Federal Crimes

RICO is the acronym standing for the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Passed into law by Congress in 1970, its original purpose was to fight organized crime. FindLaw explains, however, that, over the decades, the Act expanded to include 35 separate...

Money laundering is a crime that involves taking money derived from criminal activities and moving it through different financial institutions to "clean" it up so authorities cannot trace its ill-gotten origins. The first stage of this process is placement. This is...

A fraud conviction could be the end of your career. Your employer would likely sack you and other employers would stay well away from you in the future, considering you untrustworthy. On top of that, you could end up being unable to work for months or years due to a...

Next year marks the 20th anniversary of the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act. The law was enacted in response to some high-profile cases of fraud and irregularities that caused the downfall of energy giant Enron, telecommunications giant WorldCom and other large companies. It...

Typically, doctors and other medical providers are at the center of large-scale health care fraud cases. However, 18 former players for the National Basketball Association (NBA) are facing federal charges for conspiracy to defraud their league’s Health and Welfare...

The United States has numerous court systems. Depending on the crime and jurisdictions one may find themselves in a state, local or federal court. State and local courts can include municipalities, counties, parishes and city courts -- and they all adhere to state...

If you are facing fraud charges related to an alleged Ponzi scheme, it is a serious situation indeed. These fraudulent investment schemes promise to yield high rates of return — impossibly high, in fact.  Yet, they depend on the money from new investors in the Ponzi...

Many people are very outspoken about how they feel about the federal government. Speaking out against the government is protected by the First Amendment. However, some people take it a step beyond just speaking out. When a person is trying to act against the federal...

Some offenses result in charges at the federal rather than state level. Federal agencies investigate these crimes and defendants must appear in federal court. Review common offenses that fall under the jurisdiction of U.S., not Texas, law. Drug trafficking Traveling...

Though definitions vary from state to state, manslaughter essentially involves the unlawful killing of one individual without any malicious aforethought by the offender. In other words, a person commits manslaughter when he or she accidentally takes the life of...