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A Boone, NC man has been arrested after his can’t stop, won’t stop policy for spreading the word of massage through uninvited back rubs blew up in his face. Julio Antonio Yanez, despite his self image of being a modern day Don Juan, has been charged in North Carolina with two counts of misdemeanor breaking and entering and two counts of assault on a female. As alleged, Yanez would enter the homes of unsuspecting women, crawl into their bed, and begin his rub down sessions. As could be expected, despite his rugged good looks, the victims were unwilling participants in his attempted night moves. Upon entering the beds of his victims it is reported that both victims immediately ordered him to cease his caress and leave the premises immediately. Despite their demands it is alleged the walking massager continued to stroke their arms and back and persisted in his demand to tenderize their muscles. As it stands currently there are at least three women who alleged Yanez attempted his tomfoolery on them, though charges have been filed based on only two of the incidents.

In my time as an attorney there have been cases that just make me sit back in my chair and wonder what the hell is wrong with people? My job title doesn’t allow me to not look for the weaknesses in a fact scenario and assess a situation considering both sides of the coin. However, if these allegations are true as alleged, this is one of those rock back, eye roller cases. I’ve mentioned in other blogs that criminal law is generally similar from State to State and in the Federal system. Of course there are nuances in Florida that a criminal attorney practicing in Florida would know, just as there are nuances in Tennessee that a criminal lawyer in Tennessee would know. That’s just the way it is. Yanez will be charged in North Carolina with misdemeanor counts. If this is all he’s charged with, he can sleep a little easier. Were he in Florida he would no doubt be charged with misdemeanor battery for his unwanted touching of his victims. Depending on the unknown facts of his case, he may also be charged with Burglary of an occupied dwelling under Florida Statute 810.02(2)(a) if the State could prove that he entered the dwelling with an intent at the time of entry to commit a criminal offense and that offense is an assault or battery. If burglary isn’t provable Yanez would be charged with trespass in a structure, a first degree misdemeanor.
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35 year old Haider Zafar, formerly of south Florida is currently residing in Federal custody after being indicted in the Southern District of Ohio for 118 counts of Wire Fraud, 13 counts of money laundering, and one count of filing a false federal income tax return. The meat and potatoes of Zafar’s indictment alleges that he made false representations that his uncle was a high ranking political figure in the Pakistani government, and that Zafar and members of his family knew of several pieces of land in Pakistan that the Pakistani government planned to purchase in order to build military facilities. The nature of Zafar’s alleged scandal was that he told potential investors that they could supply the funds and that Zafar could swoop in and purchase the land prior to the Pakistani government and ultimately sell the land to the government for a very large profit. He would then share the profit with the investors. Things got really interesting at Zafar’s detention hearing earlier this week when investment attorney Andrew Fine testified that Zafar had bilked former and current Miami Heat players out of approximately 8 million dollars in addition to the existent allegation. Specifically, Mr. Fine mentioned former University of Florida star Mike Miller, Rashard Lewis and guard James Jones as victims of Zafar’s alleged impropriety.

Haider Zafar is facing a typical allegation of white collar criminal conduct. As such, his potential sentence, should he ultimately enter a plea, would be driven primarily by the amount of money conned out of potential investors. As alleged thus far via indictment, Zafar is said to have scammed 10 million dollars out of a Washington DC business and if the allegations of his misgivings while living in Florida are true, he could have an additional 8 million dollars added via superseding indictment. Zafar will be facing up to 20 years in prison on his wife fraud counts and 10 years for his money laundering counts. The maximum prison term for his tax evasion allegations is only 3 years or 1 year respectively, depending upon the statute used. For purposes of example of how the Federal Sentencing Guidelines work for cases involving money, we’ll use the wire fraud guideline 2B1.1 as it could apply to Zafar. Because wire fraud has a maximum penalty of 20 years, the base offense level would be a 7. Next, in applying the specific characteristics of this alleged offense, we must attribute the monetary amount scammed. In this case, as it seems to stand currently, that number would be 8 million dollars. As such we must add 20 levels per Guideline 2B1.1(b)(K). Depending on the sophistication of Zafar’s scam, there could be an additional 2 level increase in total offense level under 2B1.1(b)(9)(C). As with any Federal case, should a plea ultimately be entered, the bulk of the work for a Federal criminal attorney is in a proper sentence calculation and the challenges that may accompany. For Zafar, based on the limited information we have, he could score out to 29 levels (87-188 months depending on criminal history category)
before any kind of acceptance of responsibility or other means of reducing his potential sentence. This number does not consider the Florida victims and could get higher should the US Attorney’s Office include them.
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Since the beginning of time merchants of services or goods have been quick to toss a patron out of their premises and ask him or her to never come back if said person runs afoul of their rules. It’s common sense for most to know that if you get kicked out of a brick and mortar establishment there is a good chance that you will be “trespassed,” thereby giving you notice that if you come back, you could get arrested. As time passes and technology progresses, the law will have to evolve with it. To “trespass” in the time of our forefathers meant no more than to physically be where they aren’t invited after some form of notice. Back in those days the act of trespassing could upon one’s person, chattel, or physical property. Fast forward to now. With all things tech, a website becomes an interesting new forum for debate on whether or not one can “trespass” on the property of another.

