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I often get phone calls from people on probation or federal supervised release, and they have complaints about their current limitations. Things like:

• My probation officer won’t let me travel appropriately
• I am unable to work a certain job
• I have unfair geographic restrictions imposed on me
• My probation officer is preventing me from earning a living
• I don’t get to see my family because of these limitations

The list goes on and on.

The first thing I recommend is to let me try to contact the client’s probation officer. Since I used to be a probation officer myself, I can try to convince the officer to implement a few changes to the client’s current restrictions, to help them be able to earn a living, see their family, or any other reasonable request.

Sometimes the probation officer is able to change the rules, because the current limitations have been set down at the officer’s discretion. Other times, these rules have been appointed by the court, and this means a change to parole will require court permission.

In general, the first step is to talk with the probation officer or the supervisor, because if I can obtain my client’s desired conditions, this is the fastest way to do so. It’s much quicker to have the probation officer change the rules because they can often do so from their desk.

If the client’s current limitations have been set down by the court, we will usually have to file a motion, go to court, receive a response from the US attorney, receive a response from the probation department, write a response to their motion, and so on. It’s much more involved, and ultimately more expensive for the client.

Again, the initial step that I recommend is to allow me to try and negotiate with the probation officer or probation department, and see what that can get us.

If it becomes possible that we can change these limitations, whether due to new evidence or documentation we provide to the probation officers, or negotiation, we can help the client get their desired outcome. Clients are usually very happy with this, because they get the freedom they wanted and were able to achieve that quickly and at relatively low cost.

Contact NYC criminal defense lawyer Paul Petrus for more information about negotiating probation in New York.

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There’s something in human nature — if the person really believe they are innocent, or if they think that they only did one or two things bad but it didn’t rise to the level of a crime in their mind, or they think that anyone could prove that it’s a crime — often people think they can talk themselves out of trouble with the local law enforcement officer.

What’s unfortunate is that the law enforcement officer that’s investigating the situation has often made up their mind as to whether or not there is going to be an arrest. At that point, the officer is just trying to get more evidence to bolster their case. They’re not trying to get evidence as to whether or not they can make an arrest — they’ve already determined if they are going to make an arrest. It’s just a matter of getting additonal evience or information.

This is something the officer won’t tell the suspect. They won’t tell a suspect “we need to interview you because we are going to arrest you, but we’re just trying to get more evidence against you”. No one would talk if they revealed this information. This is a grave mistake, and a lot of clients try to handle these situations themselves.

Once a law enforcement officer is investigating you for a crime, it’s time for you to obtain professional help.

For more information about seeking help for a federal or New York State criminal case, contact Brooklyn criminal defense lawyer Paul Petrus.

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Hiring a private investigator is something most criminal defense lawyers need to seriously consider in any criminal case. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you always hire one, but it certainly needs to be considered. In assault cases, particularly where the complaining witness and the defendant don’t know each other very well, it’s important to get as much information as you can.

In New York, the information you can obtain about a complaining witness is very conservative. They don’t allow you to have any information other than the complaining witness’s name. It’s important to try and get as much information about the complaining witness as possible, and it’s also useful to present that to a private investigator. Having the defendant meet with the private investigator and to see what they can do can greatly help your search for more information about what occurred during the event.

If you’re thinking about hiring a private investigator for a New York criminal defense case, contact NYC defense attorney Paul Petrus.

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Every lawyer in New York state is required to take at least 24 hours of legal education classes every two years. Basically, these are like post law school classes that encourage continued learning from lawyers, even after they’ve been in the field for years. Around 9 years ago I was invited by the New York County Lawyers Association, which is a bar association in downtown New York, to teach some Continuing Legal Education (CLE) courses. I’ve been doing that ever since — teaching classes to lawyers of varying degrees of experience.

I do it because I enjoy it. I enjoy meeting lawyers, and I enjoy talking with people who are interested in criminal law at the state or federal levels. I also enjoy studying up on criminal law, and just teaching in general. It’s a public service on my part, and it’s a way I can give back to the bar. There have been plenty of lawyers throughout my career who have reached out and helped me when I was just getting started, so I enjoy teaching other lawyers who might have questions or want to learn more about criminal defense cases.

If you’d like to speak with a state and federal defense attorney about a case or legal matter, contact NYC Criminal Defense Attorney Paul Petrus.

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Don’t put anything on Facebook that you don’t expect the whole world to see. Even if it’s just a tweet, or a short Facebook post, it can still be picked up and displayed on the news. We constantly see a cycle with celebrities that send out a tweet and then quickly delete it, but it’s still picked up by news stations. If you’re using Facebook, Instagram, or any other social network to post embarrassing photos or stories, it’s probably a good idea to refrain from this behavior, especially if you are involved in a legal case.

