On behalf of Sindel, Sindel & Noble, P.C. posted in Juvenile crimes on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
High truancy rates continue to plague the public school system all over the United States. Different states are working on a variety of solutions. Some states have increased the mandatory attendance age from the federally required 16-years-old to 17 or 18 years old. Other states revoke driver's licenses for habitually truant students. In some cases, parents may pay the price in jail time and fines.
Truancy can be the result of a variety of factors, from poverty to transportation issues to parents simply not realizing how much school their kids have missed. In Baltimore, some improvement has been shown after the school system files charges against a parent and the parents must go to court to discuss the issue with a judge. However, the results have not been significant enough to be seen as a solution.
On behalf of Sindel, Sindel & Noble, P.C. posted in Federal Crimes on Friday, February 17, 2012
A married couple that used to operate a grain storage facility in Northwest Missouri will be sentenced on March 8th after entering a guilty plea for mail fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy and interstate transportation of stolen goods.
Mail fraud often results in both state and federal charges. Broadly speaking, fraud is when a person or company uses false information to collect money. Mail fraud is perpetrated through the U.S. Postal Service. Often, these charges come along with conspiracy and money laundering charges, similar to the situation in this case. Bank fraud is also a common accompanying charge.
On behalf of Sindel, Sindel & Noble, P.C. posted in Criminal Defense on Tuesday, February 14, 2012
The FBI had dubbed him the "Same Coat Bandit" because surveillance videos showed identical tan coats in each of the robberies. The man has been charged with two counts of second-degree robbery. The present charges are for a single incident involving two different tellers. Authorities are also accusing him of robbing up to five other area banks in recent weeks.
There is no evidence that the man used a weapon in the robberies and no one was injured.
On behalf of Sindel, Sindel & Noble, P.C. posted in Drug charges on Thursday, February 9, 2012
Two men plead guilty recently to charges that they illegally imported human growth hormones from China and sold the drugs in local gyms. The men admitted to buying the steroids from China and shipping them in to the United States using false customs declarations.
The St. Charles men face penalties for the drug offenses ranging from probation to up to six months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines. One of the men faces up to 12 months. Sentencing often varies based on a person's criminal history and the amount of illegal drugs imported and sold.
On behalf of Sindel, Sindel & Noble, P.C. posted in Criminal Defense on Tuesday, February 7, 2012
An outing to the popular restaurant and arcade Dave & Busters turned in to a confrontation when four patrons were denied entry. Two of the four now face a variety of charges, including assault, as a result of the incident.
They arrived and left within a few minutes at about 11 pm. When they started to leave, an off-duty police officer working for the arcade followed them back their pickup truck. The officer was apparently suspicious of the group's behavior, and wanted to investigate further.
On behalf of Sindel, Sindel & Noble, P.C. posted in Criminal Defense on Saturday, February 4, 2012
There are many causes of state crimes including familial and financial stress. One 52-year-old Missouri man is accused of arson after allegedly having a stresss-related mental breakdown while home alone in his O'Fallon residence.
"It appears like it was just one of those reactions - the person got overstressed," a St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney said. "According to what he told police, he just lost it."
By Rick Sindel posted in Criminal Defense on Thursday, February 2, 2012
A jury recently found a man from Pacific, Missouri, guilty of the homicide of his girlfriend. The jury deliberated for about six hours yesterday and returned the verdict this morning.
The murder of the 25-year-old woman happened in 2009 and key issue at the trial was not whether the man committed the murder, but whether the murder was premeditated. Although homicide cases all involve the death of a person, the circumstances surrounding a person's death are crucial to determining a defendant's level of culpability and punishment. In cases of self-defense, a defendant may not be criminally charged in connection with a homicide. In cases of deliberate or premeditated murder, a defendant can face the death penalty in some situations.
On behalf of Sindel, Sindel & Noble, P.C. posted in Federal Crimes on Friday, January 27, 2012
Drug charges are very serious and no teen accused of involvement with a drug crime should take these charges lightly. One woman was arrested for helping her drug-dealing boyfriend in 1989 when she was 19 years old. Unfortunately the woman was charged with drug conspiracy and aiding and abetting the distribution of cocaine. A jury found the woman guilty and she was sentenced to over 15 years in prison because of the mandatory minimum guidelines that the judge had to follow.
"If mandatory minimums did not exist, no judge in America, including me, would have ever sentenced (the defendant) to 15 years in prison based on her role in the conspiracy, her age and the fact that she had no prior criminal convictions," the sentencing judge wrote in support of her petition for a presidential commutation.
On behalf of Sindel, Sindel & Noble, P.C. posted in Drug charges on Wednesday, January 25, 2012
One man from Maryville, Ill. faces several serious charges after a car accident which left a 38-year-old St. Louis woman dead. Authorities say that the man was high on a marijuana and oxycodone combination when he ran into a gas station where the woman had stopped to refill her car.
There are many types of criminal charges that can arise out of a car accident including vehicular homicide and manslaughter. Many of these charges also involve situations where a driver is allegedly drunk or impaired by drugs. Driving while intoxicated can have many severe consequences and result in penalties that include a 30-day license suspension, points on a license, and jail sentences.
On behalf of Sindel, Sindel & Noble, P.C. posted in Drug charges on Saturday, January 21, 2012
Authorities have arrested a 28-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman from the Granite City area on charges of drug-induced homicide. Drug induced homicide is more serious than other drug trafficking crimes because prosecutors are attempting to hold alleged drug dealers responsible for the death of one of their customers. In this case, authorities say that the couple provided a 48-year-old customer with fentanyl and that he overdosed on the drug.
Fentanyl is a strong narcotic analgesic used as a painkiller. It is up to 100 times stronger than morphine and is highly addictive because the effects of fentayl are relatively short-lived. Many fentanyl overdoses are often misclassified as heroin overdoses and individuals who are sold fentanyl under the impression that it is heroin are more likely to overdose.
