Chicago criminal defense attorney

May 10, 2023

Officer Facing Charges of Aggravated Battery After Punching 17-Year-Old Boy

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

An incident that had the Arab American community up in arms has resulted in criminal charges being filed against an Oak Lawn police officer who allegedly committed official misconduct in the court of arrest. The officer will have to face charges of aggravated battery and official misconduct after a grand jury decided to pursue charges against the officer. The Oak Lawn police department has declined to comment on the incident.

Two other officers involved in the altercation were not charged, much to the disappointment of the family. This appears to be the new normal as far as police violence goes. The law will charge the individual as a scapegoat who committed the most egregious violation, and then those who stood by and watched or partook in a lesser way get off without repercussion.

The officers were filmed during the altercation. Two were holding the victim on the ground while a third continually struck him. The video went viral, and the police department defended the officers stating that they were following their training. This, too, is part of the problem.

March 30, 2023

FBI Uses “Cop City” Protests to Surveil Activists

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

The “Cop City” protest group in Atlanta involved recruitment and awareness efforts in Chicago via a Twitter account and group meetups. In this case, the activists were opposed to the destruction of a public park and an 85-acre urban forest in Atlanta that was earmarked for use as a police training center. The area was thenceforth known as “Cop City.”

The activism efforts spooked the FBI even though there was no evidence that the group did anything more than raise awareness about the destruction of an urban forest and hold meetings to discuss social and environmental issues. Nonetheless, the FBI snooped on the activists and dedicated federal funds to the effort of stopping “anarchist extremism.”

Documents, which failed to indicate anyone in the group did anything illegal, characterize the individuals as “violent anarchist extremists” and “violent environmental extremists,” but there is no evidence to buttress those allegations.

March 8, 2023

Woman Uses Dead People to Defraud Federal Government

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

A Chicago woman will spend the next five years in federal prison after authorities convicted her of using the identities of dead people to commit fraud against the federal government. According to the authorities, the woman used the identities to apply for benefits, some of which were disbursed during the coronavirus as pandemic aid packages.

The woman acquired the identities of murder victims to pull off the scam. Authorities say it netted over $45,000 in profit. The information was used to file tax returns and pandemic-related entitlements. The woman would pose as relatives of the murder victims to collect payments on their behalf.

Prosecutors characterized the theft as “morally repugnant.” The woman had prior convictions for various forms of fraud. The court, in passing sentence, characterized her as a career criminal who had multiple opportunities to turn away from a life of crime but chose fraud anyway.

January 4, 2023

FTX Crypto Execs Plead Guilty to Various Forms of Fraud

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

Two FTX associates have pleaded guilty to charges including wire fraud, commodities fraud, and securities fraud amid the crypto collapse that temporarily destabilized the U.S. economy. Amid the allegations leveled at the company are accusations that they kept no discernable ledger for transactions, did most of their bookkeeping with QuickBooks, and cut themselves loans with their own names as both borrower and recipient.

The largest player, Sam Bankman-Fried, was still in the Bahamas as he was supposed to be testifying before Congress. He was flown back to the U.S. and is currently in FBI custody. A deal was reached with the two associates in exchange for testimony against Bankman-Fried. Bankman-Fried appears poised to be the fall guy for whom the FBI has been waiting. Collectively, the two associates faced 110 years in federal prison. However, their cooperation with law enforcement could help them secure much better deals moving forward.

Ultimately, the federal prosecutors want Sam Bankman-Fried. Bankman-Fried recently disbursed $100 million in FTX assets to Bahamian investors even as the crypto-exchange assets were frozen per the bankruptcy court. This amounts to bankruptcy fraud and is yet another charge that will be added to Bankman-Fried’s growing list of charges.

December 14, 2022

Mother Faces Charges of Cyberbullying Teens and Daughter

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

In a bad mood? Want to turn it around with a little cyberbullying? Think again. A Michigan woman is facing charges related to cyberbullying teenage students, including her own daughter, according to authorities. The woman is facing five counts, including, most importantly, stalking a minor.

The woman’s own daughter and her boyfriend reported getting harassing messages to authorities which spurred forth the investigation, which lasted a year. Ultimately, the culprit turned out to be the girl’s own mother.

The mother used VPNs and other methods to hide her identity. At one point, she attempted to obscure her IP address in a manner that would lay the blame on classmates of her daughter. The woman was also working as a basketball coach at the time. Law enforcement says that the VPN exposed the defendant’s IP address for a fraction of a second before connecting. Indeed, you must connect your VPN prior to going onto the internet. If you do it after connecting, you will expose your actual IP while the VPN is unconnected or if it goes out. VPNs are not foolproof. A network interruption could expose your IP. Alternatively, not all VPNs are created equally. In this case, the woman’s IP was exposed.

