Legal Information Center

Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was acquitted on June 12, 2015 of “aggravated procurement” (or “aggravated pimping”) by the criminal court in Lille, France. He was facing up to 10 years life imprisonment and a 1.5 million euros fine for his alleged role in a French prostitution ring. Conforming with the prosecutor’s recommendations…

Appeals (440.10) for Sex Offenders that were Civilly Committed without Being Advised by their Attorneys of That Possibility Under CPL 440.10, a defendant can ask the trial court that accepted the guilty plea to vacate the conviction if the defendant did not receive the effective assistance of counsel in some way that was not apparent…

Being falsely accused of rape or a sex crime is a nightmare for anyone, but it presents a particularly complex set of problems for foreign citizens living, working, or visiting New York. Not only are they facing deportation as a potential consequence of a conviction, they also generally have increased difficulty securing bail or being…

News reports of high school teachers engaging in illicit acts with underage students are becoming almost routine and regular nowadays. The advent of modern smartphones, the prevalence of texting, Snapchat, and the rise of social media platforms have perhaps facilitated these problematic relationships. Regardless, a teacher accused of having engaged in such inappropriate relationships faces…

The criminal defense attorneys at the Law Office of Matthew Galluzzo have successfully defended professional athletes against criminal charges in New York City, and have been asked to comment on television and in the news as experts in criminal cases pending against professional athletes such as Ray Rice and Oscar Pistorius. They also understand the…

Criminal assault charges for non-citizens in New York As the go-to criminal defense firm for the New York City consulates of France, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland and Belgium, the attorneys at the Law Office of Matthew Galluzzo routinely represent foreign citizens charged with criminal assault (including, for example, Assault in the Third Degree [Penal Law…

Individuals without criminal records arrested for misdemeanors in New York City are routinely charged by way of a Desk Appearance Ticket. Though individuals issued Desk Appearance Ticket do not spend twenty-four hours in prison awaiting arraignment like other defendants, their cases are no less serious than those misdemeanor cases pursued the “traditional” way (in which…

Frequently, non-citizens seeking American visas or renewal of current ones make the mistake of accepting seemingly excellent criminal dispositions without understanding the immigration consequences. For example, people arrested in New York for misdemeanor charges such as possession of marijuana (PL 221.05 or PL 221.10), trespass (PL 140.05 or 140.10), theft of services (PL 165.15), petit…

Though it is impossible to estimate their exact numbers, at any given moment there are tens of thousands of Canadian citizens living and working in New York City. In addition, thousands of Canadians from Québec take advantage of their geographic proximity to New York City to visit as tourists. Inevitably, though, every year a few…

The New Frontier of Drug Crimes: Silk Road, Agora, and the Dark Web The traditional business model of drug trafficking, though potentially lucrative, is fraught with peril and obstacles for its participants at all levels. Thanks to fantastic television programs like The Wire and Breaking Bad, many Americans already have a basic understanding of this…