White Collar Defense Attorney

On June 16 the chief federal judge for the U.S. Virgin Islands entered an order suppressing all of the U.S. Government's evidence procured through the use of unconstitutional search warrants in the Plaza Extra Criminal Prosecution. The Court found that a raid conducted against the Arab-American-owned Plaza Extra family grocery business in the United States Virgin Islands mere weeks after September 11 was based on a "recklessly untruthful" FBI affidavit.

The RPWB white collar criminal defense team – along with a team of lawyers from across the United States - established that the search underpinning a 78-count federal indictment was conducted in violation of the United States Constitution's prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures. Chief Judge Raymond L. Finch found that an FBI Special Agent had prepared an affidavit, used by the Federal Government to obtain the search warrants, with reckless disregard for the truth. Specifically, the Judge ruled that the FBI misrepresented to a United States Magistrate that Plaza Extra failed to file federal income tax returns and underreported its income by tens of millions of dollars. Judge Finch similarly rejected the government's allegations of crimes including alien smuggling and money laundering as nebulous and unreliable and decried the affidavit's "absurd" reliance on unsubstantiated rumor and innuendo.

The affidavit submitted to the magistrate judge who issued the search warrant accused the business and its owners of a variety of crimes - ranging from alien smuggling and terrorist activities to drug trafficking - none of which were supported by reliable information. Based upon the false information in the affidavit, warrants were issued and over 100 FBI, DEA, IRS and INS agents from across the country descended on and raided the family houses and stores.

The Court concluded that after striking the false and unsupported accusations from the affidavit, the remaining assertions did not support probable cause that any crime had been committed by any of the Defendants. Because of this the Court ruled the search warrants should never have been issued, and the Government cannot use any of the evidence obtained - either directly or indirectly - through the execution of the unconstitutional warrants.

"Judge Finch is to be commended for his courageous support of the Constitution in this post 9/11 climate when the Federal Government chooses to prosecute persons based upon rumor, falsehoods, and innuendo simply because of their national origin, ethnic background, race and/or religion," stated Gordon Rhea, a member of RPWB. "His opinion is a victory for the Fourth Amendment's prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures."

This significant ruling forces the government to address how it will proceed with its 78-count indictment - an indictment that altogether abandons any notions of alien smuggling or terrorism, and is based entirely on tax allegations.

The defendants, including Plaza Extra and several of its principals, are represented by a team of lawyers who worked with the RPWB white collar defense team for this major victory. They are, in alphabetical order, Thomas Alkon, Randall P. Andreozzi, Pamela Lynn Colon, John K. Dema, Leon Friedman, Derek M. Hodge, and Henry C. Smock.

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