Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog

Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr is having a field day on this one. Who can blame him?: The surface-layer ironies here are numerous!

“Hey”, he muses, “they don’t call it the Red Line for nothing.”

The rollicking news that some Cambridge residents have been arrested and accused of being Russian spies should be enough to keep us in stitches with puns focusing on titles like “Reds”, “Ruskies” and ( of course) “The People’s Republic Of Cambridge” for weeks to come.

Anyone out there miss the “good old days” of the 1950’s? Here is your chance to experience yesteryear.

The story treating us to all this hilarity is the arrests of accused Russian agent Donald Heathfield and his wife, Tracey Lee Ann Foley (hereinafter, collectively, the “Defendants”), among others in other locations not as humorous, for espionage. According to federal authorities their investigation shows that they are a part of a Russian spy ring arrested this past weekend.

It remains in doubt, according to the federal prosecutors, how much useful information from the Defendants or their co-defendants actually reached Moscow. It is clear, however, that the Defendants and their alleged cohorts were in places where valuable information was available.

Continue reading "Cambridge Couple Are Arrested For Federal Crimes Of Espionage" »

Yesterday, we began discussing the topic of bullying again. As if the topic were not enough, I was inspired by the Sunday Boston Globe front page article on the subject this past week. As a criminal defense attorney of some years, it is a subject that deeply troubles me. If you are a regular reader to this blog, you know that I am troubled by not only the bullies…but the response to and perpetuation of the bullying itself.

The Boston Globe article focused on a young lady from a suburb west of Boston. She shared the back-story of the bullying. It is not an unusual story. The rather brave high schooler, willing to give all details as well as have her name printed (which, due to her age, both the Globe and I have decided not to reveal), revealed the rather typical story.

Lexi had a friend before she began her new school. They had been friends since grade school. Like most friends, they had shared sleepovers, secrets, and favorite movies. Then, last summer, the friendship ended. Lexi decided that her friend was a negative influence. What happened at the start of the new school year, her former friend confirmed that belief. The first shot over Lexi’s bow was the posting of silly pictures she had taken with said former friend. They were posted on Face Book and viewed by everyone.

It would appear that the saying “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” goes for platonic friendships as well. As described more yesterday, this began the deluge of bullying that Lexi was to endure throughout the school year.

Continue reading "Assaults, Threats And Bullying In Boston Schools – Will The Law Help? (Part Two)" »

Well, it looks like the state Legislature has unanimously approved the new state law cracking down on bullying. It must be a great thing, right? After all, it passed unanimously! How could so many politicians in the Boston area be wrong?

The legislation would require school employees to report all instances of bullying and require principals to investigate them. Now, how could that be a bad thing?

"Bullying is not new. Bullying has been with us from time immemorial”, explained Senator Robert O’Leary, the chairman of the Senate Education Committee. “But what has changed is that it appears to be more pervasive, more destructive By this, one would imagine he refers to the new cyber-bullying. In fact, it would appear that it used to be more violent. As for “destructive”? Well, recently two victims of bullying have tragically taken their own lives

"We're going to send out a message that this kind of behavior is not acceptable and the community needs to deal with it," O'Leary said.

Meanwhile, Representative Martha Walz, House chairwoman of the Education Committee, said the bill was "very strong legislation that will make a meaningful difference in the lives of children in our state."

"This is a day that we can be proud we have done something positive – to eradicate bullying and to demonstrate to this Commonwealth and to the nation that bullying will no longer be tolerated," said Representative John Scibak, whose district includes South Hadley, where the case of Phoebe Prince drew international attention to the issue of bullying.

Both the House and Senate had previously passed versions of the bill. A House-Senate conference committee on Wednesday released a compromise version.

The bill now heads to the governor's desk. A spokeswoman said Wednesday the governor would review the bill but considered passage of strong anti-bullying legislation "a top priority."

And so you have it, right? Short blog today. Nothing to say. All is good in the Commonwealth, or it will be as soon as this bill is law.

Well, maybe not so short after all. I have a few concerns.