I will preface this blog in that as a low tech criminal lawyer I know about as much about “tech” as I do brain surgery. I do understand that large and common websites like Craigslist can ban an IP range or individual IP address from coming to their site in much the same sense that an establishment can ban an individual or group of individuals from coming to their place of business. In my tiny tech brain I can only imagine a drunken bar patron being kicked out of a big bar in the sky and sent through some kind of multicolored warp tube into never-never land… I digress. So what happens when a person or group that has been trespassed or blocked from a website attempts to come back, using a different or cloaked IP address? As decided in the Craigslist v. 3Taps case, evidently now, at least in the opinion of one Federal District Court Judge, a person who does this runs afoul of the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“Act”)! A potential Federal charge? This act is codified at 18 USC 1030. Judge Breyer opines that the Act was violated as applied to the 3Taps case in that 3Taps did intentionally access a computer without authorization and retrieved information from a Craigslist computer that was protected. In rendering his opinion, Judge Breyer compared a website trespass to trespass on private property in saying, “The law of trespass on private property provides a useful, if imperfect analogy. Store owners open their doors to the public, but occasionally find it necessary to ban disruptive individuals from the premises. That trespass law has enforced those bans with criminal penalties has not, in the brick and mortar context, resulted in the doomsday scenarios predicted by 3Taps in the internet context.”
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Ask any Tampa Federal Criminal Lawyer how they feel about Federal drug sentencing and I have little doubt the response you receive would be a groan and a look of disgust. Federal drug sentencing, for whatever popular and illusory reason the Federal Sentencing Commission chooses to hang their hat on, has been and is outrageous. For every crime there must necessarily be some kind of punishment otherwise the system is useless and we can cue anarchy. However, when one with little criminal history and no real ties to a cartel or gang takes a shot to make five times his yearly wage for a noble albeit illegal reason and ultimately is sentenced to a 10 year minimum mandatory prison term, have we really achieved anything? Should a drug sentence really be higher than a crime of violence or a sex crime against a minor? It doesn’t pass the smell test but it happens all the time. Title 21 of the Federal Criminal code details minimum mandatory sentences and it has been a leverage point of Federal Prosecutors since its inception.

Not only can a defendant be charged with a violation of Title 21 that calls for a mandatory minimum prison sentence, in certain instances the defendant’s sentence potential or mandatory minimum be increased because of a criminal history to make a minimum mandatory completely exorbitant. If the US Attorney’s office pops your man with a nice little 851 enhancement you are now staring down the barrel of a potential of a 20 year minimum mandatory or mandatory life sentence depending on the number of prior drug felonies he has. If the defendant was facing a 5 year minimum mandatory he is now looking at 10 and if there is no minimum mandatory, his statutory maximum increases. You can run but you can’t hide from the 851… All for one prior drug felony. Granted this enhancement is not automatic but it is wholly discretionary for the Federal Prosecutor. Depending on which Prosecutor is driving the bus, you could be in for a bumpy ass ride. This enhancement isn’t even inclusive of a Career Offender enhancement, and animal that has been criticized as not being based on empirical data by the Supreme Court in Kimbrough v. US, 552 U.S. 85, 109-110 (2007). When one is saddled with both an 851 and career offender enhancement his Federal criminal lawyer will earn a few more gray hairs.
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Drag racing in the Tampa area has been alive and well in for a long time. Mix testosterone with high octane gasoline and a lot of horsepower and you have a recipe for adrenaline. As is so often the case with any hobby that may push the envelope on safety, this particular brand of fun is highly regulated when legal and illegal when not performed in the proper venue. Unfortunately, those who participate in road racing in an illegal venue are doing it not with a specific purpose to break the law or cause damage or physical harm to anyone, but rather to enjoy the fun that a high speed race provides. Consequently, for as much as racers want to enjoy their racing, the local police want to catch the racers and put a stop to their actions. Though at first blush one would say, “what is the harm in a drag race?” there can be serious legal consequences effected by laws put in place to prevent the damage that can precipitate from racing. After a local police officer was injured when his car was hit by a racer, WTSP Channel 10 News’ Melanie Michael interviewed Tampa criminal lawyer Jason Mayberry about illegal road racing. As a complement to that interview we’ll provide our audience with the consequences that attach when one pleas to a racing on the highway charge.

As a general rule racing on the highway charges are considered to be first degree misdemeanors carrying a possible jail penalty of 11 months, 29 days in jail. To be convicted of this charge the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant:

A. drove a motor vehicle in
OR
B. participated / coordinated / facilitated / collected monies at the location of
OR
C. knowingly rode as a passenger in
OR
D. purposefully caused moving traffic to slow or stop for
a race OR a drag race or acceleration contest OR a speed competition or contest OR a test of physical endurance OR an exhibition of speed OR an attempt to make a speed record on a highway OR road OR parking lot.
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Authored by Paul J. Wallin of Wallin & Klarich | A Law Corporation

If you’ve been accused of rape in California, and you live in Tampa, Florida you need to be aware that the state of California will likely extradite you so that you can be tried for this very serious crime. This means California can take the legal action necessary to physically return you to California. (This is called extradition). Therefore, speaking to an attorney experienced in rape charges in California can make the difference in your case. At Wallin & Klarich we have over 30 years of experience defending clients accused of rape.

