Alan P. Caplan
Attorney at Law
Email: alan@alancaplan.com
© Copyright 2019. All Rights Reserved. Member Massachusetts Bar
United States v. Zinnanti:
Mr. Zinnanti was charged in federal court in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania with selling adulterated medical devices punishable by 5 years imprisonment, a fine and restitution. After filing and arguing many dispositive pretrial motions, a plea bargain was reached. Although the prosecution argued for 15-21-month Guideline sentence, fine and forfeiture, the Court sentenced him to 4 months incarceration, no fine or restitution ordered.Successful Motions for Early Termination of Supervised Release.
From 2013-2019, I have successfully filed motions on behalf of defendants who had served serving lengthy terms of imprisonment for drug and violence cases for early termination of their 5-year terms of Supervised Release in cases throughout the United States. Such reductions have ranged from 18 months to 2½ years, for clients, many of whom had been subject to “non-association” provisions based upon their affiliations with various motorcycle clubs, including: United States v. Domey (Massachusetts); United States v. Pasciuti (New Hampshire); United States v. Kinter (Utah); United States v. Barraza (Northern District of California); United States v. Donahue (Nevada).
People v. Savalick:
Mr. Savalick was charged in 2013 together with 14 co-defendants in Rockford, Winnebago County, Illinois, with aggravated assault, armed robbery, kidnapping and other serious crimes. Several of the defendants were Hells Angels members. I was retained 2 weeks before trial was set to begin in September 2014. Together with co-counsel we vacated the trial date. Some co-defendants subsequently pled guilty to lesser offenses. Four years later, in July 2018,after substantial pretrial motions and dismissal of some charges, the remaining 9 defendants were acquitted of all charges.
United States v. Dan Rush:
Mr. Rush was charged in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California with labor racketeering, attempted extortion, honest services fraud and money laundering, all related to the UFCW’s organization of workers in the medical cannabis movement. Although facing a substantial term of imprisonment, an expensive restitution order and fine, a plea bargain was concluded on the eve of trial that resulted in 37 months of incarceration (with eligibility for ADAP program), no restitution and a fine of $7,500.
Pasciuti, et. v. Sacramento Police Department
Successfully argued in Sacramento Superior Court that the inclusion of six members of Sacramento, CA chapter of the Hells Angels in the California “Gang Database” was improper under new legislation made effective on January 1, 2018 by California Legislature that established a procedure for such challenges.
People v. Schroll, et. al.:
In May 2018, Mr. Schroll and others were charged in Calaveras County, CA Superior Court in what prosecutors and investigators claimed was the largest law-enforcement seizure of allegedly unlawful fireworks in California history, involving more than 105 tons. The case has not yet been set for a preliminary hearing.
Vancouver British Columbia Hells Angels Clubhouse Seizures
Consulted for attorneys in Vancouver who were challenging the government’s efforts to order the judicial forfeiture of three British Columbia Hells Angels Clubhouses on the ground that the Hells Angels were a “criminal organization”. I was tasked to review and critique a 210-page report prepared for the prosecution by Detective Leonard Isnor of the Ontario Provincial Police, which purported to establish historical grounds for the proposed forfeitures, and constituted the chief evidence to support it. I prepared a detailed analysis of the errors and inconsistencies in the report, and based upon my work and that of the Canadian attorneys, the Supreme Court of British Columbia issued a 120-page decision largely discrediting Sgt. Isnor’s report and claims.
Challenging Holland Government’s Application to Dissolve and Permanently Ban the Hells Angels from the Netherlands.
The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) of the government of Holland filed an Application under Dutch law alleging that the continued presence of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club in that country was contrary to “public order” – essentially that it was a criminal organization – and that it should therefore be dissolved and permanently banned from that nation. Their Application was 170-pages in length, and supported by another 1000 pages of exhibits and appendices.
I assisted Dutch counsel in analyzing the PPS claims in preparation for a March 2019 trial. I also prepared several affidavits on behalf of the HAMC that were filed with the Court by Dutch counsel as a part of the defense’s case. The matter was tried in March 2019, and a decision from the trial court is likely to be issued in May 2019.
REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLING OF CASES LITIGATED (cont.)
2014 - 2019 (cont.)