Continue reading "A Boston Criminal Defense Attorney Looks At The Question Of Whether The Antibullying Bill Is The Solution (Part Two)" »

Oboy! It’s so exciting to solve age-old presumably unsolvable problems! Here in the Boston area, we seem to be doing just that. Can it be that our government is going to come up with really well-thought-out solutions and reduce the need for lawyers running around in civil and criminal courtrooms dealing with the fallout?

Sure. We’ve also finally outlawed the Ozone Layer.

Sweeping ant bullying legislation is poised for passage after lawmakers have struck agreement on a measure that proposes to require school employees to report all bullying incidents and require principals to investigate them. And that's just for starters!

The bill now moves to the House of Representatives and Senate, where it is expected to win overwhelming approval any minute now.

Governor Devil Patrick has also voiced strong support for the bill, which gained momentum after the highly publicized deaths of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince and 11-year-old Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, who took their own lives after being bullied.

Representative Martha Walz, the bill's primary author, said the mandatory reporting requirements will help deter bullying and prevent it from reaching dangerous proportions.

Gee, and I thought the indictments against 9 kids brought by certain very public super-heroic district attorney was supposed to have done that…!

Continue reading "A Boston Criminal Defense Attorney Must Ask…Is The Antibullying Bill, Now Leaping Over Legislative Hurdles, the Solution? (Part One)" »

Earlier this week, when I said “ Tomorrow: Back To Bullying!” in the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog I had intended to be writing myself about the South Hadley Bullying/Indictments issue. Unfortunately, this week’s schedule made it impossible for me to do so...for a few days (sorry about that). In the meantime, though, it would appear that just about everybody else was covering for me.

In an article today, the Boston Globe puts the cap on the week’s coverage by declaring that “Witch hunts won’t bring Phoebe Prince back”.

The article went on to discuss how the local world has spent the week condemning South Hadley school administrators for the girl’s tragic suicide. Apparently, the Globe indicates that said “witch hunters” are passing such judgment without benefit of all the facts, going further to explain that, under the law, school officials are constrained in what they can say about students or the school’s actions.

Since I have spent some time over the past couple of years condemning witch hunts, the article caught my attention. Let me review some of the history of this matter for you.

Continue reading "A Boston Criminal Defense Lawyer’s Take On Bullying, Criminal Charges And Credibility (Part One)" »

This week, the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog has focused on what so many in Massachusetts and beyond have been talking about. The topic is “bullying”. It is a somewhat vague term that schools and summer camps have endured since we decided to group kids together in one place.

For some reason, though, we do not care about summer camps for now, so we continue to simply focus on schools because that was the setting of the recent suicide.

Some other states are actually looking at us in wonder. They are wondering why it has taken us so long to “catch up”. You see, some other states already have laws banning bullying. By the way, some other states still have laws on the books banning “copulation” too.

I kind of like to look at Massachusetts as a Commonwealth that does not need to mindlessly follow the lead of other jurisdictions though. After all, we were the first state to legalize gay marriage. We have recently realized that having a small amount of marijuana for personal use is not necessarily a threat to humanity (although for someone to have given it to someone for their personal use is…but that is a different topic).

The point is that we, as an independent state, can think for ourselves. What I am trying to urge with this is topic is that we do actually think. Not simply act by knee-jerk and not make decisions based on publicity or political goals.

Nine kids are already indicted. Unless there is a dismissal, they are most likely already done. Once they are arraigned, their record is marked and will be for many years. I’ve kicked that dead pony enough this week. Let’s just make one last point on it before we move on to the legislature’s attempts to curtail bullying.

Continue reading "A Boston Criminal Defense Lawyer’s Take On Anti-Bullying Laws" »

People are furious in and out of Massachusetts. The people of Ireland are angry at South Hadley, Massachusetts. The people of South Hadley are “enraged” at South Hadley High School. District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel, daring da from Western Massachusetts, is angry at nine kids. Oh yeah, speaking of the 9 kids who get to have their lives ruined next Tuesday…I wonder who they are made at. Maybe their attorneys will tell us during the arraignment.

