Elizabeth accepts white collar criminal defense cases and state and federal criminal appellate cases including habeas corpus actions in the jurisdictions listed.
She is a partner in the law firm of Blume Franklin-Best & Young, LLC, the Chairperson of the Board of Directors for Justice 360, Vice-Chair of the Amicus Committee for the Fourth Circuit for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), and serves on the White Collar Crime Committee of the American Bar Association (ABA).
The three defendants in US v. Ayelotan were sentenced to the statutory maximum (115, 95, and 25 years, respectively) after they were convicted for online romance scams that may have cost the alleged victims more than $50 million. What is a catfish scam or online romance scam, and how do people fall for it? How can you avoid ...
In US v. Tantchev, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Tantchev’s convictions for the export of stolen vehicles and structuring of financial transactions – making multiple transactions that are less than the $10,000 reporting threshold in order to avoid federal reporting requirements. His codefendant Chogsam’s conviction for making a false statement to an IRS agent was also affirmed ...
In U.S. v. Munksgard, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Munksgard’s conviction for knowingly making false statements to obtain bank loans. Although Munksgard admitted to knowingly making false statements on four occasions in order to obtain bank loans, he appealed his convictions because the government did not prove an essential element of the crime – that the ...
In US v. Schulman, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed an attorney’s convictions for securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud. The attorney, Schulman, testified that the only statement he made to his financial advisor (Klein) about inside information that he gained from representation of a client (King Pharmaceuticals) was that “it would be nice to ...
In U.S. v. Vinas, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a conviction for importing and possessing with intent to distribute cocaine based on the government’s misleading pretrial disclosures. The Court found that the government failed to comply with Rule 16(a)(1)(A). The government provided the defense with inaccurate information regarding the defendant’s pretrial statements to ...
In U.S. v. Stewart, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a conviction for insider trading because the trial court excluded hearsay statements that should have been admissible under Rule 806. When a hearsay statement is admitted into evidence, the defense is then allowed to introduce further hearsay statements into evidence to impeach the credibility ...
