Posts Categorized: Federal Criminal Defense (Remove Filter)

Fraud is a serious offense that can have severe consequences. And fraud can be charged as a federal crime. Many people may be confused about the jurisdiction and legal implications of fraud. In this article, we will explore the topic in detail and shed light on the role of The Hardy Law Firm in dealing […]

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution was written by James Madison and became part of the United States Constitution 1791. The first part of the amendment states: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches […]

The Credibility of a Witness can Determine the Outcome of a Criminal Trial There are some facts that members of a jury can determine without having to weigh the credibility (or believability) of a witness.  For example, if a trial includes a video or audio recording, the jury can trust their own eyes and ears.  […]

What is Federal Supervised Release? When a Tampa federal judge sentences a defendant to a term of imprisonment in the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the judge will often also sentence the defendant to a term of what is called federal supervised release.   Federal supervised release is a period of supervision (similar to probation) that takes places after the person has […]

In the summer of 1787, the founding fathers drafted the United States Constitution in Philadelphia.  In June of 1788, New Hampshire became the 9th state to ratify the constitution, bringing the United States Government as we know it into existence.   Article III of the Constitution established the U.S. Supreme Court, but the Constitution left the organization of […]

Federal government contracting started in the United States during the Revolutionary War and continues to this day.  While government contracting is indispensable to keeping the federal government working efficiently, fraud has always been a problem.  As Ben Franklin once keenly observed, “there is no kind of dishonesty into which otherwise good people more easily fall […]

Facts of the Case – Rehaif v. United States Mr. Hamid Rehaif, a citizen of the United Arab Emirates, entered the United States on a student visa to attend the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida.  Under the terms of his visa, he was allowed to stay in the United States only so long […]

What Is Substantial Assistance? “Substantial assistance” is a term that is often heard in the media when federal criminal cases of public interest are in the news. Substantial assistance is a process by which a federal criminal defendant helps the government to investigate and prosecute crimes committed by persons other than the defendant. A defendant […]

What is a federal minimum mandatory drug sentence? Defendants in the Tampa federal courts with federal drug charges frequently face minimum mandatory sentences.  A minimum mandatory sentence is a minimum sentence that the judge must impose by law, whether the judge likes it or not. For example, if a Tampa federal drug case involves at […]

Defendants in Tampa federal criminal cases that have pleaded guilty or been found guilty at trial have a right to appeal the decisions of the federal district court judge that handled their case.  For example, defendants generally can appeal decisions that a Tampa federal district court judge made before their trial, during their trial, and […]