You see, something that I pointed out in the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog yesterday has begun to dawn the local populace. The daring da’s annulment of criminal culpability and earlier admissions aside, it turns out that staff members at the school did know that the late Phoebe Prince was the target of harassment long before her death.

And so, not missing a beat, residents and public officials have been begun to angrily accuse the school system of neglecting vulnerable students and have called on top administrators to resign. “Now we find out they knew all along, and did nothing,’’ said Joe Marois, who runs a local construction company. “People are just bewildered they didn’t step in, and are wondering why they weren’t included with the students in the prosecution.’’

Is the next step a superseding criminal indictment by the daring da? Perhaps the legislature will begin work on a new ANTI-TURNING-YOUR BACK WHEN PEOPLE IN YOUR CHARGE ARE BEING HARASSED bill.!

Continue reading "Investigations Into Massachusetts Bullying Indictments Continue To Spread Guilt" »

After writing yesterday’s Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog, I went back to my daily business of practicing law. Then, I took a look at some of the latest news and commentaries regarding the indictments about which we “spoke” yesterday as well as the pending legislation regarding bullying.

I started with Boston.com, were I found the positive spin that, “So, finally, an adult in authority in South Hadley stepped up for Phoebe Prince.” This was, of course, applauding District Attorney Betsy Scheibel who has indicted nine youths who apparently bullied the late Phoebe Prince, 15. Ms. Prince tragically took her own life, presumably because of said bullying.

Part of the prosecutor’s stated rationale was that the bullying went far beyond typical bullying that we have seen amongst school peers since the invention of schools. Of course, yesterday, when we looked at the examples she listed…they did not seem to be very new at all.

Unspoken, of course, was any political ambitions the da might have, given that her office is a political one.

I remind you that this had already become a hot issue and one that is being kicked around by the legislature in the way of anti-bullying legislation.

Continue reading "The Massachusetts Anti-Bullying Law Movement – A Path To A Criminal Justice Solution? " »

The death of Phoebe Prince, 15, the South Hadley teenager who allegedly took her own life in response to a barrage of bullying (hereinafter, the “Deceased”) is looming over Massachusetts criminal justice. It has inspired new lawmaking in the legislature and, yesterday, hit the criminal justice system hard.

Indicted felonies for 9 teenagers hard!

The charges include statutory rape, violation of civil rights, criminal harassment, and disturbing a school assembly. Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel announced the charges today.

"Their conduct far exceeded the limits of normal teenage relationship-related quarrels,'' Scheibel said of the nine teens, the oldest of whom is 18 years old.

Really? Let's look into that.

You have probably heard about this story with a different allegation involved…bullying.

Continue reading "A Boston Lawyer’s View Of 9 Kids Indicted For Bullying (On Campus And Off) And Statutory Rape In Suicide Case" »

Joseph L., 43, of Derry, New Hampshire, (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) was once a happy and successful man. A father of five, he built himself up from obscurity in Brockton to the purchasing director for North Andover, Massachusetts. Now, divorced and placed on leave, he is in need of a criminal defense attorney. A court-appointed defense attorney, in fact.

The week began with his turning himself in to North Andover police upon learning that there were warrants out for his arrest.

According to the Commonwealth, the Defendant is guilty of embezzlement. Specifically, the prosecution says that, during his two years as the town’s purchasing agent, he only performed one half of his job correctly. They say he sold surplus town vehicles and snow plows on eBay (the half he was supposed to do) but that he pocketed the money himself (the half he was not supposed to do).

One must wonder how much such augmentation to his salary helped given that the court determined that he qualified for a court appointed attorney, meaning that he was without the funds to afford his own.

Continue reading "Charged With Embezzlement, Massachusetts Official Faces Felony Charges Of Larceny" »

Yesterday, we dealt with the latest celebrity crime matter, the David Letterman extortion case. Today, another white collar case is the topic, this time right from the Boston area. The crime is Larceny. That’s right, that is what Letterman’s blackmailer was charged with as well. This, however, seems to simply be about plain old-fashioned theft.

The alleged crime involves the theft of hundreds of Verizon Blackberrys and the sale of them on the internet. To date, the suspects' rewards include hundreds of thousands of dollars collectively and one criminal defense attorney each.

