A Newark political consultant faced tax evasion charges with a potential five-year prison term and $250,000 fine sought Robert Stahl for her criminal defense. With Robert Stahl defending her, the sentence in federal court was limited to three years of probation, eight months of which will be spent in home confinement, after pleading guilty.

Citing her past work for the city of Newark, and noting her “dedication and devotion” to help support underprivileged women, Robert Stahl had asked the court for leniency. Mr. Stahl described his client’s response to the authorities in the proceedings as honest and forthright, as well as having remorse and exhibiting a genuine acceptance of responsibility.

Mr. Stahl advocated for his client, describing her as “a woman of great promise and compassion.” He argued that incarceration would make it more difficult for her to repay her IRS debt, and fines. He described how his client overcame her very humble background to become an entrepreneur and community organizer.

In fact, Mr. Stahl noted the respect his client earned for her work from community leaders, including the former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey who currently serves as executive director of Jersey City’s Employment and Training Program (JCETP), an organization that provides re-entry coaching for newly liberated prisoners.

Defense attorney Robert Stahl explained how the case’s publicity took a toll on his client, who is seeking full-time employment to enable her to make restitution.

Coverage of this high profile case has been covered by:

• NJ.com: Mayor’s friend gets slap on the wrist in tax fraud scheme
• Tap Online: Tax Evasion Sentence Limited to Probation and Home Confinement

Robert Stahl, and his firm, Stahl Gasiorowski Criminal Defense Lawyers aggressively defend individuals charged with complex federal and state crimes. Founder Robert G. Stahl is recognized as one of the top criminal defense attorneys in the NY/NJ area for his skills, knowledge and success. To contact the firm, call 908.301.9001 for the NJ office and 212.755.3300 for the NYC office, or email Mr. Stahl at rgs@sgdefenselaw.com.

Former Rutgers Student Charged with Computer Crimes in the Mirai Botnet Internet Attack

Robert Stahl, leaving the federal courthouse in Trenton on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2017 with former Rutgers student, left. (Jeff Granit | For NJ.com)

News Coverage on the Mirai Botnet Internet Crime Case:

Represented NJ Rutgers student charged in the District of New Jersey and the District of Alaska with a massive cyber attack identified as the Mirai botnet, which infected Internet connected devices, known as the internet of things (IoT) to attack major websites with a “distributed denial of service” (DDoS) attacks, bringing the sites down. Infected devices included unsecured webcams, security cameras and wireless routers. The Mirai botnet was distributed online, and affected the French hosting provider OVH and Brian Krebs own security website that reports on such attacks. Mirai was later used to bring down Dyn, the domain name system used by Twitter, PayPal, Spotify, and Reddit.

• NJ.com, January 6, 2018
  Cybercrime, murder and ‘The Situation’: The top court cases to watch in 2018
• Fox 5 NY, January 4, 2018
  How the Mirai botnet attack is linked to a Minecraft stunt

• Reuters, December 13, 2017
  Three U.S. men plead guilty to crimes tied to 2016 botnet attacks
• The Times of London, December 19, 2017
  Student gamers behind Mirai cyberattack
• NJ.com, December 14, 2017
  How much did hacker who taunted Rutgers cost the school?
• NJ.com, December 13, 2017
  Former Rutgers student admits to creating code that crashed internet
• The Economic Times, December 19, 2017
  What fuels the demand cycle, as Bitcoins despite concerns, surge to 20K?
• Law 360, December 13, 2017
  3 Men Cop to Mirai Malware Attacks in NJ, Alaska
• ZDNet, December 13, 2017
  Mirai botnet attackers plead guilty for roles in cyberattacks
• American Security Today, December 13, 2017
  Guilty Pleas in Computer Crime Cases Involving Massive DDoS Attacks

• KTUU Channel 2 NBC News, December 13, 2017
  Alaska spearheads investigation into ‘one of the most powerful cyberattacks in history’

• Internet of Business, December 18, 2017
  Three plead guilty in US to developing Mirai botnet
• Wired Magazine, December 13, 2017
  How a Dorm Room Minecraft Scam Brought Down the Internet

Read More News on Stahl Gasiorowski Criminal Defense Lawyers

“Did [the accused] and the person setting up the meeting agree to steer the conversation in a certain way, to set up the Rabbi in an illegal scenario?”

