Recent Posts in United States Category

A San Diego FBI Special Agent announced the arrest of Amado Nicholas Hernandez, of Chico, California. Hernandez was arrested as he arrived on board a cruise ship at the Port of San Diego. Hernandez was arrested by FBI Agents based on information developed from an investigation conducted by the Sacramento FBI. According to the affidavit in a federal criminal complaint filed, Hernandez is alleged to have received and possessed child pornography in violation of federal laws.

In the summer of 2010, the Sacramento Division of the FBI received information from a deputy of the Glenn County Sheriff’s Department regarding a computer he received from a concerned citizen. The citizen had received the computer at an estate sale in Chico, California. The computer had been given away by a woman holding the sale because the computer was thought to be broken. The person who received the computer was a technician who was able to repair the computer. Once the computer was repaired, the  citizen discovered images of child pornography on the hard drive and promptly turned the computer over to law enforcement.

A law enforcement forensic review of the computer revealed that there were approximately 450 still images files of child pornography and approximately 250 video files of child pornography on the computer. Additional review of the computer and address checks for the estate sale residence linked Hernandez to both the computer and residence. The still and video images found on Hernandez’s computer were forwarded to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which compared those files with images of known child pornography victims. NCMEC subsequently reported that 43 of the submitted videos files were of known child victims from 15 different identifiable series of child pornography. They also reported that there were 72 child pornography still images from 35 different identifiable series of child pornography. As there were some video and image files from the same series, there were a total of 44 different child victims who appeared in video or image files on the abandoned computer.

A federal arrest warrant was authorized by a U. S. Magistrate Judge from the United States District Court, Eastern District of California, charging Hernandez with receiving and possessing child pornography. Hernandez was booked into the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Metropolitan Correctional Center in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles child pornography lawyers at Marks & Brooklier are qualified to defend individuals who have been accused of child pornography or any related sex crime. Having the most skilled and experienced criminal defense attorney will ensure you are provided with the defense you require to overcome the these charges. We provide our clients with the highest quality defense that includes a skilled legal team that is aware of how these charges can affect your future. Child pornography lawyers Donald Marks and Anthony Brooklier have the experience necessary to present a defense that will allow a jury to view all the facts without judging you based soley on emotion. Contact our office for a free case evaluation.

In Sacramento, California, a United States Attorney  announced that United States District Judge Garland E. Burrell sentenced two men to 20-year prison terms today as follows:

David Wehde—Docket #: No. Cr.S-07-491-GEB

David Wehde, 24, of Sacramento, pleaded guilty to using a minor to produce images of child pornography and for receiving visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct via the Internet. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and a life term of supervised release upon his release from custody. He will also have to register as a sex offender and adhere to numerous other conditions of release.

Wehde came to the attention of law enforcement when a minor female from the Natomas area reported Wehde had contacted her via an Internet site called "espinthebottle.com," and that they had sexual relations. At the time the girl was 13 years old, and Wehde was 21 years old. During the examination of Wehde's computer, a forensic analyst found images and videos of child pornography along with Internet chats between Wehde, the 13-year-old girl, and a second 13-year-old girl from El Dorado County. In the chats between Wehde and the El Dorado County girl, the two discussed sex acts they had engaged in. The forensic analyst also found sexually explicit and provocative images Wehde had taken of this girl using his cell phone camera and evidence that he had sent one of the sexually provocative images to another person he communicated with via the Internet.

This case was the product of an extensive investigation by officers and detectives from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department and the Sacramento Valley High Tech Crimes Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Laurel D. White prosecuted the case.

Russell Johnson—Docket #: 2:07-cr-491-GEB

Russell Johnson, of Tracy, California, pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography. On October 13, 2009, FBI, local, and state law enforcement officers conducted searches in the residences of registered sex offenders in a number of counties, including San Joaquin. Agents contacted Johnson and seized electronic media, including a laptop computer, central processing unit towers, external drives, and other computer components. In addition, law enforcement seized a thumb drive and three compact discs that had been tossed out of the window of the motel room where Johnson was staying when law enforcement knocked and announced themselves at the door. A subsequent forensic analysis of the computer revealed approximately 1,960 image files and 28 video of child pornography. Johnson has two prior state convictions for lewd acts upon a child under 14.

This case is the product of a joint investigation involving multiple agencies in support of the FBI's Innocent Images National Initiative. Both cases were brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC mobilizes federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov or call the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California and ask to speak with the PSC coordinator.

Attorney's Donald Marks and Anthony Brooklier are well known Los Angeles child pornography criminal defense attorneys.

The Los Angeles child pornography criminal defense lawyers at Marks & Brooklier are qualified to represent clients who have been accused of child pornography or any related crime. Having the most skilled and regarded criminal defense attorney will ensure you are provided with the defense you require to overcome the charges in your case. We provide our clients with the highest quality defense, including a dedicated legal team that is aware of how these charges can adversely affect your future. Marks & Brooklier has the experience necessary to present the type of defense that will allow a jury to view the facts without being caught up in the nature of the charges made against you. Contact our office for a free consultation

With the invaluable cooperation of the Greek and Dutch governments, fugitive brothers John and George Silah were arrested in the Netherlands after being sought by the FBI since 2008 for removing their children from the United States without the consent of their custodial mothers, announced the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI office in Los Angeles.