“This was an extensive scheme,’’ the Middlesex District Attorney said in the statement announcing the indictments. “We thank Verizon for first discovering this scheme and then contacting authorities immediately…’’

He estimated the alleged scam had a value in excess of $600,000.

Continue reading "Three Indicted For Larceny Scheme" »

Albert G., the 28-year-old gentleman from Miami (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) who had been charged with being a computer hacker agreed to plead guilty in Boston's federal court last week. His attorney, however, still disagrees with prosecutors about his role in the hacking.

Yesterday, his attorney still insisted that he was not the “ringleader” in the, now nationally
known, scheme which has been described as one of the largest payment-card thefts in recent history.

The Defendant has agreed to plead guilty to charges that he helped engineer the theft of more than 40 million card numbers from retailers like TJX Cos Inc and BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. Of course, that’s just in Boston. Last month, in New Jersey, the U.S. Justice Department charged him and two others with conspiring to steal another 130 million payment card numbers, the most ever.

Both cases put the Defendant at the center of the action -- especially bold conduct since authorities say he was a Secret Service informant earlier this decade.

Continue reading "Computer Hacker Pleads Guilty To Credit Card Fraud In Federal Court" »

A federal judge overturned the jury conviction of Lori Drew on three misdemeanor counts of accessing protected computers without authorization. The 49-year-old woman is accused of using MySpace to send Megan Meier, a teenage girl, derogatory messages. The 13-year-old would later commit suicide.

Drew was supposed to receive her sentencing for the cyber crime this week, but California U.S. District Judge George Wu said he was not upholding the jury’s decision. He is challenging the federal computer crime statute that the prosecutors used when making their case against Drew. They contended that she violated MySpace’s terms of service that prohibited 1) the creation of bogus registration information, 2) the use of accounts to get personal information about juvenile members, and 3) the abuse, harassment, or harm of other members.

A spokesperson for the US attorney’s office in Los Angeles said that the judge is concerned that Drew’s guilty verdict would allow for anyone that violated the social networking site’s terms of service to be found guilty of a misdemeanor cyber crime.

Experts had called the jury’s 2008 verdict against Drew the first cyber-bully verdict. Testimony during her criminal trial revealed that Drew, her daughter Sarah, and family friend Ashley Grills created a bogus MySpace account to send messages to Meier. The “sender” was a fictitious boy named “Josh Evans.” Josh flirted with Meier, made friends with her, and then abandoned her, telling her that the world would be better if she wasn’t in it. Meier, who had a history suicidal impulses and depression, hanged herself in October 2006.

Drew was never charged with Meier’s murder. She was also acquitted of felony charges related to the cyberbullying case. Her criminal defense lawyers contend that although Drew new about the bogus account, she did not know about the mean messages that were sent to Meier.

As our cyber world continues to expand, people are being charged with crimes related to this high tech arena. You need the help of an experienced Boston cyber crimes law firm that knows how to provide you with the best defense.

Lori Drew MySpace Suicide Hoax Conviction Thrown Out, ABC News, July 2, 2009

U.S. woman convicted in MySpace suicide case, NY Times, October 27, 2008

Related Web Resources:
MySpace

Cyber Crimes, US Doj.gov

Cyberbullying

Continue reading "Judge Overturns MySpace Suicide Conviction " »

In days of old, if there was a financial dispute, one might expect to be sued by whoever claimed you took, or owed, money. Well, that can still happen. However, one should also be wary of being criminally charged with the crime of larceny… in one way or another.

“Larceny” is basically another word for “theft” under the Massachusetts General Laws. According to Chapter 266of such laws, anyone “ Who steals, or with intent to defraud obtains by a false pretence, or whoever unlawfully, and with intent to steal or embezzle, converts, or secretes with intent to convert, the property of another… whether such property is or is not in his possession at the time of such conversion or secreting, shall be guilty of larceny”.

Sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it?

Well, not so much.

Actually, there are varying degrees of larceny. While larceny seems to simply be what we call in the outside world, “stealing”, how it was done and how much was stolen come under different sub-headings in the law and are treated differently.

