Pietragallo’s Raspanti And Kraus Discuss Proffers At 2012 PACDL White Collar Practice Conference

Posted On Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Marc S. Raspanti and James W. Kraus presented at the PACDL’s 2012 White Collar Practice Seminar on November 9, 2012 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia, PA.

Mr. Kraus moderated the program while Mr. Raspanti participated on the panel, “Reflecting on Whitewater: Lessons in the Art of Negotiating Proffer Agreements through the Prism of a Presidential Crisis.”  The panel discussion explored the inner workings of one of the most extensive and notorious investigations in American history, including a review of the key characters, the competing legal, ethical and political interests, and the manner in which it all played out on the public stage. 

Ken Gormley, Dean and Professor of Law at Duquesne University School of Law also participated on the panel.  His discussion of the historical events provided a foundation for discussion regarding a host of considerations in negotiating proffer and plea agreements, as reflected not only in the drama that surrounded the President and First Lady, but many of the other players, including their friends and business associates.  Dean Gormley chronicled these events in his critically acclaimed work The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs. Starr.

FBI Agent And Business Associates Charged With Conspiracy, Fraud And Obstruction Of Justice

Posted On Wednesday, November 14, 2012
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On October 18, 2012, a recently-retired FBI Special Agent, Robert G. Lustyik, Jr., and two associates, Michael O. Taylor and Johannes W. Thaler, were indicted on federal criminal charges alleging conspiracy, wire fraud, and obstruction of justice.  The indictment alleges that, beginning in 2011, the three defendants began a business relationship involving contracts for security services, electric power, and energy development in various locations throughout the Middle East and Africa. 

However, in October 2010, a federal grand jury in Utah began investigating Taylor and his private security company, American International Security Corporation (“AISC”), related to a U.S. Department of Defense contract to provide training in Afghanistan to Afghan Special Forces for which AISC received $54 million.  The indictment alleges that Taylor and Thaler enlisted Lustyik to use his influence to impede the investigation of Taylor and AISC in exchange for cash payments of $200,000 and a share of future lucrative contracts.  The indictment also alleges that the three defendants communicated via e-mail “dead drops” to discuss the status of the federal investigation and Special Agent Lustyik’s progress in diverting investigative attention from Taylor and AISC.

The complete indictment can be found here

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