Robert G. Stahl, Esq.

View full article on the Daily Beast.

UMass-Dartmouth foreign exchange student Kadyrbayev comes from a former eastern bloc country, and also was without any experience with the U.S. justice system, Mr. Stahl said after the young man from Kazakhstan pleaded guilty in Boston Federal Court.

Kadyrbayev could face as much as seven years in federal prison, Stahl said, telling the media he will argue, at sentencing, for a lesser sentence and return to his family after it is served.

Kadyrbayev’s two college student codefendants, one of whom is also from Kazakhstan, were convicted of marathon-aftermath charges by Boston Federal Court juries.

Kadyrbayev and his fellow Kazakh college student had been scheduled for November 2014 sentencing but U. S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Whitlock issued an order that a pending U.S. Supreme Court case had created “uncertainty” in the aftermath cases. Post-trial motions and sentencing, even the acceptance of Kadyrbayev’s plea could hinge of the top court’s decision which is expected in July 2015, according to media reports.

The Boston Globe

“Dias was shocked and horrified that two people he knew were involved in the bombing. … Today’s plea was entered because Dias now understands he never should have gone to the dorm room; and he never should have taken any items from that room. So, today he formally accepted full responsibility for his actions and sincerely apologizes for his conduct,” Stahl said.

My FOX TV Boston

Watch the Complete FOX TV Boston Report

USA Today

” Kadyrbayev’s attorney, Robert Stahl, released a statement following the plea, explaining that his client ‘today stood and accepted responsibility for his actions’ as he ‘made a terrible error in judgment for which he has paid dearly.

‘His age, inexperience with our criminal justice system, and cultural differences as a foreign college student help provide context, but not an excuse for those actions,’ the statement said. ‘Today’s plea was entered because Dias now understands he never should have gone to the dorm room; and he never should have taken any items from that room. So, today he formally accepted full responsibility for his actions and sincerely apologizes for his conduct.’”

The USA Today Report

CBS TV WBZ Boston

Watch the Complete WBZ Report

NPR Boston Affiliate WBUR

NPR Boston Affiliate WBUR

New England Cable Network (NECN)

NBC Boston WHDH TV

More Kadyrbayev / Boston News

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Dias Kadyrbayev, a student at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, was indicted Aug. 8, 2013 by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction for allegedly disposing of evidence to help surviving Marathon bomber Dzokhar Tsarnaev.

Defense attorney Robert G. Stahl has maintained his client’s innocence and told the media that he looks forward to the federal trial at which he will argue that his youthful client had no idea that the Tsarnaev brothers planned the horrific bombing, nor knowingly discarded any material that would have helped authorities.

Note: Links that are not working usually indicate that the article or report is no longer online.

Attorney Robert G. Stahl Comments

Bloomberg News

USA Today

“Kadyrbayev ‘cooperated fully’ with the FBI, answering questions for nearly 12 hours over two days without an attorney or an embassy official present, Stahl said.”

“Dias and the others voluntarily turned over the computer from Tsarnaev’s room and told the FBI where they could find the backpack that contained a packet of fireworks,” Stahl said. “The FBI recovered all of the items because of Dias’s complete cooperation with their investigation. “

Talking Points Memo

“Robert G. Stahl, who is representing Dias Kadyrbayev, issued a statement after the indictment that said his client is a ‘typical young, foreign college student who loves America’ and ‘did not obstruct justice and did not knowingly or intentionally take evidence from Dzohkhar Tsarnaev’s dorm room.’”

New Jersey Law Journal

“… the contacts he developed working on commercial matters in the former Soviet Union helped him land a role in the Boston Marathon bombing case.”

“A former assistant U.S. attorney under Samuel Alito and Michael Chertoff….”

To Read this NJ Law Journal Article subscription is required.

More Kadyrbayev / Boston News

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Attorney Robert G. Stahl Represents Dias Kadyrbayev, Exchange College Student From Kazakhstan Charged With Obstruction in the Boston Marathon Aftermath Interviewed by RTVI, Russian TV

Attorney Robert G. Stahl, of the Stahl Gasiorowski Criminal Defense Lawyers in New York and New Jersey, was interviewed by the Russian-language network RTVI in April 2014.

