Mail Fraud is a serious criminal “white collar” offense regulated by Title 18 United States Code section 1341; it is punishable by up to 20 years in jail and serious fines. Mail fraud can be proven by the government at a trial if it can show the defendant engaged in a scheme to defraud through the use of the mails which affected interstate commerce..
Mr Cohen has handled many of these cases over the years,
The key to success in cases like this is to closely evaluate the defendant’s defenses and determine whether after reviewing the discovery and evidence in each matter whether the case is one in which a trial or a plea disposition is in the best interest of the client. Mr Cohen closely analyzes each of the facts in these types of cases and then makes a recommendation to the client who of course always reserves the final decision as to whether he wants to proceed to trial or resolve the case with a plea agreement
Because of the way the United States sentencing guidelines work it is always important in such cases to determine the amount of the loss. This is because the projected guideline sentence is a more realistic estimate of the actual sentence a defendant will face which in many cases is significantly less than the statutory maximum .
United States sentencing guideline section 2 B 1.1 which deals with offenses involving fraud or deceit governs the loss amount in each case and hence the possible sentencing exposure for each client. Thus to obtain a favorable result for your client it is important to try and keep the loss amount down
In one such case handled by Mr. Cohen, United States v Zanchetta, Case No;23-cr-60053, (S.D Fla) Mr. Zanchetta was charged with mail fraud and transportation of a stolen vessel ( a yacht) which was taken by the defendant and which he attempted to transport out of the United States. Although there were possible defenses which could have been raised (including a serious question of whether the vessel had been abandoned by its owner) after thoroughly analyzing the evidence with counsel the client decided he did not want to risk a trial. Thus the best defense for sentencing purposes was to reduce the amount of the loss and thus the defendant’s possible sentencing exposure
Mr. Cohen hired a marine yacht valuation expert who was able to satisfy the government after Mr Cohen submitted his report to the prosecution that the value of the yacht which had been damaged over the years was minimal.
Thus the parties were able to enter into a plea agreement which limited the amount of the loss significantly (much lower than the government’s initial loss projection), and which resulted in a much smaller sentencing exposure for the defendant
Thus applying the United States sentencing guidelines the defendant was sentenced to time served (approximately four months) for an offense which generally carries a sentence of years in the federal courts
These are the types of results that an experienced board certified criminal defense lawyer like Mr. Cohen works hard to achieve in the area of federal criminal defense. He is an expert in this area of practice
If you need a serious and dedicated federal criminal defense lawyer who you can depend upon to represent your best interests call the offices of Michael B Cohen in Ft Lauderdale, The initial consultation is free and we are happy to spend the time with you that you need to help you in such serious white collar cases.