Category Archives: Trafficking Charges
Encryption and Law Enforcement Investigations: Police Access to Encrypted Data
Last month, Apple announced its new end-to-end encryption for data stored by its customers in iCloud, Apple’s cloud storage service. It’s being heralded as “police-proof” in the media. Read, “Apple Set to Launch New, Police-Proof, Full End-to-End Encryption,” written by the Associated Press and published in the Daily Sabah on December 9, 2022. Apple explains…
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Bail after Federal Arrest in Texas and The Bail Reform Act of 1984
Bail after an arrest by federal law enforcement is very different than when someone enters the state criminal justice system. Texas bail is allowed much more often than it is in federal court. It’s not that bail is not routinely considered a part of federal matters. News coverage is filled with federal bail stories. This…
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Jalisco New Generation Cartel Arrests in Texas: 2023
The amount of law enforcement effort at every level (state, federal, international) to try and combat the growing global business empire of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel is undeniably extreme and well-funded. From a criminal defense perspective, few governmental efforts in recent memory have had this zeal and scope. In 2023, we should expect a…
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Are Texas Anti-Smuggling Laws Unconstitutional? Governor Abbott and Texas Penal Code §20.05 and §20.06
Our state government continues to take independent state action using criminal laws to try and stem all sorts of border activities involving both people and things crossing from Mexico into Texas. Recently, for instance, Governor Abbott issued an executive order announcing that two Mexican Cartels, and possibly more in the future, will be considered as…
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Texas Governor’s Designation of Mexican Cartels As Terrorist Organizations: Criminal Defense Perspective
On September 21, 2022, the Office of Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a press release with its accompanying Executive Order GA-42 and the news that, at least in the State of Texas, Mexican cartels are now considered to be “terrorist organizations” by state law enforcement. In the release, Governor Abbott explains that the growing market…
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Illegal Drug Trafficking Business Operations in Texas: Federal Investigations into the Texas Mexican Mafia aka La Eme or Mexikanemi
The Texas Mexican Mafia once again made national news coverage recently with the flagrant prison escape by convicted capital murderer Gonzalo Lopez from a Texas prison bus in Centerville on May 12, 2022. Lopez, recognized for his affiliation with the Mexican Mafia, was placed on the State of Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List where…
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Child Sex Trafficking Arrest in Texas: Criminal Defense Overview
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) defines Child Sex Trafficking as “… a form of child abuse that occurs when a child under 18 is advertised, solicited or exploited through a commercial sex act. A commercial sex act is any sex act where something of value – such as money, drugs or a place to stay…
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Racketeering in Texas: Criminal Defense Against RICO Charges
Today, everyone recognizes organized crime known as the “Mafia” or the “Cosa Nostra,” but it wasn’t until the middle of the 20th Century that these criminal enterprises were confirmed to exist. A man named Joseph Valachi is credited with being the first organization member to authenticate its existence, and he did so during public testimony…
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New Texas Sex Crimes: The Online Prostitution Laws Effective September 1, 2019
Texas Penal Code Amended to Address Human Sex Trafficking Over the Internet Human trafficking laws exist at both the federal and state levels; anyone arrested on these charges faces serious felony time if convicted. However, the reality has been that federal prosecutions have been fiercer and with more bite than those charges at the state…
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Human Trafficking in Texas: Criminal Defense Perspective Part 2 of 2
In Texas, arrests are made by both state and federal law enforcement asserting violation of various crimes involving the human trafficking of individuals, with many of these cases alleging the sex trafficking of minors (those under the age of 18 years). For more on the various crimes involved in the trafficking of humans in Texas,…
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10 Questions to Ask Before you Hire a Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyer
Top 5 Mistakes in Defending a Texas Criminal Case
