White collar crimes suspect has motion denied

On Tuesday morning, a federal judge denied the founder of Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School his motion for the court to refrain from having the public attend the hearing for his previous motion to have the judge dismiss the criminal charges. The man in question has been charged with eleven counts of white collar crimes, including tax conspiracy, bribery, and mail fraud, among other things. Prosecutors say the man stole at least a million dollars in tax money from the school that he used for himself and members of his family. They believe he did this by setting up a number of fraudulent companies that were used to mask large transactions. The man, an East Liverpool, Ohio native who ran the cyber school out of Midland, PA, believes that the United States District Judge presiding over the case should drop the charges all together, or at least grant him some level of leniency, regardless of the evidence, because he says prosecutors recorded conversations that he had with his attorneys. The federal government says that none of the attorneys who he claims were his actually worked for him at the time he divulged incriminating information. The Pittsburgh Tribune Review stepped in to intervene in the case to oppose the man’s motion, arguing that closing the hearing would ultimately violate the public’s right of access to courts, as listed under the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America. An Assistant U.S. Attorney on the case says the federal government also fully opposes the motion and cannot see a reason why it should close the hearing or drop any charges. If you have questions about white collar crimes, call Pittsburgh criminal defense attorney. Source: TribLive.com, “Charter school founder’s court hearing must remain open” 30 September 2014