White collar crimes can destroy your career and cause you to lose professional trust. While charges alone can still have an effect, working with a lawyer to prove your innocence or get charges dropped and dismissed can save you from many negative effects.
Crimes like fraud, embezzlement, insurance fraud, and RICO charges can make it hard to move up in business or hold professional licenses in the future. These charges also come with potentially hefty jail time depending on the specific charges and amounts of money involved.
Call our white collar crime defense attorneys at Kenny, Burns & McGill at (215) 423-5500 for a free review of your case.
What Crimes Constitute White Collar Crimes?
White collar crimes are those typically charged against professionals, business people, and office workers. There is no official or technical definition, and crimes are usually grouped under the umbrella of “white collar” crimes as opposed to being “street crimes” or “violent crimes.”
Most white collar crimes our white collar defense lawyers can help with are property crimes involving theft or fraud, such as the following:
- Embezzlement – stealing money you are entrusted with
- Fraud – lying to obtain money or services
- Tax crimes – typically involving failure to file, tax evasion, or tax fraud
- Bribery and corruption – paying or receiving money to obtain positions or advantages
- Insider trading – trading with prior knowledge of business decisions
- Ponzi and pyramid schemes – business schemes to take advantage of others
- Money laundering – hiding the trail of fraudulent funds
- Mail/wire fraud – using mail or the internet to commit fraud
- Extortion and blackmail – using threats to obtain benefits
- Defrauding the United States – fraud against the government
- Conspiracy – a plan to commit another crime with other people.
There are many more crimes that also fit into this category, but the main features they typically have in common are these:
- Sophisticated methods, usually requiring some level of prior training or education
- Abuse of positions of authority or trust
- Nonviolence
Because of these issues, these crimes are often not seen as being as bad or dangerous to society as, say, assault or drug trafficking, but they can negatively affect business. They also tend to make the defendant seem untrustworthy, pushing them out of future positions of trust or authority.
Are White Collar Crimes State Crimes or Federal Crimes?
Many white collar crimes are illegal under both Pennsylvania and U.S. law, potentially meaning you could face state or federal charges.
Jurisdiction
States typically enforce criminal laws. Many white collar crimes are charged under Pennsylvania law in Philadelphia, though the location of the charges can change based on where the offender and the victim were located.
Still, many white collar crimes deal with federal taxes, federal financial systems, federal programs (e.g., Medicare or Social Security), or interstate trade, phone lines, internet, and mail. These things create a hook for the federal government to get jurisdiction over your case.
Dual Sovereigns
A principle called dual sovereignty recognizes that both Pennsylvania and the United States are sovereign governments that can charge you. This could potentially mean your case gets tried in both state and federal court.
This does not violate the Double Jeopardy clause because two different governments are charging you. Ultimately, this can mean potentially higher fines and jail time if the same conduct gets you charged twice.
Priority
Sometimes federal charges take priority over state charges, and the local prosecutors will be okay with the federal government charging you and housing you in federal prison instead of/before devoting state resources to the case.
Investigations usually involve cooperation between local police and the FBI, Secret Service (investigating counterfeiting), or other federal law enforcement.
How Are White Collar Sentences Determined in Philadelphia?
The potential sentence you face varies from crime to crime. Some charges are very severe, with a potential of years or decades in jail, while others might result in a fine, paying back illegally obtained gains, and probation. Other factors are also relevant.
Grading
Your sentence starts with the grading of the offense. More serious crimes are felonies, with jail time over a year possible in most cases. Lower-level misdemeanors might have no mandatory minimum sentence, allowing probation or a fine only.
Amount Stolen
Most financial crimes are punished based on the amount stolen, so smaller thefts might not be punished as severely as high-dollar fraud and embezzlement.
Prior Record
Additionally, your prior record plays a big role in sentencing. Most white collar crimes are committed by first-time offenders. If the crime did not cause others to lose their livelihoods or physically injury anyone – and if it is your first crime – it might not make sense to jail you for years as punishment.
Risk of Reoffending
Lastly, the risk of recidivism or reoffending is important. If there is evidence you learned your lesson and will not commit more crimes, there might be less reason to keep you in jail where you cannot commit crimes.
Sentencing Guidelines
Both Pennsylvania and federal cases have sentencing guidelines judges have to follow. These take some of the info discussed above as inputs and output a suggested sentence.
For example, embezzlement on the federal sentencing table involving $10,000 would potentially have a base “offense level” of 10. With no criminal history, 6-12 months would be the expected sentence.
Under Pennsylvania’s guidelines, a similar offense would get 3-6 months in county confinement, plus restrictive conditions.
Judges pinpoint a final sentence within that range based on some of the factors above.
Social/Business Penalties for White Collar Crimes in Philadelphia
If you are convicted of a white collar crime, there are penalties beyond fines and jail time.
If you have a professional license, such as a law license, you might lose it. You can also lose accountancy and financial licenses or certifications for fraud.
Future employers might not want to put you in a position of trust, or you could be disqualified from certain roles.
Additionally, if you were here working on a visa, it would likely be revoked.
Call Our White Collar Defense Lawyers in Philadelphia Today
Call Kenny, Burns & McGill at (215) 423-5500 for a free case review with our white collar crime defense attorneys.