Continue reading "A Boston Criminal Defense Lawyer Discusses The Crime Of Larceny" »

The criminal prosecution seems to have ended for John R., of Vermont, (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) and his lawyer. On June 8th, he pleaded guilty to charges, the investigation of which reflects some important information to those who assume themselves beyond suspicion.

After all, the Defendant had been something of a celebrity. Now in his 60’s, he had had helped found a gay rights group in Provincetown in the early 1990’s. In 1989, he helped form the Provincetown chapter of ACT UP, a group that described itself as diverse and nonpartisan, and committed to direct action to end the AIDS crisis. He also served on a working group to combat hate crimes.

And now?

Now he has been convicted in the cyber-crime of possessing and distributing child pornography.

To make the charges against him seem even more unlikely, they are not even the result of a local investigation. In fact, it was not even initiated within the United States.

Continue reading "Massachusetts Former Hero Is Arrested And Pleads Guilty To Federal Charges Of Child Porn" »

In Massachusetts and beyond, criminal defense attorneys are seeing more and more arrests being linked to the recent scrutiny of Craigslist. Last week, we spoke of the matter of the “Craigslist Killer” and the attention he has brought to the website’s listing of sexually enticing advertisements. Now, it seems, the website is everywhere and eagerly mentioned when a resulting criminal matter goes to press.

For example, let’s take the case of 42-year-old Deryck R. (hereinafter, “Defendant 1”). He is, or was, a roommate to two sisters in Quincy. They now allege that, as one of the sisters stepped out of the shower, Defendant 1 was pointing a cell phone camera in her direction, filming her. The sisters called the police, who searched the apartment and found video equipment, laptops and a camcorder in Defendant 1’s room.

The sisters had found Defendant 1 through Craigslist. The headline of the story posted by Channel 7 News was “Craigslist roommate arrested after spying”.

Continue reading "Suspects Arrested For Fraud, Harassment And Sex Crimes Linked To Craigslist" »

It may be that the Boston area is simply a dangerous place for a nanny. Several years ago, we had that case in Cambridge where a British nanny was accused (and, actually, convicted) of killing a baby. The case made international headlines. She did have an extremely experienced criminal lawyer on her side and...guess what? She ended up going home when it was all over.

Well, this case is a tad different and the attorney ends up not being needed for the nanny after all. In fact, there was no nanny. Not even a baby. And the outer-Massachusetts part of the drama did not take place overseas, but in Miami, Florida.

You remember Florida, don’t you? Another fraud, to the tune of billions of dollars, was recently discovered there.

Meagan M., 22 (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) is a Miami woman who is alleged to have come up with an inventive way to try to keep her man. She made up a baby.

Well, kinda. She tried to do it the regular way, but did not suceed. Apparently, she lost the baby due to a miscarriage three months into the pregnancy. However, Miami police said the Defendant pretended to carry the baby to full term in order to keep her boyfriend, John B., 26, (hereinafter, “Big John”) from breaking up with her. She even named the phantom child, giving it Big John’s last name.

The real problems began when Big John wanted to see the child after its alleged birth. So, the Defendant did what seemed to be the logical thing...she reported that the baby had been kidnapped, and then reported the baby missing to police.

Now, what could be more romantic than that?

Continue reading "Boston Area Nanny Accused Of Kidnapping Baby, But It Is Not Her Who Needs The Criminal Lawyer " »

In Massachusetts, former Boston sportscaster Bob Gamere has pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging him with transportation and possession of child pornography. Federal prosecutors, who arrested the man that once called himself the Great Gamere, are now calling the former “Candlepins for Cash” host a “danger to the community.”

Magistrate Judge Leo T. Sorokin ordered that the 69-year-old former sports anchor be placed under house arrest and GPS anklet be attached to his leg. Gamere is also barred from answering the door if his grandchildren or trick-or-treaters come to his house unless there is another adult present.

According to the indictment’s charges, Gamere transported child pornography videos on two separate occasions in 2007. His computer at home also allegedly contains videos and images of child porn.

