Crimes that are committed without violence in physical and are largely related to large sums of money are popularly called white collar crimes. The same legal principles and procedures apply on white collar crimes as with other crimes. This means that the accused also have the same rights and equal protection as with a defendant of other crimes. However, the offense involving a white collar crime operates with complexity and involves several complicated legal concerns and issues.
The following are possible penalties or punishment involved in a white collar crime:
o Fines
o Prison punishment
o Restitution
o Criminal forfeiture
The Investigation
It takes time to investigate a white collar crime and it involves long processes that may continue for months to years. A person who is committing the crime is the subject of the investigation and may not be able to know about the investigation until a formal charge has been filed or submitted. It is important that defense attorneys should get involved in the whole process in the initial phase or if the person is suspecting that he or she is involved in the investigation even as a witness to such case. The complexity lies in that the person's probable exposure is not clear during the initial stages of the investigation. Many of the defendants of a white collar crime have been indicted only with what they said or did in the early phases even before they become directly the target of the whole investigation. Before any meet ups with any law enforcing bodies, a person needs to contact an attorney so that you will know what to do.
What do you do?
The best measure you can do is to contact your attorney right away because defense attorneys can negotiate for plea agreements. You can have the benefit of dropped charges or reduction of sentences with the help of defense attorneys as they negotiate with the prosecutor. If you plead guilty for the crime, prosecutors often agree to drop the more serious punishments in return of the plea or prosecutors can cooperate with an ongoing investigation. Your defense attorney always has the last word in the event of a plea or agreement.
As mentioned, you, as the defendant, may receive punishments such as fines or involvement in community services, probationary periods, and order of restitution or recover the amount lost in the crime, sentenced to imprisonment or is sentenced with a combination of punishments. Your defense attorney can negotiate for the penalties at the lowest possible punishment for the crime committed. If no negotiation reached to agreement, your defense attorney can represent you in the court in an attempt that you are not beyond any reasonable doubt guilty of the crime.
Being accused of a white collar crime is frightening and traumatic as well as stressful for you. Therefore, under the Arizona White Collar Crime Law or the Phoenix Criminal Law, you are advised to contact your attorney as soon as possible so that he/she can assist you.
