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the busy holiday driving period where officers will be cracking down on DUI and Speeding. High traffic volumes are expected on roadways throughout Illinois. As traffic volumes increase so does the chance you...
Spoofing or Bluffing: Federal Criminal Defense
Both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal followed the recent trial and conviction of Michael Coscia in the Federal District Court in Chicago. This was the first prosecution for “spoofing” under Dodd-Frank’s anti-spoofing provision. Spoofing involves the...
Federal Prison Inmate Statistics
The Federal Bureau of Prison’s website contains of variety of statistics on it’s residents. It provides statistics on the inmate population, the staff population, inmate sentences, gender and the types of convictions. For example, almost 50 percent of people in...
Federal Prison Release
Starting today, the Federal Bureau of Prisons will release about 6,000 people convicted and serving time for drug crimes. Only about 1,000 inmates will be released directly from the penitentiary to their homes. In fact, most of the inmates have already left prison and...
Driving on a Suspended or Revoked License (625 ILCS 5/6-303)
About every week I get a call from a client charged with Driving on a Suspended License (625 ILCS 5/6-303). In almost every case, my client is stopped for a regulatory or equipment violation. These are often infractions that officers have the discretion to ignore....
Fake IDs in Illinois: Felony or Misdemeanor
It is easier than ever for a teenager to buy a Fake ID. Teenagers spend anywhere from $75 to $250 to obtain Fake IDs so that they can go to bars and restaurants. However, few teenagers appreciate how severe the punishment can be if they are caught with one of them....
Retail Theft: 720 ILCS 5/16-25
One of the most common criminal charges in Chicago is Retail Theft in violation of 720 ILCS 5/16-25(a), which provides: (a) A person commits retail theft when he or she knowingly: (1) Takes possession of, carries away, transfers or causes to be carried...