Federal Criminal Defense Lawyer in Minnesota

The District of Minnesota

The District of Minnesota was established in 1858, the same year that Minnesota became a state. It is composed of thirteen district judges and several magistrate judges. Azhari, LLC tries cases primarily in Minneapolis, Minnesota’s largest city, which is the home to one of four federal (divisional office) courthouses in the state.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota is headquartered in Minneapolis and comprised of nearly seventy Assistant U.S. Attorneys. The criminal division serves as the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) prosecuting arm in the District of Minnesota. Cybercrimes along with child exploitation and human trafficking crimes are two of the District of Minnesota’s highest priorities.

Recent Federal Cases in Minnesota

On October 8, 2021, a St. Paul resident was convicted by a federal jury on four counts of tax evasion, for failing to file income tax returns since 1997. The defendant was the owner and sole employee of a lucrative software company. The defendant did not file any personal returns since 1997 and never filed a corporate tax return, resulting in a total tax bill of nearly $150,000. Sentencing has yet to be scheduled. The defendant faces up to five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines for each count.

In August of 2021, an Apple Valley resident was sentenced to 27 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release for embezzling more than $930,000. The defendant was the chief financial officer for a Michigan-based manufacturing company. He exploited his access to company bank accounts to issue checks to cover personal expenses, such as credit card and mortgage payments. The defendant attempted to conceal his theft by doctoring company accounting software entries to create the appearance of a balanced cashflow.

Azhari, LLC is vastly experienced in defending clients facing a wide range of charges in this district, including health care fraud, bankruptcy fraud, securities and corporate fraud, embezzlement, identity theft and computer crimes. Together, fraud, embezzlement, and child pornography crimes alone represent nearly 20% of all federal crimes prosecuted in Minnesota.

In any federal district, alleged offenders face steep penalties if convicted, including heavy prison sentences, large fines, and even forfeiture of assets in some cases. Such penalties are typically more severe than those facing state charges. The most effective representation and the strongest defense against such consequences begins with an extensive understanding of the facts unique to each case and the unique characteristics of the district in which a client is charged.