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We might need to change the title of this thread to something more appropriate.
Undismissed
over 90% of defendants plead guilty to avoid harsher penalties, not because trials are always lost; federal prosecutors select strong cases, use thorough investigations, and leverage harsh "trial penalties," leading to few trials, but near-certain conviction if a case goes to trial. The system heavily incentivizes plea bargains, making it rare for a case that reaches trial to end in acquittal.
Plea Bargains: The vast majority of cases (around 90%) end in guilty pleas, which count as convictions, creating a high overall conviction rate.
Prosecutorial Discretion: Prosecutors carefully select cases with strong evidence, ensuring that those that go to trial are very likely to result in conviction.
Trial Penalty: Defendants who reject plea deals and go to trial often face significantly harsher sentences if convicted, strongly encouraging plea deals.
Extensive Investigations: Federal investigations are thorough, often involving agencies like the FBI, giving prosecutors a significant advantage.
Fewer Trials: Only about 2% of federal cases go to trial, and among those, very few result in acquittals.
Guilty Pleas: ~90% of defendants.
Cases Going to Trial: ~2% of defendants.
Conviction Rate (for trials): ~99% of those who go to trial are convicted.
Dis- dismissed
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If the glove fits, you must aquit so says OJ Simpson attorney Johnnie Cochran.
His explanation of the indictment was almost hysterical….
And he’s sticking with his “But he had plans to pay the money back!” silliness, too.
press release (and full indictment) posted yesterday:
https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/sports-agent-indicted-embezzling-hundreds-thousands-dollars-clients
Cooksey's latest vid: "He's innocent cause he intended to pay it back". Yeesh.
I didn't read the entire indictment, but the four counts of wire fraud only account for approx $50,000. Not sure why the remaining $300k+ of alleged "theft" is not included. Perhaps more indictments to come?
As said, when DOJ brings a criminal case, they choose the cases with the strongest evidence. Most cases do end in plea deals. The simple reality is that it will likely cost $500K or more to contest a serious federal criminal through trial with a competent defense attorney. Many defendants simply can't afford to fight these cases, but have too many assets to be eligible for a federal public defender. As I heard one prosecutor say, "I only have to win on one count; you have to win on all counts [of an indictment]." That's hard logic to overlook.
After reading the indictment, defendant has a tough time on his hands. All of the alleged illegal withdrawals were done via electronic banking (which means there are clear, contemporaneous records) and accomplished via interstate wire transactions (meaning the government could charge wire fraud, which carries some of the heaviest penalties under the federal sentencing guidelines).
He'd better get himself a top-tier white collar defense lawyer.
don't disagree. In the indictment the "penalty" requested is not jail - it's full repayment of over $350k, which we all know he doesn't have. Dude is gonna have to liquidate house/cars/etc to pull that off and avoid the big house.
I'm not envious of him, that's for sure.
I didn't see Cooksey's video and I don't want to, but this part of the DOJ statement undercuts the defense that he intended to pay it back: "Mirtl entered false and fraudulent memo lines that identified payments as being for goods and services that Mirtl never provided.". If you intended to pay it back, your memo should say something like "loan". If he was putting memos that indicated that the withdrawals were for professional services when they were for his own use and not for services provided, that's very damning.
Edit: I'll add that it is unbelievably stupid for them to still be talking about the case publicly (assuming that Mirtl has communicated with Cooksey and Cooksey is repeating what MIrtl told him, with Mirtl's blessing). If ever there was a time to shut up, this is it.
The forfeiture is not in lieu of a prison sentence, it is in addition to a prison sentence.
I'm no lawyer, but the word "prison" isn't in this document. And this image details exactly what the indictment lists as "punishment".
Sentencing is handled way down the road at the sentencing hearing, after the trial or plea deal.
Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces the unsealing of an indictment charging Lucas Mirtl (42, Prosper, TX) with four counts of wire fraud. If convicted, Mirtl faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for each count. The indictment also notifies Mirtl that the United States intends to forfeit at least $351,797, which is alleged to represent proceeds obtained from the offenses.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/sports-agent-indicted-embezzling-hundreds-thousands-dollars-clients
Feds aren't going to just ask him to pay it back, and then all is forgiven.
