Just this past week, an openly gay African-American actor from the television show Empire was allegedly approached by two pedestrians in Chicago, taunted with racial epithets and homophobic slurs, doused with a chemical and had a rope placed around this neck. Now police are searching for suspects to charge with hate crimes. There are many different types of actions that may fall under the umbrella of this offense.
What is a grand jury and why are their activities secret?
If you've been advised that you're facing federal criminal charges, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Minneapolis has likely forwarded you and your attorney a copy of your grand jury indictment as part of a discovery packet.
Judges aren't required to follow federal sentencing guidelines
Federal Sentencing Guidelines are a uniform set of nonbinding rules that all U.S. Attorneys are to use to guide them in making sentencing recommendations in criminal cases. It's ultimately up to the federal judge, however, to use their own discretion to decide how much they want to adhere to them when sentencing a convicted defendant.
Man pleads guilty to wire fraud conspiracy charges in Minneapolis
A 27-year-old California man entered a guilty plea on conspiracy to commit wire fraud charges in a federal courtroom in Minneapolis on Oct. 25. Prior to his plea, he stood accused of having convinced multiple individuals in the Twin Cities area to buy Target gift guards for him as a part of a tax scheme.
Minneapolis postal worker accused of shooting at Federal Reserve
A 43-year-old Minneapolis U.S. Postal Service worker was charged with several crimes in Hennepin County District Court on Wednesday, Aug. 22. He now faces property damage, attempted bodily harm and reckless discharge of a firearm charges.
Oklee man's trial on federal destructive devices charges begins
This past Monday, July 16, the federal trial of a 41-year-old northwestern Minnesota man got underway. He stands accused of possession of unregistered destructive devices.
What is the difference between copyrights and trademarks?
Many businesses, authors and artists are concerned about protecting their intellectual property and turn to federal law to make sure their work is registered. Generally, people in Minnesota understand intellectual property protections take the form of copyrights and trademarks. But what is the difference between these two categories? Although they offer important legal protections for intellectual property, copyrights and trademarks are not one and the same.
How to tell mail fraud from legitimate business practices
The large number of products and goods that are delivered by mail in today’s economy means there a lot of people who conduct their business through the mail. However, in some cases, a Minnesota business may not be able to fulfill a mail order after a payment has been rendered. Assuming that the business refunds the money or does everything in good faith to compensate the customer, some people may wonder if the customer may turn around and accuse the company of mail fraud.
Understanding money laundering
Money laundering sounds like a strange term to many people in Minnesota at first. We usually think of laundering as an activity to clean dirty clothing. In a sense, money laundering is the same thing. While laundering money is not literally the same as washing it with soap and water, money laundering does mean to take formerly “dirty” money and distribute it in a way that the money appears to be clean.
What do federal counterfeiting laws cover?
In popular culture, counterfeiting is frequently associated with reproducing fake dollar bills or other currencies. While it is true the federal government outlaws forging paper currency, Minnesota residents should be aware that there are other documents and forms that cannot be counterfeited. Findlaw provides an overview of what kinds of documents are protected from counterfeiting.
