Legal Information Center

The most serious drug-related felonies in New York state law are Operating as a Major Trafficker (Penal Law Section 220.77, the “Kingpin” Statute), Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree (Penal Law Section 220.21) and Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree (Penal Law Section 220.43). As Class-A1 felonies,…

Last week, New York City banned smoking in all city parks. Legally speaking, they accomplished this by amending the New York City administrative code section 17-503, entitled Prohibition of smoking. This section, by the way, is the same one that bans smoking in bars, the subway, retail stores, and several other indoor and outdoor locations.…

A very common arrest charge in New York City is Theft of Services, a Class A misdemeanor under Penal Law Section 165.15. In fact, the Wall Street Journal published an article on June 25, 2012 on the rise in “farebeat” cases. The offense itself is punishable by up to one year in jail. Sometimes people…

The link is here, but one must scroll down a bit on the page. Note: article and recording are in French.

In this blawg, our criminal lawyers explain DWI charges, DWI penalties and DWI consequences. Being accused of driving under the influence of alcohol, marijuana, or any controlled substance in New York is not a matter to be taken lightly. A conviction for any DWI-related offense can have serious consequences, such as incurring a permanent criminal…

Matthew J. Galluzzo was recently interviewed in French by the French Catholic newspaper La Croix (The Cross) about the recent arrest of IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

This week, Manhattan federal prosecutors scored a huge victory with a conviction in the insider trading trial of billionaire Raj Rajaratnam, the former manager of the successful Galleon hedge fund. Rajaratnam is expected to be sentenced to anywhere between 15.5-19 years in prison as a result of his conviction, though he plans to appeal to…

We have previously discussed Assault in the Third Degree. This post addresses the more serious felony charge of Assault in the Second Degree, under New York Penal Law section 120.05. A common situation where this offense is charged is where a bar fight goes too far — someone uses a boot, a bottle, a knife…

The Law Office of Matthew Galluzzo have a reputation as experts in the field of gravity knife and weapons possession cases. Zachary H. Johnson, partner, was recently asked to comment on a recent New York Court of Appeals decision concerning an officer’s right to arrest a person on suspicion of carrying a gravity knife. A…

Having practiced criminal law for ten years, we have seen hundreds of cases in New York City where people have been arrested and charged with felonies or misdemeanors because they intentionally or recklessly caused damage to another person’s property. These cases frequently occur in domestic situations where an argument between family members, spouses or domestic…