Chicago Criminal Lawyer Blog

April 13, 2022

Walgreens Faces Trial for Opioid Prescriptions

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

It does not happen as often as it should, but sometimes, corporations face criminal charges related to their conduct. Pharmacy chains such as Walgreens and CVS have recently been targeted by state governments for contributing to the opioid epidemic. The drug chains are accused of dispersing hundreds of thousands of pills per week which were then diverted to pill mills. Massive upticks in opioid medication distribution did not trigger red flags for anyone involved. The chains are accused of knowingly helping cause the epidemic.

State governments have filed criminal and civil charges against various corporations and their executives, some of whom were given decades-long prison sentences for their role in distributing pills to black-market merchants. CVS settled a similar lawsuit for a reported $870 million. Walgreens is facing a similar judgment if they lose at trial. Meanwhile, Perdue Pharmaceutical has reached a tentative $6 billion with the U.S. government with much of the money paid directly by the Sackler family, which owns the company.

The case against Walgreens

April 8, 2022

Verdict Alert: Water Polo Coach Accused of Bribery and Fraud

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

Closing arguments are currently underway in a trial against a USC water polo coach. The coach is accused of faking test scores and inventing athletic achievements including using his role as a water polo coach to help rich applicants secure spots at the exclusive college.

According to prosecutors, wealthy parents paid over $200,000 so that the coach could establish their children as water polo recruits to gain acceptance. Attorneys for the defendant claim that their client never took a bribe. His attorneys claim that some of the money was deposited into the water polo team’s coffers with the rest of it being scholarship money awarded by a non-profit for the coach’s children. However, the non-profit organizer is a close crony of the coach and is considered the mastermind behind the bribery scheme which targeted several schools.

60 people have been charged in the scheme to help rich people get their low-performing children into exclusive schools. The water polo coach is the only one to fight the charges at trial. The investigation took down Lori Laughlin of Full House fame and other notable celebrities.

April 6, 2022

Father Convicted in Bizarre Exploitation of College Women

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

Larry Ray is going to prison, perhaps for life, after a New York jury convicted him on 15 counts all related to the exploitation and extortion of his daughter’s friends. Ray managed to convince his daughter to allow him to move into the dorms shortly after he was released from prison on a securities fraud conviction.

Ray managed to convince one victim that she had poisoned him and owed him reparations. The woman paid between $10,000 and $50,000 per week to make amends, at one point even performing sex work to make payments. Another woman revealed that her life was turned upside down when she met Ray. She was on track to become a medical doctor when she became romantically involved with him. He would often ask her to have sex with other men while he videotaped it.

The entire scheme appears to have hinged on Ray using a Svengali-like ability to manipulate those around him. Ray was able to convince several students that they had poisoned him after he agreed to let them stay at his apartment. To make amends, they did as Ray asked, including giving him a lot of money, performing yard work, and more.

April 1, 2022

Trial of Man Accused of Stabbing Three, Killing Two Begins

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

A young woman was with three male friends when a fourth individual attempted to hit on her. The girl was not having it and eventually, the friends stepped in on her behalf. The man who was hitting on the girl was affronted by this and two of her friends wound up dead with a third suffering severe injuries in a knife attack. Now, the man is on trial facing two first-degree murders and a third attempted murder charge. The defendant is claiming self-defense. The prosecution has rejected an offer for a lesser charge.

Will self-defense work here?

It is hard to say. Both the prosecution and the defense are establishing their own timeline for events. Prosecutors will say that the defendant hit on a girl and that her friends warned the defendant off. The defendant then became irate and stabbed them after further disputes related to the unwanted attention emerged. The defendant claims that the friends organized an assault on him in which he was placed in a chokehold. This led to further altercations that eventually led to the stabbing.

March 30, 2022

Chicago Man Faces Charges for Ramming Police Vehicle

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

A Chicago area man is facing multiple felonies in Michigan after he showed up at a rural parochial school for unknown reasons. Police were called to the school, but the man had already left. He was found later at a local McDonald’s. Police confronted the man and asked for identification. The man said his ID was in his vehicle, but when he got back inside, he drove his car directly into the police SUV and drove off. Eventually, the vehicle skidded off the road and the driver abandoned it. The suspect took off on foot where he was eventually apprehended. He is now facing multiple felonies related to assault with a vehicle on an officer. He is facing a separate charge of driving with an altered or forged driver’s license.