What is rape under California Penal Code 261?

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Two men are facing a Federal criminal complaint out of the Northern District of New York for allegedly hatching a plot to create an X-Ray gun capable to shooting lethal doses of X-Ray radiation. Alleged members of the Ku Klux Klan, Glendon Scott Crawford, 49, of Galway, NY and his buddy Eric J. Feight, 54, of Hudson, NY have been arrested and charged with the Federal crime of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists in violation of 18 USC 2339A. If convicted of the charges, Mr. Scott and Mr. Feight face up to 15 years in the Federal Bureau of Prisons and a large fine. The essence of the criminal complaint is that these two “gentlemen” schemed to create a mobile, remotely operated, radiation emitting device capable of killing targets from afar with a mega dose of radiation. Their alleged intent was to blast unknowing victims with said radiation, only to have their victims fall ill days later and eventually die. Despite their dedicated intentions, at no time was their cartoon ray gun operable or even capable of fulfilling their double secret squirrel plot according to authorities.

Is the KKK really involved? If so it looks as if at least some of them have now graduated from wearing white uniforms that look like Casper’s redneck friend Crisper and hurting people, to generally screaming at rallies in cities, to now plotting attacks with hi tech laser tag guns? Can anyone fill me in here? I’m proud to admit that I don’t knowingly know anyone in the KKK so I can’t attest to the intelligence level of the group as a whole or any of them as individuals, but this seems to me like they’re grasping at straws a bit. Ray guns? Seriously? Dumb, dadumb, dumb, dumb… Whatever bobs their bobber I guess, but there will likely be consequences to thinking and behaving like fools.
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A man in South Carolina was pushed off his moped and subsequently beaten with his own prosthetic leg Monday afternoon. Joel Parrish, 35, of Myrtle Beach is alleged to have performed this ridiculous and heinous act without any reason being offered or provocation known. Parrish may as well give up on his dream of being Myrtle Beach’s citizen of the year and his chances at earning a key to the city are likely compromised after he inflicted head injuries to the man on the moped. It’s doubtful his partner in the crime, who is alleged to have held down the man on the moped, will be asked to join the Big Brothers, Big Sisters chapter of Myrtle Beach either. Both men are alleged to have pushed the man off of his moped only to punch and kick him while ultimately beating him with his prosthetic leg when it came off in the fracas. According to a police report it is recommended that the particular South Carolina State Attorney’s Office charge Parrish with Assault and Battery of the 2nd Degree.

I’m not a South Carolina lawyer so I have no earthly idea what the gravity of the charges are against Mr. Parrish in his home State. I’ve handled enough cases to know that if you’re accused of this kind of thing in the Bay area you better get a good Tampa criminal attorney retained sooner rather than later. If this type of thing happened in the Tampa area I could see someone being charged with battery or in the alternative possibly aggravated battery and very likely criminal mischief to whatever level.
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71 year old Pennsylvania man William Moody had a bad day. Just this past Friday Moody became enraged when a good samaritan parked in his driveway so as to render aid to a victim of a nearby accident. According to a report, the samaritan only blocked Moody in for 10 minutes, a 10 minute period just before Moody intended on going to eat. Needless to say, Mr. Moody became “hangry” and proceeded scream at both the good Samaritan and officers who attempted to calm him down. Despite their efforts, Officers ended up being pushed and ultimately had to dodge a good looking set of dentures launched their way. Upon officers attempting to arrest the very moody Moody, it is alleged that he feigned a heart attack only to have officers remove the handcuffs. They were repaid with more abuse, ultimately culminating with Moody throwing his false teeth at them when they arrived at the police station.

Clearly somebody should have given this man a Snickers. Had that occurred it is very likely none of this would have happened as we all know we aren’t ourselves when we’re hungry! Instead, Moody will be charged with a slew of violence and resisting arrest charges in his home State of Pennsylvania. Because Florida is awesome, this type of thing happens here with regularity. In Florida, under this fact pattern, Moody would be charged at minimum with battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence. Battery on a law enforcement officer is generally a third degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. Generally speaking, a battery on a law enforcement officer is nothing more than an actual and intentional touching of another against their will or an intentional touching that causes harm and the victim is known to be a law enforcement officer. A Tampa criminal attorney can often mount a mitigating defense that the accused had no idea the victim was an officer. If successful, the battery on a law enforcement officer charge would likely go away, resulting in a total acquittal or a conviction for a misdemeanor count of simple battery. Unfortunately for Mr. Moody, if these officers were wearing a uniform, were in a marked car, or identified themselves as officers, his goose is likely cooked. From the appearance of the dentures Mr. Moody could be lucky he isn’t being charged with assault with a deadly weapon or an act of terrorism due to the funk on his chops. Time will tell on that…
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Phone: (813) 444-7435

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