Fraud prosecutions — credit card fraud, identity theft, insurance fraud, benefits fraud — are built on documents and inference. The State stacks up records and asks a jury to assume the worst about your intent. The defense job is to make the paper tell the truth: that bad business decisions, sloppy bookkeeping, and genuine disputes are not crimes.

State or Federal — Know Which Game You're In

Fraud involving wires, mail, banks, or interstate commerce can be charged federally, where the sentencing guidelines turn loss amounts into prison time with brutal arithmetic. Mike practices in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and knows how federal prosecutors evaluate — and overreach on — these cases.

The Defense Playbook

Intent to defraud. The single most contested element. Good faith is a complete defense.
Loss calculations. Inflated loss figures drive charges and sentences. Mike fights the math.
Who actually did it? In identity theft and card fraud cases, digital attribution is far weaker than the State claims.
Early intervention. If you've received a target letter or an investigator's call, the most valuable work happens before charges are filed.

Key Missouri Law

RSMo § 570.130Fraudulent use of a credit/debit device

RSMo § 570.223Identity theft

18 U.S.C. §§ 1341, 1343Federal mail & wire fraud

Charged? Here's Your Next Move.

Do not give a statement. Do not consent to a search. Do not plead at your first appearance just to make it stop. Call or text (636)940-7771 — any hour, any day — or send the free case evaluation form and we'll get back to you fast.

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Fraud Defense

State or Federal — Know Which Game You're In

The Defense Playbook

Key Missouri Law

Charged? Here's Your Next Move.