Federal agents found the images after they executed a search warrant of his house and took his computer. The government also claims that Gamere sent child pornography videos as e-mail attachments to a number of people. During the search, Gamere reportedly admitted that printed images of child porn found in his bedroom were his and that he had sent child pornography via e-mail.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation began actively investigating Gamere last year after he allegedly sent via e-mail a 10-minute video of a young girl having sexual intercourse with a man. He allegedly sent the footage using his wife’s AOL account and the screen name “GreatGamere.” Court documents, however, indicate that the FBI had been watching this screen name since 2005 when the sender distributed other videos of “prepubescent” minors having sex with each other and with adults.

Gamere is a former New York Yankees play-by-play announcer and television sports commentator for Channel 7. If convicted, he could spend up to 50 years in prison.

Internet Kiddie Pornography
Distributing child porn via the Internet is considered a criminal offense—even if the images do not explicitly show kids having sex with each other or with adults. A person could get arrested just for sending a photo or image depicting child porn to a friend.

Ex-Hub sportscaster busted for kid porn, BostonHerald.com, October 24, 2008

Former Boston Sportscaster Charged With Possession Of Child Porn, MyFoxBoston.com, October 23, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Laws Concerning Child Pornography, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

The Protect Act of 2003, Department of Justice

Continue reading "Ex-Boston Sportscaster Arrested for Transportation and Possession of Child Pornography" »

The Ten Commandments had a few things to say about interaction with one’s neighbors. It might have been helpful, however, had they mentioned what would later be named “the internet” and how it would play into things. At least, it might have helped a particular Andover couple.

Friday morning, Bill and Gail J., both 51 (hereinafter, the “Defendants”), were arrested and charged with criminally harassing their neighbors (hereinafter, the “Neighbors”) over the Internet because of a property dispute.

The harassment allegedly started with a fake advertisement on Craig's List for used golf carts and other items such as unwanted memberships to a national nudist association. You guessed it...the Neighbors were listed as the people to contact. It then escalated to fake reports of child abuse to state social workers, mysteriously opened bank accounts, and threatening emails and letters, prosecutors said.

The harassment took place over several weeks in March, authorities said. According to court records, the Neighbors began receiving dozens of harassing and threatening e-mails and phone calls. At one point, DSS social workers came to their home to investigate false claims that their 14-year-old son had abused a female at school.

The Defendants pleaded not guilty to counts of criminal harassment, identity fraud and conspiracy at their arraignment in Essex District Court, as they each stood by their individual attorney. Both lawyers said the Defendants are Tewksbury High School graduates who own a realty company and have lived in Andover for nine years. They are also parents of three teenage daughters.

Continue reading "Andover, Massachusetts, Couple Arrested For Internet Crimes Of Harassment, Identity Fraud And Threats " »

The US Senate has passed a bill that would update the country’s laws related to cyber crimes. The legislation, known as the Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act is tougher on cyber criminals and gives victims of identity theft an opportunity to sue for damages.

The Bill Proposes:

• Making it a felony to install keystroke-monitoring programs or spyware on 10 or more computers regardless of damage. This is a major change, since many cases of cyber crime involve thousands of computers at less then $5,000 in damages per victim.

• Allowing federal courts to prosecute cyber crime defendants within their states of residence, rather than only if they used interstate communication to commit a cyber crime against a victim.

• Making it a crime to extort companies using cyber technology.

• Giving victims of identity theft the opportunity to obtain restitution for time and money lost in their efforts to recover from the cyber crime.

In Massachusetts, if you have been arrested for a cyber crime, it is important that you seek the counsel of a defense attorney that will know how to defend you against any charges.

Examples of cyber crimes:

• Internet fraud
• Cyber stalking
• Internet porn
• Identity theft
• Internet gambling
• Computer fraud
• Sexual solicitation via the Internet
• Computer hacking
• Planting Internet viruses

Senate Approves Bill to Fight Cyber-Crime, WashingtonPost.com, July 31, 2008

S. 2168: Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act of 2007, Govtrack.com

Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section, Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section, USDoj.gov

Continue reading "US Senate Passes Bill that Would Update Cyber Crime Laws" »