September 2, 2022

Teen Commits Nine Carjackings in One Day

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

Call Guinness; it’s a new record! A South Side teen committed nine carjackings in one day. He has since been charged with 11 carjackings with a deadly weapon and two counts of damaging government property. No one was injured or killed during these carjackings. Instead, it appears to be an effort to commit as many carjackings as possible in as short a period of time as possible. While the carjacker is under 18, he is likely to be charged as an adult and face substantial prison time. His age will be considered a factor when sentencing him, but he will go to prison for these crimes.

Aggravated vehicular hijacking comes with a potential sentence of between four and 15 years. So, figuring this precocious teen will be sentenced toward the minimum because of his age, he still faces 44 years behind bars. That’s not good. Getting your name into Guinness isn’t a big enough payoff to spend the next 44 years of your life behind bars.

Now What?

July 6, 2022

Family Calls for Charges After Officer Pinned Boy to the Pavement

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

An off-duty police officer accused a teen of stealing his son’s bike. The teen believes he was profiled only because he was Black. The ensuing altercation was caught on video and the family is calling for the DA to press charges. In the video, the officer can be seen pressing his knee into the teen’s back in a scene eerily reminiscent of the George Floyd incident.

The teen’s friends intervened on his behalf as the officer accused the teen of stealing his son’s bike. The teen appears to be the only person with brown skin in the area at the time, according to the family. The officer works for Chicago P.D. but the incident happened in another jurisdiction, Park Ridge. The incident is being investigated by both Chicago and Park Ridge P.D. There has yet to be an announcement whether criminal charges against the officer will be pursued.

It is completely unclear why the officer thought the boy had stolen his son’s bike, if the bike looked like a previously stolen bike, or what was going on in the officer’s mind at the time he chose to detain the boy while off-duty. What is clear is that the officer conducted no investigation, did not ask the boy any questions, and did not have the authority to pursue the matter without more information.

May 20, 2022

Anti-Violence Program Shows Good Early Results in Chicago

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

Now for some good news. Chicago introduced an anti-violence program geared toward inmates who were convicted of violent crimes. While this does not sound like the kind of measure that would produce positive results, the data would indicate otherwise. According to the latest data, those who took part in the READI program were 67% less likely to be involved in a subsequent gun crime and 20% less likely to be the victim of gun violence.

What does the data say? Well, even as gun violence and crime rates spike throughout the city of Chicago, those who participated in the READI program showed dwindling rates. Those who attended the program had an average of 17 raps on their sheet and many of them had been the victims of gun violence before. Overall, 2500 men were selected for READI Chicago. When compared against a similar group of 2500 men who did not partake in the program, the crime rates were massively lower. The intensive 18-month program was targeted to at-risk males in the Chicago area. The names were drawn algorithmically but focused on those who had violent histories.

Why is This Program Succeeding?

May 6, 2022

Man Uses “Rape Panic” Defense in Murder Charge

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

A man told police, among other things, that another man had given him a ride home from a club. The man who offered the ride was later found bludgeoned to death in a pool of his own blood. The suspect, who was covered in blood, initially told police that he fell down the stares, but later revealed that he had bludgeoned the man to death with a hammer after the man had allegedly tried to rape him. Police found the victim’s wallet in the suspect’s possession. The suspect did not have a good reason for possessing the wallet. He has since been charged with first-degree murder.

The man pleaded guilty to a battery charge while out on parole for an unrelated offense. He was sentenced in 2013 for attempted murder. He pleaded self-defense in that case, too.

Analyzing the Defense

April 20, 2022

Bodycam Footage Shows Officer “Executing” Suspect

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

The community of Grand Rapids Michigan is reeling after an officer-involved shooting shows that a suspect was shot in the back of the head while resisting during a routine traffic stop. The events of this shooting are clear as day, but it remains unclear if any officer will be charged with a crime. This comes after police officers involved in the George Floyd murder rejected pleas offered by state prosecutors.

Bodycam footage shows that the officer pulled over a vehicle for having a license plate that did not match the vehicle. The officer pulls over the vehicle and the suspect immediately gets out of the car. The suspect does not have a weapon, looks confused, and tells the officer he has a license, but does not produce one. Later, the suspect can be seen walking away from the officer and then running. The officer pursues, tackles the suspect, and a struggle ensues. The officer draws his taser, the suspect intercepts it with his hands and diverts it. A struggle ensues. The officer is on top of the suspect when he discharges his weapon into the back of the suspect’s head. The suspect dies immediately. An autopsy confirms that the cause of death is a single gunshot wound to the back of the head.

Police reform advocates are saying this is another example of ineffective policing leading to tragedy. Pro-police advocates say that the suspect was still reaching for the officer’s taser when he fired the weapon.