Miami Criminal Lawyer Blog

In most situations, criminal cases end in plea bargains from the court. Miami-Dade criminal lawyers can help during this tough time and help their clients understand the offer. Plea bargains happen before the case goes to trial, and the sentence is almost always lesser than it would be if the client goes to trial. Most Miami-Dade criminal defense attorneys will persuade their client to accept the plea bargain because there is a chance the offense can be dismissed from their record.

Why the Accused is Offered a Plea Bargain

Any outcome for a client and their case is unpredictable. Fortunately, this is why the state will offer the Miami-Dade criminal lawyers and their client a plea bargain. In the end, the accused receives punishment and they are proven guilty.

Continue reading "What Defendants Should Know About Plea Bargains" »

A Miami federal jury acquitted former Indy 500 champion Helio Castroneves, 33, of federal tax evasion charges after six days of intense jury deliberations. Throughout the trial, the 12-member Miami federal jury had the difficult task of unraveling a complex case involving multi-million dollar professional racing contracts, obscure federal tax laws, and offshore companies. In the end, the jurors found Castroneves and his sister Katiucia Castroneves not guilty six counts of tax evasion involving approximately $5.5 million in income and $2.3 million in unpaid federal income taxes.

Sitting next to each other and praying, Castroneves and his sister/manager kept their heads down as they listened to the federal jury's verdicts. Afterwards, the siblings sobbed and hugged each other along with their attorneys. During the trial, his attorneys portrayed the two-time Indy 500 winner as a gifted driver who relied on his father and others to handle the business side of his career.

Continue reading "Florida Federal Criminal Defense Update: Helio Castroneves Not Guilty Of Tax Evasion" »

The Miami federal criminal trial of Indy 500 champion Helio Castroneves, 33, has thus far focused on his alleged failure to pay federal taxes on a massive $5 million marketing deal with Penske Racing. But newly introduced evidence that Castroneves may have intentionally skirted his tax obligations on a smaller sum of money from a Brazilian sponser now poses another significant threat to his career... and his freedom.

Castroneves, who has been a U.S. resident in Miami since 1997, received over $500,000 from Coimex Internacional, a Brazilian trading company that sponsored him just before he made it big a decade ago as an Indy car driver with the Penske Racing team. But according to Miami federal prosecutors, Castroneves, who owns a Coral Gables mansion and estate, only reported and paid taxes on about $50,000 of his total earning from Coimex Internacional, and instead diverted the bulk of his earnings... first to a Panamanian shell company... and then to a secretive Swiss bank account. Prosecutors are alleging that his sister/manager, Katiucia Castroneves, helped him conduct the illegal transactions.

Continue reading "Federal Criminal Defense Update: The Helio Castroneves Tax Evasion Trial" »