Stahl is the criminal defense attorney who is defending Dias Kadyrbayev, the exchange college student from Kazakhstan charged with obstruction in connection with the Boston Marathon aftermath. His trial is scheduled to begin September 8th in Boston Federal Court.

The half-hour RTVI program was broadcast by cable providers across the United States who serve Russian-speaking viewers as well as overseas cable providers.

As an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the 1990’s, Stahl had prosecuted the largest fuel excise tax case in U.S. history in its time. That case involved Russian nationals and emigrants to the U.S. Now in private practice, Stahl has traveled to Russia, Singapore and the Middle East to represent clients in both civil and criminal matters. Now, in private practice since 1997, Stahl has devoted his practice to defending complex criminal and civil cases.

Among the questions posed to Attorney Stahl by host Marina Levinson on RTVI were:

You are a New York and New Jersey criminal defense attorney for clients whose cases are being investigated or prosecuted by federal and state authorities. Neither Russian nor Kazakh are your second language. Yet you represent a college student from Kazakhstan charged with a crime that occurred days after one of the biggest U.S. criminal cases of the past decade, the Boston Marathon bombing. How did that happen? Have you represented other Russians or Kazakhs in criminal or civil cases?

How does the U.S. criminal justice system, which is more precedent-based, differ from Russia’s system? Will the fact that your client came from Kazakhstan, which was part of the old Soviet Union, have any bearing in his case and his trial

How important is it for an attorney in the U.S. to first have served as a federal prosecutor before he or she switches to the defense in federal or state cases?

Your client was a friend of the Tsarnaev brothers, did he have any hint that either Dzohar or Tamerlin were jihadists during the time he knew them?

What does Dias think of the U.S. now that he sits in a cell and after more than a year will finally face trial?

You were quoted by the media as saying that Dias, as a young foreign exchange student, was ignorant of the rights he could have asserted when first contacted by U.S. authorities.

If Dias had retained your law firm immediately and called you, would things be different now in his case?

Do you only represent criminal clients or does your firm also represent foreign nationals in complex business matters.

What advice can you give families whose sons or daughters will be foreign exchange students in the United States, in order for them to avoid being caught up in criminal cases?

More Kadyrbayev / Boston News

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See the CBS TV Evening News report

Guardian / UK Mail

More Kadyrbayev / Boston News

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The day before, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a Florida case, Yates v. US, and the highest court’s decision could could affect sentencing for Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov, both of whom are from Kazakhstan.

Judge Woodlock postponed their sentencings until the court renders its Yates decision, which is expected by July 2015. Commercial fisherman Yates was convicted under the Sarbanes-Oxley law which makes destroying, “any record, document, or tangible object” in an effort to thwart or impede a federal government matter under the government’s jurisdiction.

Yates has been charged under the 2002 law, according to media reports, after he replaced illegally caught under-sized fish that a conservation officer had ordered boxed and then surrendered at the dock for evidence, with larger, legal fish. The government then charged Yates under Sarbanes-Oxley for obstructing justice by destroying potential evidence.

Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov, who was convicted at trial, were both charged with obstruction of justice under that same Sarbanes-Oxley statute.

In Judge Woodlock’s two-page order he noted that the highest court’s decision could define what is considered “tangible” evidence which, in turn, could affect the indictment of Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov.

“The court made the prudent and wise decision to hold off on sentencing until the Supreme Court decides the Yates decision since that decision affects the statute the government has charged in this case,” Defense Attorney Robert G. Stal told the Boston Globe after the the postponement decision.

“The government has chosen [to use] this statute, and so what the Supreme Court does could potentially impact the case here,” Mr. Stahl said.

The National Law Journal and Law.com

“On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Yates. That case tests the scope of the phrase ‘tangible object’ in the statute, which makes it a crime to obstruct an investigation by knowingly altering, destroying, mutilating, concealing, covering up, falsifying or making a false entry in any record, document or tangible object. Commercial fisherman John Yates appealed his conviction under the statute to the Supreme Court. He was sentenced to 30 days in prison and three years of supervised release for impeding an investigation by destroying a ‘tangible object’—specifically, tossing overboard grouper that a conservation officer had deemed undersized.

