Category Archives: Federal Government Watch

Mail Fraud is Popular Federal Charge For Federal Prosecutors – Especially Now that Financial Fraud Crimes are Big Target of Federal Attorney General Eric Holder

Mail fraud? It’s a charge that is filed against more people that many realize. In fact, Texas criminal defense lawyers who represent people facing charges in federal court are well aware that United States Attorneys and federal prosecutors are famous for using the federal mail fraud felony statute against citizens. Their attitude is explained in…


Structuring Arrest in Dallas Results in Plea Deal: What is Structuring and Why is 10,000 The Magic Number?

Many people in today’s economy don’t need to worry about whether or not their bank deposit is $10,000 or more because they’re never depositing that much cash into their bank account at any one time.  On the other hand, many Texas businesses routinely have these big five-digit deposits, and they have bookkeepers or accountants that…


Federal Child Pornography Charges Often Involve Federal Surveillance of Online Communications, Personal Email Records, Stored Computer Files

Child pornography (possession or promotion) is a serious felony under both federal statute (18 USC Section 2256(B)(8)) and Texas law (Texas Penal Code Section 43.26) and law enforcement in the Dallas area continues to target their investigations into this type of crime. In these cases, government access to computer information without the person’s knowledge and…


Attorney General for Northern District of Texas Prosecutes Lots of Federal Money Crimes: Fraud, Tax Evasion, Money Laundering, and More

The Office of the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas has four branch offices in Dallas, Fort Worth, Lubbock, and Amarillo.  Since September 2011, U.S. Attorney Sandra Saldana has held the job of top federal prosecutor for this region and she is one of 93 U.S. Attorneys appointed by the President to…


Warrantless DWI Blood Tests Violate the United States Constitution Rules U.S. Supreme Court in Today’s Opinion, Missouri v. McNeely: Police Need a Warrant Before DWI Blood Test

This morning there’s big news out of Washington D.C. for those defending DWI cases, something that prosecutors and police probably aren’t going to be happy to learn. The United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in Missouri v. McNeely, a DWI case where there was a blood test taken from a man without his consent…


FBI Investigating Dallas DA Craig Watkins — and U.S. Attorney Is Involved, Too, as Watkins Charged with Contempt of Court Last Week

It’s official:  the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating the activities of the Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins.  The Office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas is reported to have its own files opened into Dallas DA Watkins’ activities, as well. And this isn’t something that has just begun:…


Texas Weapons Charges: ATF Stings Result in All Kinds of Firearms Convictions – Straw Buys, Gun Dealers, Conspiracies to Move Weapons Across State Lines and National Borders

Weapons charges face a lot of defendants here in Texas; sometimes they are tied to other charges (drug arrests, for example) but many federal cases are filed based solely on alleged violations of federal gun laws.  Recent reports from the Texas’ offices of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the…


Money Laundering and the Black Market Peso Exchange: Big Target for Federal Agency Investigations

For many profit-making enterprises that operate outside the law, business revenues and profits mean lots of cash that needs to be moved from stacks on a table or in a safe (or set of safes) into places where it can be used to buy things without raising eyebrows or the suspicions of law enforcement.  This…


Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins Facing Prosecutorial Misconduct Charges and Maybe an FBI Investigation: Here’s the Scoop (The Hearing is March 7th)

Without any opinions or asides, here’s the scoop on the growing controversy surrounding Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins; the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Al Hill III, heir to the H.L. Hunt Oil Dynasty; and local attorney Lisa Blue. Things apparently began when Lisa Blue took on the representation of Al Hill III in…


Dallas is a Marijuana Marketplace: Another Federal Marijuana Trafficking Bust as US Attorney John Bales Announces $1.7 Cash Seized, 17 People Arrested

This week, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas John M. Bales announced to the media that federal authorities have taken possession of almost two million dollars in cash ($1.7 million) as well as arresting seventeen (17) people in a big sting operation operated by the Texas Department of Public Safety (leading agency)…