Cardi B’s legal battle isn’t over yet. Her potential jail time, possibility of more plea deals and what she can expect to face in her next court appearance on May 31 were all discussed by three criminal defense attorneys based in New York — who EXCLUSIVELY spoke with HollywoodLife. On April 19, the Grammy-winning rapper pulled up to the Queens Criminal Court in a fabulous Christian Siriano outfit to refuse an offer to plead guilty to one misdemeanor count in relation to the alleged attack on two female bartenders, Jade and her sister Baddie G, at a Queens strip club in Aug. 2018.

Cardi, 26, allegedly believed one of the bartenders slept with her husband, Offset, who was performing with Migos at the Angels Strip Club. Cardi was accused of ordering her entourage to attack the two bartenders, and the rapper turned herself into the New York Police Department on Oct. 1, 2018. The plea deal offered on Friday would’ve reportedly guaranteed no jail time and a conditional discharge for Cardi.

HL: Can you explain what happened today in court?

Petrus: “She rejected the plea offer. Pleas must be accepted in court, on the record, and in public to be good under law. Not accepting the plea is tantamount to rejecting it at least for the time being.”

HL: What happens on her next court date which is set for May 31?

Petrus: “If the case is set for trial and the People are ready for trial, then the case should proceed to a trial courtroom for a jury to be picked.”

HL: What kind of trouble could she be in?

Petrus: “The maximum penalty is one year in jail or up to three years on probation.”

The post Paul D. Petrus Jr. Explains: Cardi B Could Face 1 Year In Jail & 3 Years Of Probation For Alleged Club Attack appeared first on Petrus Law.

Cardi B, 25, may be in some serious hot water now that she turned herself in to the New York Police Department after an alleged attack on two female club bartenders. The rapper was at Angels Strip Club back in Aug. 2018 to watch her husband, Offset, perform with Migos on the night of the incident, and she allegedly told her crew to attack the women with bottles and chairs after rumors swirled that one of them had slept with Offset. The women were apparently injured but did not go to the hospital and Cardi denied any involvement at first but now she seems to be stepping forward and taking responsibility. Despite her smart decision to admit any alleged wrongdoings in the situation, Cardi’s actions could cause her to face some pretty rough charges that could lead to jail time and large payouts.

“Cardi B received a desk appearance for reckless assault, misdemeanor offensive, and she’s released to the 109 Precinct,” the NYPD shared in a statement. “She was given a desk appearance ticket and she’s going to appear at a later date and the charges were for assault and reckless endangerment. She’s been released and wasn’t put through the system.”

HollywoodLife.com spoke EXCLUSIVELY with three New York criminal defense attorneys who told us what Cardi most likely went through after turning herself in and what she can expect when it comes to her upcoming fate. “Cardi B received what is called a Desk Appearance Ticket (DAT), which means she was given a future date to return to court to face the charges,” New York criminal defense attorney Julie Rendelman explained. “The DAT is very common for misdemeanor charges as long as the individual charged does not have any prior warrants. Keep in mind, that in order to get the DAT, she had to submit to a photograph being taken of her, as well as her fingerprints being taken. Turning herself in was the right move. Had she not, then a warrant would likely have been issued for her arrest. This would mean she could potentially be picked up by the authorities and brought before a judge where bail could be set. Unlike the DAT, that process can take many hours.”

Rendelman continued sharing her professional opinion by explaining that the type of charges Cardi faces could lead up to spending a year in jail depending on whether or not she’s had any past run-ins with the law. “It appears she is currently facing charges for ‘A’ misdemeanors,” she continued. “The maximum an individual can receive for an ‘A’ misdemeanor is up to one year in jail if convicted. However, if she has no prior contacts with the system, or even minimal contacts, it is extremely unlikely that she will be convicted of the misdemeanor, let alone see any jail time.”

New York criminal defense attorney Paul D. Petrus Jr. agreed with Rendelman about Cardi’s possibility of jail time. “Cardi B is facing a criminal charge, so it must be taken seriously,” Petrus said. “She could face jail time of up to one year or up to three years probation.” Michael J. Palumbo is a New York criminal defense lawyer who is an expert in criminal procedure law, auto crime defense, and defense of traffic violations and he, too revealed information about the jail time Cardi is facing.

“Both reckless endangerment and Assault 3rd (the lowest grade of assault) are Class ‘A’ misdemeanors,” Palumbo explained. “Each carry a maximum of one year in prison, so she could potentially do two years in prison if she were sentenced to 2 years concurrent (i.e., she starts one sentence upon completing the other). She could also be sentenced to two years probation should she be found guilty of a Class ‘A’ misdemeanor or one year probation in lieu of incarceration. However, this is only if she is found guilty of one or both of the Class ‘A’ misdemeanors, or as we call it being found guilty of the ‘top charge.’ The criminal justice system is predicated on plea bargaining to lesser and included charges, which is likely what would happen in her case.”

All three attorneys also pointed out that Cardi could be sued by the injured women and may or may not end up dishing out a lot of money depending on how things go in court. “She could definitely be sued by these women, but it’s hard to say how much as it depends on the extent of their injuries in large part,” Petrus said. “Fines for criminal cases, if any, are nominal,” Rendelman told us. “For a criminal fine, you are talking less than $300.00. However, they could ask her to pay medical bills if there are any. In terms of civil, the only monetary payment would be if there was a settlement or the alleged victims won at trial.”

“Anyone assaulted by her or her group has one year to commence the action,” Palumbo added. “How much ‘pain and suffering’ one can recover will turn on the level of personal injury sustained. Inasmuch as the level of injury for a Class ‘A’ misdemeanor assault is no more than strains, strains, scratches, bruising, and minor bleeding, I would say that the damages for pain and suffering would be on the lower end of the scale – less than $100k and likely around $50k. In addition, the venue could also sue for special damages if their property was damaged in any way.”

“In terms of civil liability, as the alleged victims already have hired an attorney, it seems clear that they are interested in suing Cardi B,” Rendelman continued. “Most of these types of cases end in settlements. The amount of any type of settlement depends on many factors, including the actual injuries that resulted from the alleged assault and the strength of the evidence. Alleged complainants in civil suits can seek millions of dollars to resolve the case, although suing for millions doesn’t mean at the end of the day, that’s what they will receive.”

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Hydrocodone pills, opioid painkillers similar to oxycodone. AP Photo by Toby Talbot

A Brooklyn Judge sentenced a 65-year-old army veteran to eight years in prison Wednesday and railed on him for contributing to the opioid crisis by selling thousands of oxycodone pills and forging over a hundred prescription pads.

“You were buying…literally thousands, thousands of oxycodone pills and selling them for substantial amounts of money,” Judge Leo Glasser said down to Doraymus Robinson in Brooklyn Federal Court. “Those pills are more serious than cocaine and heroin.”

Robinson’s lawyer, Paul Petrus Jr., argued for a five-year sentence he said was justified by Robinson’s two years of army service in the 70s as well as his health conditions and drug abuse. “I think that he got a significant sentence,” Petrus said. “And I know that the family is taking it very hard and he is too.”

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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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