“The court ‘exercised its sound discretion and took the prudent course of action,’ in postponing sentencing, said Kadyrbayev’s lead trial counsel Robert Stahl of Stahl Gasiorowski Criminal Defense Lawyers in Mountainside, NJ

The National Law Journal Report
(Free or Paid Subscription Required)

The Wall Street Journal Law Blog

USA Today

The Christian Science Monitor
“Avast ye Supreme Court justices,
thar be an undersized grouper!”

More Kadyrbayev / Boston News

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NEW YORK CITY — A practicing attorney who lived in New Jersey and practiced law in New York City received a six-month prison term in December 2011 for passing information on pending mergers to stock traders. The case was intertwined with the Galleon Hedge Fund prosecutions for which Raj Rajaratnam, founder of the fund, received an 11-year-federal sentence

Attorney Robert G. Stahl, who represented the attorney charged with insider trading, used his experience as a former federal white-collar crime prosecutor to help the defendant cooperate with prosecutors and receive a lenient sentence in reward for that cooperation.

Coverage in:

Associated Press via NJ.com

The Business Week Article

New York Daily News

More News on Robert G. Stahl Esq.
Criminal Defense Lawyers

On Sept. 13, 2013 a federal grand jury in Boston returned a superseding indictment adding a third college student and friend as a defendant in the aftermath case. That young student, a U.S. citizen currently free on bond, was charged with making false statements. There were no changes to the original August 2013 charges against Dias Kadyrbayev and the other young man from Kazakhstan. The only change was the addition of the third defendant.

Criminal defense attorney Robert G. Stahl, from Stahl Gasiorowski Criminal Defense Lawyers in New York City and Mountainside, New Jersey, briefly answered reporters questions on the courthouse steps.

As you will see in the video clips, complete linked new video and print news reports, Mr. Stahl repeated his assertion that Dias was innocent and said he and his client were looking forward to proving that at trial.

CBS TV Boston

Visit WBZ TV to see the complete report

NBC TV Boston

Visit WHDH TV to see the complete report

ABC TV Boston

WCBV TV Coverage

CNN

UK Guardian and AP

More Kadyrbayev / Boston News

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Mr. Stahl sought text messages that may exist on the account of the destroyed cell phone of accused bomber Dzokhar Tsarnaev to or from the three college-student defendants. The government said the defense already had texts retrieved from the three college boys’ mobile phones. Stahl said he believes that Tsarvaev’s cellphone records could reveal additional information that the defense may need for the trial.

Judge Woodlock took the attorneys requests under advisement.

Read Attorney Robert G. Stahl’s Comments in Reuters’ report on
Dias Kadyrbayev’s Pre-Trial Hearing March 10th in Boston Federal Court

Dias Kadyrbayev’s
March 10, 2014 Pre-Trial Hearing

Read the Boston Herald Report

More Kadyrbayev / Boston News

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Attorney Robert G. Stahl for Dias Kadyrbayev speaks to the press
outside Boston Federal Court after pre-trial hearings seeking to suppress
evidence and statements Kadyrbayev allegedly gave federal authorities.

Watch the Complete WBZ TV Report

“It’s starting to come out, the true evidence of what he went through
those two days last April,” Robert G. Stahl, attorney for Dias Kadyrbayev
tells reporters after the first day of suppression hearings in Boston Federal Court.

Watch the Complete WFXT Report

Read the Boston Globe Report

Read the USA Today report (above right ) via the Minneapolis Star-Tribune

“He was a witness you kept restrained and handcuffed?’ asked Robert G. Stahl, Kadyrbayev’s attorney.

Robert G. Stahl cross-examined an FBI special agent who testified that Dias Kadyrbayev and co-defendant and fellow Kazakh exchange student Azamat Tazhayakov were handcuffed and shirtless for approximately 12 hours on April 19, 2013 after being ordered out of their off-campus New Bedford apartment.

Each image (above) links to a Boston Herald report.

Hearings Summary

Pre-trial decisions during four-plus days of Boston Federal Court hearings by U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock in May and June 2014 included a ruling to sever the trials of Dias Kadyrbayev, Azamat Tazhayakov, and Robel Phillipos.

The college students had been charged together in an indictment containing allegations of obstruction, and making false statements in connection with the Boston Marathon aftermath. Now each will have a separate trial.