No one, however, knows why the man was in rural Michigan at the time. The man has no ties to the local community and appears to be entirely out of sorts with his environment. Nonetheless, he did use a motor vehicle to strike a police vehicle with a police officer inside it. So, despite the fact that he may be fighting off an undiagnosed mental illness, he will face consequences for those actions.

What are his chances of pursuing an insanity defense?

March 25, 2022

Principal Cleared in Water Bottle Battery

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

This is a fairly weird case. A principal was playing “child-like games” in the cafeteria, when he lost control of a water bottle and struck a cafeteria worker. The water bottle allegedly caused “permanent disfigurement” according to the criminal charges filed against the principal. At first, it appeared that no criminal charges would be filed, but the principal alleges that a conspiracy between the cafeteria worker and a lead detective investigating the case resulted in him being way overcharged with two counts of aggravated battery resulting in permanent disfigurement. It is unclear how the cafeteria worker was disfigured by the water bottle or how a water bottle could disfigure someone unless it was thrown by Nolan Ryan. Other attempts to characterize the bottle called it “a hard water canteen.” The defendant allegedly suffered a concussion and an eye abrasion that required stitches.

The principal is now suing the school district, the cafeteria worker, and the detective who pursued charges against him. Below, we will take a look at why he might have a case.

Understanding Battery Charges

March 18, 2022

Father Facing Charges After 3-Year-Old Shoots Mother

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

A Chicago-area father is facing weapons charges after his 3-year-old son shot and killed his own mother while playing with the weapon in the back seat. The father is now facing a misdemeanor gun charge. The mother was brought to the hospital where she was pronounced dead. The child has been offered trauma counseling services that he will likely need for the rest of his life.

Meanwhile, the father is facing a misdemeanor charge of unlawfully transporting a weapon. The father had a license for the gun, but transporting it in the backseat of your vehicle while your 3-year-old is back there is considered a crime.

Accidental shootings involving children are now a major problem across the United States. Since 2015, over 2,000 individuals have been accidentally shot by children. 90% of those individuals were other children with about 70% of the shootings happening in the home. The pandemic and quarantine made the situation worse, with accidental shootings rising over that period.

March 16, 2022

Two Men Face First-Degree Murder Charges in Crime Spree

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

It took prosecutors 45 minutes to read through all of the charges filed against two men who committed dozens of batteries, armed robberies, and at least one murder over the course of four hours. Police said they left nearly two dozen victims over the course of the crime spree and horrifically beat a man to death in front of his family as he was trying to put up Christmas lights.

This is precisely the type of crime that Chicago is riddled with, leaves people afraid for their safety, and confounds any attempts to rationalize the event. The two men prowled the streets with a crowbar and a baseball bat looking for easy victims. One of the victims was a family man hanging Christmas lights. His children were there to witness the beating and killing of their father.

In another incident, the men terrorized a family and stole the father’s paycheck while his 4-year-old son was present in the vehicle. They are unlikely to see the outside of a prison cell in their lives for these crimes. DNA evidence from the crowbar and the bat will show the victim’s blood and connect them to the crimes.

March 11, 2022

Man Charged After Shooting Star Athlete Over Air Jordans

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

A Chicago man is facing first-degree murder charges after murdering a star athlete to take his Air Jordans. The victim was an avid collector of old sneakers and had arranged to meet someone to purchase the vintage apparel. Two men who were apparently hiding nearby rushed the athlete as he was placing the sneakers in his trunk. One of the men shot him in the chest. Weirdly, neither man grabbed the shoes, which was the apparent payoff of the shooting. His mother speculated that the victim’s size and physique may have scared the attackers off. Yet another senseless death.

Of the two men involved in the robbery attempt, only one is facing murder charges. It is unclear if the other man has been charged with a crime or not. However, since he was involved in a robbery attempt, he could very easily face charges for the murder. Police would need to establish that the man conspired to engage in the robbery attempt. However, Chicago does not like felony murder charges, especially recently under Kim Foxx’s administration. The man will likely be charged with armed robbery, but the police have yet to issue any obvious charges against the second man.

The first man, the one who pulled the trigger, will face first-degree murder charges for the attempted robbery. However, since nothing was actually stolen, it may allow his friend to walk away from the incident without consequence.