Charlotte Criminal Lawyer Blog
Attorney J. Bradley Smith answering the question: “A past conviction is keeping me from finding work what can I do?”
Officials with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission announced that they had arrested a man for a rather bizarre crime: trading in illegal reptiles. Though selling reptiles may not seem like an act deserving of jail time, that’s exactly what could happen in the case according to law enforcement officials.
The arrest took place this past weekend when 29-year-old Danny Hemby was arrested by officers with the NCWRC. Officials say that they have filed eight criminal charges against Hemby, including two counts of selling a reptile on the federal endangered species list; two counts of owning and using venomous reptiles; possession of a reptile of special concern; sale of a reptile of special concern; unlawful possession of a reptile without a permit and finally, commercial taking certain reptiles.
The charges concerning animals of “special concern” include those wild animals that are native to North Carolina and which can legally be owned only under certain circumstances. Officials say that Hemby was not simply in the business of selling cute turtles or small lizards, but was instead making money selling rattlesnakes, copperheads and even alligators. Police say Hemby sold his reptiles at flea markets across the region and that his actions endangered not only the public, but other animals as well. By moving wild animals across state line Hemby could also have been unknowingly spreading disease.
Though there is a black market for most forms of wildlife, the reptile and amphibian market has been one of the fastest growing areas of the poaching business. Experts say that trading is not limited to the United States. Europeans and Asians are willing to pay big dollars even for common species taken from the United States, even things as seemingly uninteresting as simple garter snakes. One federal wildlife enforcement agent said that people are willing to pay top dollar for toads, salamanders, pretty much any reptile.
Police say that Pace forced his way in the museum through an exterior door. A fire alarm was then activated inside the Nature Research Center shortly after 3:30 in the morning. Security camera footage shows Pace, wearing a white jacket and dark clothing, using a nearby fire extinguisher to bust down the door to the museum.
According to authorities, Bader was at her home late Monday night when her roommate and his brother were in the living room, drinking and watching a loop of classic rock songs by the Eagles on the television. Bader apparently grew weary of hearing “Hotel California” blasted over and over again and told the two men to turn off the music.
Prior to passage of the law, students were only allowed to have an attorney informally advise them. Lawyers were generally barred from presenting evidence during the hearings, cross-examining witnesses or in any way representing the student during the disciplinary actions.
Experts say that detectives have begun cracking cases thanks to the technology that links mug shots with pictures pulled off of various social networking websites. Beyond just social networking sites, the facial recognition unit also combs pictures collected from a vast network of surveillance cameras.
The Stand Your Ground law in Florida became a critical component of the recent trial of George Zimmerman who shot and killed Trayvon Martin in February of 2012. Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder in the death of the teen, but argued that he acted in self-defense and should be exempt from prosecution under the state’s Stand Your Ground law. Since his acquittal, many have wondered whether similar arguments could be made if the incident had happened in North Carolina rather than Florida. Though the two states’ laws are not identical, they are very close and the result may have turned out much the same.
The state Supreme Court issued a ruling on the matter this week and found that such lab tests can stand on their own if cited by an expert witness offering an independent opinion. Other have argued that this conclusion is incorrect and that a lab test should face the same amount of scrutiny that a person would face and that means the analyst who conducted the test should be required to testify at trial.
Federal prosecutors say the leader of the fake prescription ring, Joshua Balkind, is already in prison serving a 20-year term. The other two participants were sentenced to 70 months in prison this Wednesday. Officials say the scheme worked by having Balkind make fake prescriptions using software on his home computer. He would then give the fake oxycodone prescriptions to drug addicts like Rhodes and DeYoung and essentially split the take, giving the addicts several pills and taking the rest to sell on the streets at a steep markup.
The case, Peugh v. United States, concerned a man who committed bank fraud back in the late 1990s. It took a long time for his case to be tried and for a sentence to be handed down, more than 11 years in fact. By 2010, a new round of sentencing guidelines had been issued which contained a suggested sentencing range of between 70 and 87 months for Peugh’s crime. The issue was that at the time the crimes were perpetrated, the sentencing range was dramatically more lenient, only 30 to 37 months. The judge who heard the case ultimately chose a 70-month sentence, something that many believed was clearly influenced by the new guidelines.
The arrests were the result of a four-year undercover investigation into illegal hunting practices known as Operation Something Bruin. Officers with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and the U.S. Forest Service worked together using social media to infiltrate poaching circles and record legal violations. The investigators created fake social media profiles and found out about illegal organized hunts on federal land.