Robert G. Stahl, of the New York and New Jersey Stahl Gasiorowski Criminal Defense Lawyers represents Dias Kadyrbayev, an exchange student from Kazakhstan who attended the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. The trial is set for September 8th before Judge Woodlock and a federal jury.

Kadyrbayev was the lone defendant permitted to advance his Motions to Suppress Statements and Searches by agreeing unequivocally to Judge Woodlock that he would testify and be cross-examined by the Government on the motions. Kadyrbayev’s co-defendants did not agree to the same arrangement and their motions to suppress statements and searches were dismissed.

Since Kadyrbayev agreed to testify and be cross-examined on the motions, attorney Stahl was permitted by the Court to cross-examine federal agents. Kadyrbayev’s appearance on the stand was delayed for two weeks to allow a forensic linguistic expert to return to the U.S. and also testify.

Testimony by the expert and Kadyrbayev is expected to center on his English skills at the time of interrogation, his inability to understand his Miranda rights; and the facts and circumstances surrounding his two days of detention and questioning after the bombing.

In denying defense Motions for Change of Venue, Judge Woodlock said that he believed that a fair and impartial jury could be impaneled in Boston, but that as a precaution, he was prepared to move the trial to western Massachusetts, the federal courthouse in Springfield, some 70 miles west of Boston should we not be able to find qualified jurors in Boston.

The court also denied a motion to dismiss the charges, stating that it favored allowing a jury to decide the issues.

Kadyrbayev’s hearing is scheduled to continue on June 2nd and 3rd when a forensic linguistics expert, who was unavailable in May will have returned to the U.S. to testify for the defense.

Read This Boston Herald Article

“The issue is the voluntariness – whether Dias understood what was going on,
whether there was a knowing, intelligent and voluntary waiver of his
his constitutional rights,’ attorney Robert Stahl said outside the courthouse.”

Attorney Robert G. Stahl talks to reporters on the steps of the Boston Federal Courthouse after the second day of hearings in pre-trial motions for Dias Kadyrbayev, an exchange college student from Kazakhstan charged with obstruction in the Boston Marathon aftermath.

Watch the complete WCBV TV Report

More Kadyrbayev / Boston News

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Robert Stahl, whose criminal defense practice includes representing medical, dental and other professionals accused of wrongdoing, represented a New Jersey physician who passed away before the charges could be tried in West Virginia Federal Court.

According to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:

“New Jersey lawyer, Robert Stahl, said his client was innocent but that he will never get the chance to prove it. ‘It is unfortunate that his reputation will be tainted by this case even though the indictment will be dismissed due to his death since the charges will remain unproven,’ he said by email.”

“He attacked the government’s case, saying his client was a ‘professional, compassionate physician’ who dispensed pain medication to those who needed it. He said that if some patients were selling the medication, his client didn’t know.’”

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Video Clip: Spiritual Leader of U.S. Syrian Jews Sentenced
to Two Years’ House Arrest; Originally Charged with
Money Laundering in New Jersey’s Biggest Corruption Case,
He Pleads to Unlicensed Money Transmitting

TRENTON, NJ – The spiritual leader of Syrian Jews in the United States, Brooklyn, New York was sentenced to two years’ house arrest in June 2011. They were one of 46 defendants, including three rabbis, charged as a result of a federal sting in New Jersey’s biggest corruption case.

Originally charged with money laundering, the defendant pled guilty to a reduced charge of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.

Read the Sentencing Article from WCBS TV in New York City

NJ Star-Ledger on the Big Sting and the Big Lawyers:
Money-Laundering Defendants and their Attorneys

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News Coverage from Dias Kadyrbayev Case Milestones:

• August 2014 Plea
• SCOTUS Delays Sentencing
• May 2014 Pre-Trial Hearings
• June 2014 Pre-Trial Hearings
• March 2014 Pre-Trial Hearing
• RTVI Russian TV April 2014 Interview
• August 2013 Arraignment
• September 2013 Indictment / Arraignment
• Initial Appearance
• August 2013 Indictment

Four days after the horrific Boston Marathon bombing, Dias Kadyrbayev, a 19-year-old college student from Kazakhstan studying at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, was taken into custody by federal authorities.

Kadyrbayev was one of three college students who knew marathon-bomber Dzokhar Tsarnaev. Kadyrbayev and the other student from Kazakhstan were charged with obstruction. The other Kazakh student was convicted at trial.

