The Swartz Law Firm

Life sentence imposed for enticing a minor to engage in s*xual activity upheld as reasonable Romeo Sanchez was charged in a seven-count federal indictment involving s*x crimes against minors. Specifically, his charges included the following federal criminal offenses: two counts of ...

No violation of the Fourth Amendment by not immediately releasing a suspect after learning of possible exculpatory evidence Vivianne Washington was arrested in the investigation of a brutal murder of an elderly woman at her home in Meriwether County, Georgia after assailants invaded her home, attacked her, and set her ...

Fisherman’s theft of trade secret conviction overturned for lack of venue but netted on extortion for Grouper sites. Timothy Smith was a software engineer living in Mobile Alabama. An avid fisherman, he learned about a website called “Strikelines” that sells the coordinates of artificial reefs placed in ...

Georgia real estate lawyer’s conviction and sentence for stealing millions from his law firm is upheld   Nathan Hardwick was a real estate attorney in Georgia who managed the “closing side” of the real estate law firm practice. The law firm sold part of its foreclosure operation to a private ...

Hotel franchise not liable to victims of s*x trafficking for conduct that took place at hotels Four Plaintiffs identified in their lawsuit as Jane Does filed a lawsuit under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) alleging they were victims of conspicuous and open ...

Threatening messages sent to family members of victims of Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting were not protected speech. Brandon Fleury was posting and messaging on Instagram posing as mass murderer Nikolas Cruz, the perpetrator of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (MSD), which took place on ...

A mother was sentenced to 30 years for producing child po*******hy and using her own two children as subjects. Worse yet, she sent it to their pe*****le father. Litzky’s live-in boyfriend, Roberto Oquendo, was a passenger in a car pulled over for a traffic stop in Melbourne, Florida. The officer conducting the traffic stop learned that he had child ...

No protection under the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act for protesters who damaged property at a U.S. Naval submarine base. Clare Grady, Carmen Trotta, and Martha Hennessy are members of the Plowshares Movement, a Roman Catholic protest and activism group opposed to nuclear weapons. On April 4, 2018, they and others ...

A civilian cannot be held liable for a false arrest or excessive force claim for briefly assisted a law enforcement officer with an arrest Charles was arrested by a Dawson County Sheriff’s deputy on an outstanding warrant after he was found inside a car that the deputy had pulled over for speeding. Charles resisted his arrest for ...

No sentencing guidelines enhancement for arms smuggler who sold to a paramilitary terrorist group in Columbia Francisco Arcila Ramirez was charged with several federal crimes in connection with selling fi****ms to the National Liberation Army (ELN), a paramilitary group in Columbia, designated by the ...

Trial judge dismissed fraud charges against two for lack of evidence but court of appeals saw it differently Five co-defendants including Matthew Wheeler were charged in federal court with wire fraud, mail fraud, and conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§1341 and 1349 for their involvement in a ...

Cheerleaders who kneeled during the national anthem lose free speech lawsuit In protest of police brutality against African Americans, quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided to kneel during the pregame national anthem. Kaepernick’s kneeling encouraged other athletes around ...

Appeals court upholds lawsuit against Sheriff for detaining the wrong person A deputy from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office pulled over Sosa while driving. After checking his name in the computer system and finding an outstanding warrant for a David Sosa, Sosa ...

Miami Police officers’ convictions for providing protection to undercover drug dealer is upheld Two Miami Police officers were charged and convicted in federal court with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute over five kilograms of co***ne, for protecting drug couriers, and for ...

Shrimp company owner’s false claims for federal CDSOA subsidies leads to a criminal conviction Michael Anderson owned and operated a sh*****ng business called Shrimpy’s in Savannah Georgia. From 2005 through 2007, Anderson submitted CBP (Customs & Border Protection) Forms 7401 in ...

No error in jury instructions for trial of a man who lured a minor online by posing as a female Phillips went to trial and was convicted of a three-count federal indictment charging him with 1) persuading, inducing, and enticing a minor to engage in s*xually explicit conduct for the purpose ...

Property owner’s lawsuit against Sheriff in Alabama for property loss fails Mr. Spencer sued Sheriff Jonathan Benison pursuant to 42 U.S.C §1983 claiming a violation of his Fifth Amendment rights against deprivation of property and liberty rights. He alleged that ...

Today We Honor Our Veterans Veterans Day is a day set aside to honor and give thanks to veterans who gave service to the protection and preservation of our great country. On this Veterans Day I would like to honor the ...

Lawsuit against a school board police officer for false arrest and involuntary commitment should not have been dismissed Susan Khoury filed a lawsuit against the Miami Dade County School Board and Officer Williams, a school board police officer, for false arrest, excessive force, and First Amendment retaliation ...

Conviction and life sentence for s*x trafficking a minor and adults upheld as reasonable in light of the evidence Williams appeals his conviction and sentence by a federal judge for the federal offense of s*x trafficking involving a minor, and two adults. The evidence presented at his trial showed Williams ...

Alabama officer’s stop of a Florida driver for a violation of Alabama license tag law was valid Braddy was pulled over by an Alabama law enforcement officer on Interstate 65 in Saraland, Alabama. Initially the officer saw Braddy react suddenly to the presence of the officer’s marked patrol ...

Claim against Sheriff for detaining wrong person in jail for three days was valid A deputy from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office pulled over Sosa's car while driving. After checking his name in the computer system and finding an outstanding warrant for a David Sosa, Sosa ...

In this 1983 civil rights lawsuit the court found the police officer acted reasonably under the circumstances This case involved an encounter between a taxicab driver named Junior Prosper and a Miami Dade police officer that resulted in Prosper’s death. Prosper’s widow sued the officer under 42 U.S.C. ...

Conviction for crossing state lines to s*xually abuse a minor upheld against Fourth Amendment challenge and claim of Government misconduct Castaneda appealed his conviction for enticing a minor to engage in unlawful s*xual activity in violation of 18 U.S.C. §2422 and one count of crossing a state line with intent to engage in s*xual ...

Fourth Amendment challenge to seizure fails because the defendant was free to leave the police encounter. Anthony Knights was convicted of the federal offense of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon. In his appeal he challenged his conviction claiming the arresting officer ...