FBI

Possession of a firearm by convicted felon: federal offense

December 15, 2010
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A charge in federal court for possessing  a firearm as a convicted felon carries extremely severe penalties. It does not matter that the firearm was unloaded. Nor does it matter that the weapon was never discharged. In fact, the firearm itself may not be operable. Nonetheless, a person can be found guilty of this crime [...]

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Pretrial diversion for federal criminal charges

November 27, 2010
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Pretrial diversion is a practice in federal court where the prosecutor decides to divert the defendant to a rehabilitation program rather than prosecute him on criminal charges in United States District Court. The practice is not frequent, but it does provide an alternative to ordinary prosecution. The program is known as PTD. The decision to [...]

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Summary of federal offenses for making a false statement

November 2, 2010
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Federal law prohibits making a false statement to the United States government. Lying to a federal agent is a criminal offense with serious penalties. The law against making a false statement to an agent of the federal government is Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001. The statute says it is against the law to [...]

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Overview of federal entrapment defense

October 17, 2010
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As an alternative to the defense that the government has failed to prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, the defendant may allege that he was entrapped. An entrapment defense admits that the offense took place, but alleges that the defendant would not have committed the offense but for the influence of law enforcement. [...]

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