Kadyrbayev, Mr. Stahl’s client, entered a plea in August 2014 after extensive motions and hearings. Sentencing for both students from Kazakhstan has been postponed pending a U.S. Supreme Court decision on an unrelated case that could impact favorably on both their cases.

Both men remain detained in jail pending the outcome of the Supreme Court hearing and / or their sentencing. The third student, a U.S. citizen was charged with lying to authorities and convicted at trial. He remains free on bail pending sentencing.

Attorney Stahl, whose law firm has offices in New York City and New Jersey, was retained to represent Kadyrbayev after his arrest. The young man continues to be detained in the same small that cell he has occupied since being taken into custody in April 2013.

In August 2013 Kadyrbayev and the other student from Kazakhstan were indicted by a Boston Federal Grand Jury for conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction. A superseding September 2013 indictment added charges of lying to federal authorities against the third student, who is a U.S. citizen.

From the moment he was taken into custody by federal auhorities Kadyrbayev has been represented by defense attorney Stahl who had argued before the plea that the young man’s inexperience with the English language, and being raised in a former Soviet bloc country where police can be brutal, contributed to statements the young man made to authorities without the benefit of counsel.

Mr. Stahl had argued that Kadyrbayev cooperated fully with authorities when he was taken into custody, and at no time had any idea that the Tsarnaev brothers planned the horrific bombing.

Read More News on Stahl Gasiorowski Criminal Defense Lawyers

TRENTON, NJ – The defendant, an Orthodox rabbi of Lakewood, New Jersey, committed his life to helping Orthodox Jewish women obtain religious divorces so that they could continue to live frum, religious lives. To remarry, an Orthodox woman must obtain a religious divorce – a get – in addition to a civil, secular divorce.

Without a get, a woman cannot remarry or have children; she is known as an agunah, a chained woman, chained to the prior marriage. Only the husband has the ability to grant the religious divorce and the get must be of the ex-husband’s own free will.

Unfortunately, civil-divorced Orthodox Jewish husbands can refuse to give religious divorces to their ex-wives. Whether they are being vindictive, abusive, angry, or simply seeking substantial monetary payment, husbands’ refusal to approve the get leaves ex-wives in religious and Jewish community limbo. The Rabbi spent his life protecting the rights of these Orthodox Jewish women who are involuntarily chained to these bad marriages.

Defense Attorney Robert G. Stahl represented the Rabbi in a seven-week U.S. District Court trial in Trenton, New Jersey. The Rabbi and three others had been charged with, among other things, conspiracy to kidnap and kidnapping.

The case stemmed from an FBI sting operation in which the defendants were alleged to have agreed to kidnap a husband who allegedly refused to give his wife a get. In this case both the “husband” and the “wife” were undercover FBI special agents.

A Trenton federal jury found the Rabbi guilty of kidnapping conspiracy, but not of kidnapping. In addition, his son was acquitted of the kidnapping charges lodged against him.

At the Rabbi’s December 2015 sentencing, attorney Stahl made an impassioned argument for leniency. The Rabbi, who had faced life imprisonment, received a 10-year federal prison sentence.

After the jury’s verdict, Mr. Stahl said in a statement that his defense had proved there was a group of devoted Rabbis trying their best to help victimized women who were chained to terrible marriages. Their husbands steadfastly and stubbornly refused to grant gets which would allow these trapped women to move on and live religiously-fulfilling lives.

Defense Attorney Robert G. Stahl Interview
on Crime Watch Daily, WPIX, April 6 2016

Orthodox Rabbi’s Request for Bail Pending Appeal

U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson in Trenton denied two Orthodox rabbis in Lakewood and in Brooklyn bail pending their appeals.

Coverage of Judge Wolfson’s decision appears in NJ Advance Media for NJ.com.

Orthodox Rabbi’s Sentencing

“Stahl, however, acknowledged that in his zeal to help women in desperate situations, his client had ‘crossed the line’ and broken secular law. Still, Stahl argued for a lighter sentence, citing the Rabbi’s good works and multiple health problems, including a heart condition and severe sleep apnea.”