It’s also a good idea to go back through your old Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram content and remove any old embarrassing photos or posts. Many social networks hold on to content for years, which means almost anyone can dig through your history to find content you forgot even existed. If you are preparing for a trial, especially a criminal defense case, taking time to clean up your social network history is always a great idea.

The Petrus Law Firm focuses on state and federal criminal law cases in New York. For more information, contact the NYC criminal law experts at the Petrus Law Firm.

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Transcription:

Because approximately 96 percent of all people charged in federal court are before a judge to be sentence, the most important part is the sentencing. The first thing that happens is a report written by the probation department, one by the attorney’s office, and another by the defense.

In New Jersey, if you agree to what the guidelines are, you can only argue with the guidelines, you can’t step outside of these guidelines. There’s two ways to go about this: one way is way that the defense lawyer argues that it should be low and wants the least amount of punishment. I think that’s a poor way to argue. I want to argue for the lowest possible sentence they can get, and that the court will allow.

The nice thing about the eastern seaboard is that there’s so many laws written. With some proper research you can find some decisions determined by the court of appeals, and you can use these to your advantage. I want to have the most on-point legal memorandum for my client, so when we go into the court for that hearing, I do everything I can with the law and the facts to get my client the best sentence possible.

Contact Manhattan Defense Attorney Paul Petrus for more information on trial preparation and pursuing the best sentence possible for your case.

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Most federal drug charges are federal conspiracy drug charges. sometimes it feels like the government has all but done away with federal drug charges, because it’s much easier to convict someone of conspiracy than it is to convict someone of possession of the drugs, because in the latter case, the person must have actual possession of the drugs. The trafficking of the drugs works in a similar manner.

With the conspiracy of a federal drug offense, it’s not required that the person actually take possession of the drugs or that the person to have had control of the drugs from afar. It’s sufficient for two people to engage in a conversation about drugs, and then for the defendant to make an action or step in the direction of possession of illegal drugs.

When one couples this with the fact that the punishment for conspiracy is the same punishment as actually trafficking or possession drugs, there’s no reason to charge someone with possession, when it’s so much easier to charge them with conspiracy. The ranges are 5 to 40 years, or 10 to life, depending on prior records. There are things that a person can do to receive a sentence below these minimums.

If you’ve been charged with a drug conspiracy or possession case in New York, speak with Criminal Defense Attorney Paul Petrus.

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The arms export control act is a federal statute that sets out penalties for unlawful trade or sales of military weapons and military equipments. It could also be night vision goggles or special types of equipments or uniforms. Now, this is an offense that’s been occurring so often recently that because the US has been involved in so many wars. Obviously these wars require weapons and equipment. One thing the federal, state, and military departments have noticed is a lot of this equipment has gone missing or is unaccounted for. Some of this equipment has been ending up on the internet for sale or at gun shows.

Frankly it’s illegal to sell or steal equipment that you didn’t have the right to take after your time in the military. That’s been such an issue of importance that the military has set up officers that just investigation that just tracks down lost equipment, and the FBI is also involved in New York City.

I had a case where a former military member was being investigated not just by the FBI, but also by the military. The good news is I was able to convince the FBI agent and the military not to prosecute him, but it is something that is strictly enforced. It’s an area of law that has been taking off a lot lately in both the criminal area and the military side of it, because of the number of cases reported.

For more information on the Arms Export Control Act and ACEA Cases in New York City, contact Paul Petrus.

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Transcription:

A surety hearing, basically, is when a person is accused of obtaining his money from illegal means. It started, originally, for people that were allegedly engaged in the drug trade, but sometimes the district attorneys office tries to demand a surety hearing for people involved in credit card scams, counterfeit money scams, and other areas of law. But it’s when they demand to know the source of the money.

Typically speaking, what happens is, if the person owes a 50,000 dollar bail, and they want to pay 10 percent, they can just bring the 5,000 dollar bail plus the premiums, or they can just pay the entire bail and they can get out. But if the court has moved to issue what’s called a surety hearing in which the person is asked to show the source of the money. Where did this person get the money? That’s the questions asked.

Often times, clients wants to know how to get their loved ones out of bail. The first step I take is I thoroughly interview and vet the client in tandem wit the bail bondsman, and if I determine from my experience that it’s something that should be accepted in the district attorneys office, I will try to contact the office and ask for them to not go through with the hearing.

Obviously, because people are so anxious to get released, if the district attorneys office tries to play games, we just go ahead and put the money up and prepare to go to the hearing. But I can tell you that I move quickly on my surety cases, and the vast majority of cases I’ve had never go through to the hearing, because i know what the district attorneys office wants to see in terms of the bail source and I know how to pitch it to them.

If you are involved in a surety hearing, or a similar type of legal situation, contact New York Criminal Defense Attorney Paul Petrus.

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