What kind of deterrent would that be? Don't steal, but if you get caught you just have to return what you stole?
He will have to pay it back (or get a judgement against him until paid back), and prison time TBD by the judge after conviction (or nothing if there is an acquittal).
Indictments generally are only going to outline the statutory exposure of the alleged crimes and specificity around forfeiture (if it’s financial in nature), as that will objectively and quantifiably justify the statutes and will describe the damages to the victims (e.g. Jett and Hunter). In this case:
18 U.S.C. § 1343 (Wire Fraud)
18 U.S.C. § 2 (Aiding and Abetting)
The federal government will most assuredly use statutory precedent to inflict a great deal of fear in his head and ultimately get a plea of guilty and a reduced sentence.
I can almost assure you he is going to prison.
The $350K would presumably go back to the Lawrences as restitution.
20 years per count is the maximum, which is highly unlikely. My money would be on a plea deal. If I had to guess, he’d be looking at something closer to the minimum, concurrent not consecutive, and possibly suspended and probated, putting him on a program of community supervision with conditions (though they can suspend most of the sentence and still have him serve a short time in jail). If he rejects a deal - which would probably be foolish - and is found guilty, then all bets are off.
I'll take 'plea deal' for $500, Alex.
Pit Row
Per the Lawerence's claim in the lawsuit, many of the unauthorized charges did have memos with phrasing like "advance" while others simply had completely made-up memo scenarios.
I am willing to bet so as not to muddy the waters, the Feds discarded those tagged by Mirtl as loans as part of the indictment which is why it comes in at $350,000 instead of the $600,000+ the Lawrences outlined in the civil suit.
Bingo
The indictment alleges the scheme ran from August 2023 through January 2025, but only the four dated transactions are charged as counts, which implies many additional transactions may exist and those four were selected because they are clean, well documented and easy to prove at trial.
It basically allows the prosecutors to completely avoid any potential defense that they were “advances.” That would be an absurd defense anyway since Mirtle was under contractual obligation to the firm he worked for and was not to receive any direct payment from his clients.
I did a quick bit of research on the precedence with these particular statutes.
Given there are only two victims, the financial damages are less than $500,000, and assuming Mirtle has no prior history with these particular crimes or any other kind of federal crimes and, most importantly, no heavy-hitting enhancements get tacked on, he’ll be facing a 18-48 month sentence.
It will also ultimately come down to how he conducts himself from here forward (e.g. does he make this easy for the prosecution or not. As mentioned earlier, the Feds are batting .950). They don’t waste energy on anything but home runs.
yeesh. dude is fried.
Indeed. The sooner he recognizes that the better. He doesn’t have to admit guilt now but he should at least STFU about being the victim so he doesn’t present as someone who lacks remorse. Courts are more lenient with a contrite defendant.
No way this goes to trial.
I bet they are working on a plea as we speak. Those take time.
I agree. He still needs to not misbehave if he wants to get the best deal possible. And he'll want the judge to actually follow the agreement, which they aren't obligated to do (though do the vast majority of the time). . Presumably, he'll also have to comply with bond conditions, which may include not posting about the case on social media, either himself or directing others to do so. And of course, getting a plea deal requires him to admit guilt, which means giving up the "I'm an innocent victim" act. However you look at it, he needs to not do anything stupid to make his predicament worse than it needs to be.
Cooksey is a moron.
All true, except he will end up twisting this into "the system is rigged" and that's the only way he could survive blah blah blah. People like him never look in the mirror long enough to see the actual truth. I feel bad for his kid, hopefully he has some good influences in his life somewhere.
Lucky for OJ you weren’t representing him
Cochran was full of shit.
I believe in federal proceedings sentencing recommendations come after a conviction, and would be at the judge's discretion (subject to any mandatory sentencing guidelines) informed by findings of fact based on evidence at trial. Someone with federal criminal law practice can correct me. To the extent there a plea negotiations the potential prison time certainly would come up.
Post a reply to: Lucas Mirtl Update, Case Dismissed!?