Read the AP Article on NYTimes.com

“The sentence for the 70-year old Rabbi is less than what the federal government had requested for a man prosecutors said was the head of a well-organized operation that kidnapped and beat men. But it also was more than what his defense attorney argued was deserving of a man who devoted his life to good deeds and charitable acts.”

“Stahl had argued that his client’s sentence should be less than that for the traditional kidnapping cases before judges, which usually involve murder, terrorism or child abduction.”

Read the Times of Trenton Article on NJ.com

“Defense lawyer Robert Stahl called the Orthodox Rabbi a ‘champion of women’s rights.’ His client wrote the 1989 book ‘A Woman’s Guide to the Get Process.’

“The problem of recalcitrant husbands in the Jewish faith is dealt with in a few ways but can be complicated in the US, said Rabbi Mark Dratch, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Council of America. In Israel, he said, husbands who refuse to grant divorces can be imprisoned. Because that can’t happen in the United States, communities sometimes exert social pressure on the husband.”

Read the Times of Israel Article

Orthodox Rabbi’s Conviction

In his opening statement, the Orthodox Rabbi’s attorney, Robert Stahl, described his client as a “champion of women’s rights.” (His client wrote the 1989 book A Woman’s Guide to the Get Process.) “This is not a criminal conspiracy to have a bogus divorce and cheat the woman out of money. The government likes to paint this as it’s something about money. It’s not. It’s about the woman and letting her move on in life, getting divorced,” Stahl said.

Read The Newsweek Article

Lawyer: Rabbi accused of forcing divorces was‘exaggerating’

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — An Orthodox rabbi accused of using brutal tactics to force unwilling Jewish men to divorce their wives was “puffing and exaggerating” when he talked to undercover FBI agents, his lawyer said Tuesday.

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Criminal Defense Attorney Robert G. Stahl Represents Young Man Convicted Under Federal “Animal Enterprise Protection Act;” Argues Before Third Circuit Court of Appeals

TRENTON, NJ – They were never charged with physical violence in their animal rights campaign against Huntington Life Sciences, a contract laboratory with one facility in New Jersey and two in the UK.

But all seven “Stop Huntington Animal Cruelty” defendants were convicted in 2006 by a Trenton Federal Court jury of conspiracy under the federal Animal Enterprise Protection Act. Varying defendants, including the “SHAC” organization, were also convicted of conspiracy to harass using a telecommunications device, conspiracy to commit interstate stalking, and stalking via the Internet.

Criminal defense attorney Robert G. Stahl represented the lead defendant post-trial and in their appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

In oral argument before the appeals panel in 2008 Stahl acknowledged that the SHAC7 defendants had operated a website with news and information about animal rights action, but stressed that the website did not encourage web visitors to undertake violence or any other actions against the Huntington facilities, its principals, or its employees.

The Government stressed, however, that the convicted defendants had posted home addresses, names of Huntington employees, and other data that was designed to terrorize those individuals and organizations that worked for or dealt with the Huntington company.

When attorney Stahl was asked by a Third Circuit judge if the SHAC7’s intent was to create fear with the information it posted on its website, he responded that there was no evidence; there were no demonstrations at schools or activist approaches to a child.

The defendants’ convictions were upheld in October 2009.

Read About the SHAC 7 Cases

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Successful New Jersey Dentist Charged with Healthcare Fraud Wins a Rare Complete Dismissal of All Charges After Criminal Defense Attorney Robert G. Stahl Launches Aggressive Defense Including Commissioning Complex Independent Investigation

December 2015 (NEW YORK CITY) – In October 2014, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York charged a successful New Jersey dentist with alleged healthcare billing fraud involving insured Port Authority of New York and New Jersey employees.

He retained criminal defense attorney Robert G. Stahl who launched an aggressive defense that included commissioning a complex, independent investigation that included expert reports rebutting the charges. As a result, in December 2015 Stahl won a rare complete dismissal of all charges for the dentist.

“This case demonstrates the critical value of retaining skilled, experienced criminal defense counsel as early as possible in a state or federal criminal case,” said Stahl. “My client’s professional career was saved and an expensive, time consuming trial was avoided.”

Stahl, a former award-winning Assistant U.S. Attorney in New Jersey, had met several times with Assistant U.S. Attorneys and investigators from both the federal Department of Health and Human Services and the Port Authority Offices of Inspector General while the dentist’s charges were pending.

