White-Collar Criminal and Regulatory Defense

Experience and Results

In a once-in-a-blue-moon result, Dynamis white-collar defense attorneys secured the dismissal of a 20-count Indictment in the Atlas Trading case on the eve of trial in a federal securities fraud case in the Southern District of Texas. Our client, John Rybarczyk, was arrested and indicted in December 2022 on allegations that he engaged in nearly 400 separate “pump and dump” schemes as a social media influencer on Twitter and Discord. John and his co-defendants, allegedly part of an “Atlas Trading” conspiracy, were castigated by the media at the time of their arrest; the Daily Show even ran a segment on them, mocking their alleged criminal activity. Through aggressive and zealous advocacy over the course over 15 months, Dynamis attorneys turned the tables on the Government, and ultimately secured the dismissal of the Indictment for all seven defendants just a week before the trial was set to begin. The district court also denied the Government’s attempt to hold the dismissal in abeyance.

Secured a non-incarceration sentence for an Ohio man accused of social media securities fraud. In United States v. Steven Gallagher, our client was arrested on a complaint out of the Southern District of New York and charged with $1.2 million in securities fraud related to an alleged use of Twitter to orchestrate numerous pump-and-dump schemes. Through successful advocacy with the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York, Dynamis attorneys successfully got most of the charges dismissed and ended up with a total “loss” amount in this securities fraud case of just $21,000. Because of this, our client received a sentence of home incarceration and supervised release.

Secured a declination of charges against a prominent Massachusetts doctor. On the eve of signing a plea agreement to plead guilty to federal health care fraud charges, Dynamis attorneys were hired to give a “second-opinion” on the case, which was being investigated by well-known prosecutors from the District of Massachusetts. Within a week, Dynamis attorneys devoured thousands of pages of discovery and gave a nearly 70 slide presentation to the government, convincing them to temporarily hold off on charges. For the next six months, Dynamis fought the government and provided prosecutors with multiple additional presentations, and even arranged interviews with witnesses who were poised to testify in the doctor’s defense. Ultimately, the government decided to decline all charges (civil and criminal), and all of this was done without the doctor’s good name becoming public.

Secured sentence far-below guidelines in insider trading case in the District of Massachusetts. After our client pled guilty to a single count of insider trading involving more than $600,000 in individual gains, our attorneys were facing a guidelines sentencing range of four years, which is the sentence the government recommended. Through a combination of aggressive pre-sentencing lawyering⎯including moving to quash the government’s brief due to the late disclosure of wiretap evidence⎯the judge ultimately struck a portion of the government’s sentencing memorandum and imposed a sentence of just a year and a day. 

Representing former senior executive of bankrupt crypto company, Celsius, in multiple federal proceedings. Given their criminal and civil experience, Dynamis attorneys are poised to help clients navigate through all aspects of a joint criminal investigation. In this investigation, the client was facing an investigation by multiple federal agencies (DOJ, CFTC and SEC), as well as civil litigation in bankruptcy court and a class action in the District of New Jersey. Ultimately, all federal agencies have declined to proceed against the executive.

Secured misdemeanor charges in Personal Protective Equipment case. In this case, Dynamis attorneys represent a real estate executive who has been under three-year investigation for allegedly distributing masks during COVID that were not “NIOSH approved.” After protracted negotiations, Dynamis attorneys successfully convinced prosecutors to forgo felony charges and instead bring rare federal misdemeanor charges related to the Defense Procurement Act.

Secured successful plea agreement in international money laundering and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigation and prosecution. A senior European banker was arrested on a criminal complaint and threatened with 20 years’ imprisonment fora variety of crimes related to bribery and money laundering of foreign entities related to Brazil’s Odebrecht scandal. Ultimately, after months of pre-indictment negotiations, Dynamis attorneys helped secure a plea agreement to a single charge carrying a maximum sentence of just five years. The case remains under seal.

Convinced federal prosecutors to decline all charges. When our client’s crypto, which he obtained through a unique “bug” in a platform, was seized by Colorado federal prosecutors, Dynamis crypto criminal defense attorneys stepped in and conducted a series of lengthy presentations, coupled with aggressive advocacy, such as the filing of a Rule 41(g) motion to reclaim property. Ultimately, federal prosecutors, who were investigating charges under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, declined to bring all charges.

Dynamis also represents individuals and companies in regulatory proceedings who are not the targets of the investigation. As examples, Dynamis attorneys have represented a senior banker who was at issue in the SEC investigations into use of personal devices for work-related communications and a standardized testing company that was a subject of the DOJ’s recent push to enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act. Dynamis has represented an individual tangentially involved in a Bitcoin Ponzi scheme under investigation by the DOJ and CFTC in the Southern District of Ohio. Dynamis currently represents an individual in an insider trading grand jury investigation being conducted by federal prosecutors in the District of Massachusetts.  

Representing individual in litigation with the Federal Trade Commission in the Middle District of Florida. Dynamis attorneys secured a favorable resolution for an individual charged by the FTC with various online marketing related offenses stemming from his involvement in Internet sales.