John Silah and George Silah were wanted for the July 2008 abduction of their children from their homes in Los Angeles, California. A state arrest warrant for parental abduction was issued by Los Angeles County on July 31, 2008. A federal arrest warrant was issued for the Silah brothers on October 15, 2008 by the United States District Court, Central District of California, after they were charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

After following domestic and international leads in this investigation, agents with the FBI and detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department directed their focus overseas. Several months ago, the investigation led to the area of Athens, Greece. Greek law enforcement officers conducted an exhaustive investigation that led them to the Netherlands, where they collaborated with Dutch law enforcement. The investigative efforts of law enforcement in Greece and the Netherlands resulted in the identification of the Silah brothers and the victim children.

Once the whereabouts of the brothers and the children were known, agents in Los Angeles obtained a provisional arrest warrant that enabled law enforcement in the Netherlands to carry out the arrest of the brothers and to safely recover the children on Tuesday, November 2. The successful arrests and recovery of the children would not have been possible without the international cooperation of the following law enforcement agencies and organizations:

The Hellenic National Police, Attica HQ, Athens, Greece & Juvenile Crimes Unit
The Netherlands Police Agency (KLPD)
Dutch National Prosecutor’s Office
The Los Angeles Police Department
The United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles
The United States Department of State
The District Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles County
Agents with the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office
FBI's Legal Attaché in Athens, Greece
FBI’s Legal Attaché Sub-Office in The Hague, Netherlands
Department of Justice, Office of International Affairs
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
The Association for the Recovery of Children
Find the Children of Santa Monica

The victim children are being held by Dutch family protective services. FBI agents will travel with the victims’ mothers to the Netherlands to reunite them with their children. The Silah brothers are being held in the custody of Dutch police based on the provisional arrest warrant issued in the United States. There are pending state and federal charges for the Silah brothers. The United States government will seek justice for the victims, working cooperatively with our international partners.

If you have been arrested, or under investigation for parental kidnapping, its important that you consult experienced legal counsel. Criminal defense attorneys Donald Marks and Anthony Brooklier will specially design a top legal team who will assist you in your parental kidnapping case. The Law Offices of Marks & Brooklier have experienced kidnapping criminal defense lawyers, who will ensure you receive the legal assistance you need.

Do not let any time go by without contacting a Los Angeles and United States parental kidnapping criminal defense attorney from the Law Offices of Marks & Brooklier to defend you against these charges. We will provide you with a strong defense and fully investigate all aspects of the kidnapping case and dispute any evidence brought against you immediately.

Although based in Los Angeles, we represent clients throughout the United States. Contact our office for a free consultation, 24/7.

According to information in the Indictment, which was filed yesterday, Muhawieh 31, of San Francisco , told potential victims various lies to get them to lend him money. For example, Muhawieh represented to victims that their funds would be used to purchase and to renovate specific residential properties in San Francisco that would then be sold at a profit. Muhawieh claimed he would make regular and high rates of return for the lenders with limited risk. Muhawieh also represented to victims that their funds were secured by deeds of trust on the residential properties that he represented would be purchased and renovated with the lenders’ funds.

The indictment alleges that Muhawieh operated a Ponzi scheme whereby he used the lenders’ funds to reimburse earlier lenders. In addition, Muhawieh allegedly used the lenders’ funds for a variety of unauthorized activities such as personal expenses and investing in retail businesses located in San Francisco. Unbeknownst to the victims, Muhawieh provided multiple deeds of trust for the properties that purportedly served as collateral for the lenders’ funds; as a result, the deeds of trust did not provide the lenders with adequate security.

Muhawieh is charged in the Indictment with 12 counts of wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343. The maximum statutory penalty for each count of wire fraud is 20 years’ imprisonment, a fine of $250,000 or twice the gain or loss, supervised release of three years, and restitution to victims of the alleged scheme. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

Muhawieh made his initial appearance in federal court in San Francisco. The defendant was released to a half-way house pursuant to a $375,000 secured bond. The prosecution is the result of a 15-month investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

This law enforcement action is part of the work being done by President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.

If you have been charged with federal crime such as wire fraud, you need and experienced California and United States federal wire fraud criminal defense attorney to protect your rights. Federal attorneys Donald Marks and Anthony Brooklier have been successfully representing clients on federal crime charges since 1976. Federal charges are a serious crime that must be handled in the proper manner to avoid dire legal consequences. If you have been charged or under investigation for any type of federal crime, it is vital you contact a Los Angeles and United States federal criminal defense attorney to protect your legal rights. Contact us for a free, strictly confidential, consultation 24/7.