“Even before being charged by federal Complaint, in meetings with auditors and investigators my client had strongly maintained that he had not billed by upcoding¹ certain dental and periodontal procedures,” attorney Stahl said.

The alleged healthcare fraud charges stemmed from a lengthy investigation led by the Office of Inspector General, Port Authority Police Department (OIG, PAPD) for allegedly defrauding the Port Authority and its private insurer or authority employees.

As part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s initiative on healthcare fraud, U.S. Attorneys’ Offices across the country maintain special units to investigate and prosecute criminal and civil, whistleblower-brought healthcare fraud, Stahl explained. “If you are a physician, dentist or other healthcare professional whose practice is in the crosshairs of investigators, you should immediately retain counsel with substantial experience in complex civil and criminal matters. Experienced representation can make the difference in the outcome of a criminal case.”

With offices in Mountainside, New Jersey and New York City, the Law Offices of Robert G. Stahl represents defendants in a broad range of criminal matters, regardless of complexity or geography, including death penalty and international criminal law matters. Visit https://www.StahlEsq.com for more information and select the, “News and Media” link to read about some of the high-profile criminal and civil matters in which the Stahl firm has represented defendants.

¹ In upcoding a more expensive medical code is submitted to insurance payers, instead of the lowerpriced, actual procedure that had been performed.

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HACKENSACK, NJ – “This is a huge tragedy for everyone,” criminal defense attorney Robert G. Stahl told the court at the January 2016 sentencing for a former Marine and Hasbrouck Heights police officer who pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and other charges in connection with the death of a long-time friend.

Over the four years he was jailed before sentencing, the defendant has expressed his “regret and deep remorse” for the “great harm” he caused to so many people, and he has tried “to move forward and make up for it in some fashion,” Stahl said.

The former police officer, who spent nine years on the Hasbrouck Heights department before retiring on disability, had been indicted on murder, criminal weapons possession, and hindering apprehension charges.

He pleaded guilty in September 2015 to aggravated manslaughter and other charges. He could have faced up to 50 years in a New Jersey State prison, but Stahl worked intensively with prosecutors to arrive at a negotiated 25-year sentence that the court imposed.

Read the Complete North Jersey Sentencing Report

Video Clip: Former Hasbrouck Heights Police Officer is Represented at His Arraignment by Criminal Defense Attorney Robert G. Stahl

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The pharmacist operated two bricks-and-mortar pharmacies, Towne Pharmacy in Middlesex County, New Jersey and the Hellertown Pharmacy in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley.

The original Southern District of New York indictment charged the defendants with operating a two-year scheme involving more than $13 million in prescription drugs that were sold online in violation of federal law requiring physical examinations before scheduled prescription drugs are dispensed.

Stahl’s client had been contacted by operators abroad seeking to partner with his pharmacies in dispensing drugs but was adamant that non-scheduled drug prescriptions only were to be dispensed.

The two locations, like many small brick-and-mortar pharmacies across the country, were in tooth-in-nail competition with large national drug store chains, Stahl said. The pharmacist saw the new online dispensing business as a way to improve his bottom line as well as serve individuals who are immobile or otherwise not able to travel to his, or any other, brick-and-mortar pharmacy.

The pharmacist’s son, for whom he was caretaker, was paralyzed in a high school wrestling match and the additional income also helped to underwrite large investments in equipment and home renovations the pharmacist had to make for his paralyzed son.

But the pharmacist was not vigilant enough to conform his pharmacy to government regulations for online drugs and scheduled substances, Stahl said, and as a result a banned drug added to the list was not stopped from being filled online.

“It was this gray area,” Stahl told the Easton, Pennsylvania, Express Times. “This wasn’t unscrupulous, nefarious criminal activity. But he acknowledged in pleading guilty that he should have took notice and steps to stop orders for the drug.”

That negligence, Stahl said, landed the pharmacist in criminal court and left his financial life in tatters. In addition to probation the defendant agreed to forfeit more than $300,000 in return for unfreezing assets needed for his son.

“He’s trying to put his life back together. That’s not easy for someone his age,” Stahl said. “He’s doing the best that he can,” Stahl told the Express-Times. The defendant also surrendered his New Jersey pharmacist license.

Coverage in the
Express-Times Report on Lehigh Valley Live

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