Syracuse Criminal Law Blog

After an investigation spanning the past several years, one major New York contractor has avoided prosecution for multiple charges of fraud. In this recent case, the contractor was accused of white collar charges consisting of allegedly inflated bills on various New York City projects that potentially affected developers as well as taxpayers across the state. The contractor in question has contributed to the construction of a significant portion of the city.

In addition to the alleged fraudulent bills, the contractor was also accused of filtering projects through minority-owned firms -- a government requirement for contractors -- only to pass them back to their own employees rather than giving them over to the minority-owned firms to handle.

Food allergies are a serious concern for many people living in New York. Triggering these allergies can have devastating consequences. Unfortunately, it is sometimes the case that even when someone is extremely careful, some factors -- such as production and packaging of food -- simply cannot be controlled.

One New York mother discovered this tragedy first hand when she fed her daughter candy that contained traces of peanuts as a reward, which is thought to be the child's cause of death. Now, the mother is facing charges of second-degree murder for her kid's untimely death, which is a willful murder charge. It will be up to a criminal court to sort out the facts.

A 62-year-old New York doctor has been arrested and faces federal charges for prescribing painkillers to patients who reportedly have no need for the medicine. The federal criminal charges, which are currently pending, accuse him of illegal drug distribution. He has been conditionally released after agreeing to mental health therapy and voluntarily suspending his practice.

Federal officials, including the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration, began to suspect him of drug charges when several pharmacies notified state and federal authorities of the high amount of prescriptions that the doctor had apparently been prescribing. According to federal authorities, the doctor wrote 659 hydrocodone prescriptions in the month of September 2011 for his medical practice in Upstate New York. According to the New York Health Department's Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, the doctor is the fifth highest prescriber of painkillers in New York, even surpassing several medical institutions in the amount of prescriptions.

Charges of violent crimes, especially on the level of suspected terrorism, are understandably significant and weighty charges with severe consequences upon conviction. But if one were to be wrongfully charged, their lives and reputations would be forever changed despite their being innocent of the crime alleged. Because of this, it is no doubt intimidating when one is dealing with criminal charges for a violent crime, such as plotting to commit murder using an illegal weapon. This may likely be the issue in a recent case against a New York man for suspected state-level terrorism.

The man was charged after purportedly being discovered with a supposed pipe-bomb that he is suspected to have intended to include in a larger plot to attack targets such as police cars, police stations, post offices, and soldiers returning home from abroad. He is accused of voicing these desires to an informant. The man is a Dominican-born Muslim convert who is said to express radical beliefs in relation to U.S. military actions.