Free Republic

Hillel "Helly" Nahmad, the art dealer and playboy whom federal prosecutors allege was involved with an illegal gambling and money laundering ring tied to the Russian Mafia, has retained criminal defense lawyer Benjamin Brafman who insists on his client's innocence as reported by Vivian Yee for The New York Times: "Mr. Brafman, who is representing Mr. Nahmad with another lawyer, Paul Shechtman, said in a statement after the hearing, 'We do not believe that Mr. Nahmad has knowingly violated the law.' He also said, 'We anticipate that he will be fully exonerated.'" Nahmad "is keeping himself out of jail by...

Bryan Zuriff, the executive producer of the Showtime drama Ray Donovan, pleaded guilty in a federal court to his role in gambling operations with suspected ties to the Russian Mafia which took sports bets and ran poker tables for the fabulous people in Los Angeles, CA and New York, NY as reported by the Daily News. Earlier this year the feds indicted 34 defendants for their alleged roles in the gambling schemes, and Zuriff is the first to plead guilty. The 44-year-old degenerate gambler agreed to forfeit $500,000, and faces up to five years in prison when sentenced on November...

For decades, few things have inspired as much fear and loathing in the executive suites of corporate America as the law firm of Milberg Weiss and the two outsized personalities who ruled the place, Mel Weiss and Bill Lerach. Through creativity and ruthlessness, they transformed the humble securities class-action lawsuit into a deadly weapon.Always, Milberg Weiss cast itself as the champion of the little guy. In media interviews Lerach has spoken evocatively about fighting for the honest, struggling blue-collar worker who, through no fault of his own, had lost his hard-earned savings to corporate perfidy. The firm boasts of having...