Criminal antitrust case.
In a total victory for our client, David Oscar Markus along with Mona Markus successfully obtained the dismissal of two indictments against the Vice President of an airline.
The charges involved allegations of federal criminal antitrust laws violations by conspiring to fix fuel surcharge prices on air cargo shipments to and from the U.S. The team obtained a dismissal of the first indictment after demonstrating their client’s lack of participation in the conspiratorial meeting. With regard to the second indictment, the team filed a unique motion demonstrating that the VP was simultaneously an employee of another airline which meant that he was covered under the grant of immunity in that airline’s plea agreement.
The DOJ fought hard against the motion, filing 9 pleadings in opposition and calling multiple witnesses to testify in support of their position. After a two day evidentiary hearing, the Magistrate Judge wrote a 49-page order granting the motion to dismiss, and the District Court affirmed.
The Hidalgo case was part of a string of pre-trial dismissals that the Firm recently has obtained. Other cases include United States v. Brian Cooper (CEO of large company charged in two cases discussed below), State v. Rene Pedrayes (executive in RICO case discussed below), United States v. Juan Gomez (money laundering case discussed below), United States v. Mazen Salloum (gambling case discussed above) and State v. Jeffrey Lipman (a pain medication case, which was dismissed pre-trial).
Obtaining a not guilty verdict is rare. Obtaining a dismissal pre-trial is even rarer. The creative and aggressive approach of the Firm has led to these unique results.