Articles Posted in Theft Crimes

This Boston crime is an interesting take on what is usually known as a “drug deal gone bad”. Instead, the closest thing to a narcotic was a syringe and the deal involved alcohol.

Jose Soler, 47, of Hyde Park (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) was one part of the alleged ill-fated agreement. On the other side were two underage kids who were rather thirsty.

Thirsty for alcohol, that is.

According to law enforcement, the kids offered the Defendant $25 to buy them alcohol. $20 was for the actual booze and $5 was to be for the Defendant’s trouble. The Defendant agreed.

When the Defendant came out of the Forest Hills Liquor Market, however, he was empty-handed.

The kids demanded their money back. Police say that the Defendant refused to comply. He did, however, give them back $3…perhaps for their trouble.

The kids apparently put up a fuss.
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Today’s story comes to us from the Cape. Barnstable, to be exact.

It is a story of theft. Grand larceny theft. Felony theft.

Arthur Souza, 52, (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) is a Barnstable gentleman who has been indicted for stealing valuable books from several Cape Cod libraries. He faces various counts of larceny.

Before you accuse the Commonwealth of being anti-education, these books were allegedly not for reading.

The Commonwealth alleges that the Defendant stole the books and sold them to a Chatham antiques dealer. The dealer, in turn, sold them on the auction website eBay. Some of the books are apparently valued at hundreds of dollars, thereby breaking the $250 barrier between petite larceny (misdemeanor) and grand larceny (felony).

According to law enforcement, the Defendant stole the books from the Harwich, Brewster, Barnstable, Yarmouth and Chatham libraries.

The allegations came to light when one librarian tipped off other libraries after she got a call from a man who spotted a book bearing the library’s markings on eBay.

Attorney Sam’s Take On Massachusetts Crimes Of Theft

Stealing something is illegal. It is theft. It is larceny.

“What if it is just a piece of junk?”

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A Massachusetts Administrative Judge, Cheryl Jacques (hereinafter, thru “Defendant”), should be a bit relieved today. West Newton District Court Judge Dyanne J. Klein has allowed a motion made by the prosecution to dismiss the criminal charges against her. In fact,

The Defendant’s attorney announced, “I know that Judge Jacques is gratified that this is behind her…The Pack ‘N Play case as a criminal matter is over. It never should have been in criminal courts to begin with. It’s too ridiculous for words.”

You may be wondering what this case was all about. The criminal charge of larceny (theft) by false pretense had been brought against the Defendant. The complainant, Tracey Christopher, a 39-year-old woman from Sudbury, sought the criminal charge, claiming that the Defendant deceived her when selling her a used all-purpose baby playpen on Craigslist for $75.

The crux of the criminal action was that Ms. Christopher complained that she did not receive all that was due her in the purchase. A vibrating device designed to calm babies was apparently missing.
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The Massachusetts jury is the subject about which we left off last week. As this week began, the subject matter has become fodder for not only the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog, but also for the main media and Boston’s Appeals Court.

The immediate issue is, in some respects, a new one. Yet, the theory behind it is anything but new. However, the admonition I had given you in previous blogs comes to mind. Remember that all participants of the criminal justice system are merely human. That includes juries. When you add to the mix that people are, by nature, curious, and that most jurors try to “do justice”, the issue is inevitable.

Jurors in both civil and criminal trials are routinely told not discuss matters in which they are sitting and to avoid any publicity about said case. This is because the jurors, while still holding onto their common sense and life experience, are supposed to return a verdict based only on the evidence when was admitted in the case together with the law as the judge gives it to them.

Or, rather, their perception of those things, to be more realistic.

Anyway, in recent years, Massachusetts judges have added the existence of the internet stories and research to the laundry list of things jurors should avoid. Now, the Appeals Court has told judges that they need to do more to stop jurors from, not only researching, but also posting information about cases on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites.

The new instructions came in a recent ruling in a larceny case in which two jurors posted comments on Facebook, which then elicited sometimes derogatory responses from the jurors’ Facebook friends.

Examples?
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Cases of cyber crimes seem to be hitting the headlines a lot these days.

Take Aaron Swartz, 24, of Cambridge (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) for example. He was a fellow at Harvard University’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics until quite recently. Now, he is facing allegations that he committed federal crimes. Specifically, he is charged with hacking into a Massachusetts Institute of Technology computer archive system to steal more than 4 million articles from scientific journals and academic work.

The charges are wire fraud, computer fraud, unlawfully obtaining information from a protected computer, and recklessly damaging a protected computer. He faces up to 35 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

At the moment, the Defendant is not in custody. He was released at a bail figure of $100,000.

Interestingly, although the government treats his actions as criminal, the Defendant has made a name for himself advocating for the elimination of barriers to the distribution of information over the Internet, and for the widest public distribution of information in libraries. He is a founder of Demand Progress and a co-founder of reddit.com. These political action groups, oppose what the Defendant has described as the “corrupting influence on big institutions.” In a statement released after his arrest, his colleagues at Demand Progress both denounced and ridiculed the government’s actions.

“This makes no sense,” David Segal, executive director of Demand Progress said in a statement. “It’s like trying to put someone in jail for allegedly checking too many books out of the library.” He also added that MIT and the Defendant have settled the matter between themselves before the prosecution even began.

To make matters more absurd, according to Segal, because MIT indicates that, “…they’ve suffered no loss or damage, and asked the government not to prosecute.” Segal .

Prosecutors said the Defendant allegedly broke into a computer wiring closet in a basement at MIT to access MIT’s network without authorization from a computer switch within that closet. The access allowed him to download materials from JSTOR, a non-profit archive of scientific journals and academic work. They further allege that he into the system to distribute JSTOR’s archives through file-sharing sites.

The articles and journals listed under the JSTOR system are available through a paid subscription, with some subscriptions costing as much as $50,000. A portion of the fee is in turn paid over to copyright holders.

The indictment also alleges that the Defendant’s illegal downloads impaired JSTOR’s computers and servers, depriving regular customers access to the archives.

Prosecutors add that even after security officials blocked the Defendant’s access, he hacked into the system again.

US Attorney Carmen Ortiz said in a statement announcing the indictments that the Defendant’s actions warranted his being treated like a criminal. “Stealing is stealing, whether you use a computer command or a crowbar, and whether you take documents, data, or dollars,” Ortiz said in a statement. “It is equally harmful to the victim whether you sell what you have stolen or give it away.”

Attorney Sam’s Take Theft Of Intellectual Property

Sometimes, it just seems as though folks just ask for trouble.
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