“White-collar crime” is a phrase used to describe non-violent criminal conduct that involves the wrongful taking of money or other valuable things of value. It can and often does involve deceit, false pretenses, or a violation of trust. Generally speaking, “white-collar crime” involves money and…
Topic: White-Collar Crime
Even in the simplest of cases, defendant testimony can quickly be derailed. It’s a common assumption that testifying on your own behalf is the simplest way to reveal the truth. Unfortunately, the courtroom is not always so straightforward—even for innocent defendants. Why Defendant Testimony is…
Topic: Criminal Defense
The Fourth Amendment is famous for protecting citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures. Everyday Protections There are many protections at work in your everyday life. If law enforcement has no reason to search or seize you and your property, they will need to ask your…
Topic: Criminal Defense
On August 4, 2020 the Honorable Loretta A. Judge Preska of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted “compassionate release” to Protass Law PLLC client Robert Panton, reducing his life sentence to time-served after close to 30 years behind…
Topic: Appeals & Post-Conviction Litigation, Criminal Defense
An arrest in New York City is, for most people, a frightening experience. You may be the first person to whom such a person reaches out. You may also be the person on whom such a friend, family member or loved one relies as a…
Topic: Criminal Defense
First conceived in the early 1980s, the “blinding” algorithm developed by cryptographer David Chaum remains the foundation for private, decentralized financial exchanges. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, perhaps the most well-known of coins or tokens, can be used to engage in for virtually any private financial exchange…
Topic: Criminal Defense, White-Collar Crime
If the government is to be believed, the United States healthcare sector is plagued with fraud. And both federal and state authorities are cracking down on it. Simple billing errors by doctors or nurses (even if inadvertent) or misused prescriptions by pharmacists or patients (even…
Topic: Fraud
A guilty verdict (or even a guilty plea) may feel like the end of the line. But an appeal of a conviction and/or sentence always provides hope for a second chance and, perhaps, a different outcome. You have the absolute right in both the state…
The right to a jury trial is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and is the cornerstone of the American criminal justice system. Indeed, the independence of citizen jurors has always been understood as an indispensable structural check on executive, legislative and even judicial power. And…
Topic: Criminal Defense
Billionaire convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein recently committed suicide in the Special Housing Unit (the “SHU”) at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, a federal pre-trial detention facility in Manhattan, while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Judge Richard M. Berman had earlier denied Epstein’s request for…
Topic: Criminal Defense
Gang Land News
Written by Harlan Protass
A federal judge granted Eric Millian a compassionate release, calling him a rehabilitated “man of extraordinary character.”
Attorney Protass recovered 80% of the client’s monetary demand on the eve of trial on a FINRA arbitration claim. The outcome of an individual case depends on a variety of factors unique to that case. Case results do not guarantee or predict a similar result…
Attorney Protass secured early termination of supervised release for two individuals who had served lengthy prison terms and had completed approximately half of their 5-year terms of supervised release. The outcome of an individual case depends on a variety of factors unique to that case….
