White Collar Defense
Michael McCrum previously served three years as Chief of the “Major Crimes Division” in the United States Attorney’s Office, the federal prosecution unit responsible for white collar criminal investigations and prosecutions in the San Antonio Division of the Western District of Texas. That experience formed the basis of his extensive work in the area of White Collar Defense since leaving the U.S. Attorney’s Office in May 2000. Michael is blessed with an outstanding reputation among judges, prosecutors and agents, and is considered a zealous and premier attorney in this field. For the past five years he has been selected by his peers as one of the “Best Lawyers in America” in the area of “White Collar Criminal Defense.”
Michael has extensive experience in the following White Collar Criminal Defense areas:
* Health Care Fraud
* Criminal Tax Fraud
* Wire and Mail Fraud
* Securities & Investment Fraud
* Corporate & Banking Crimes
* Embezzlement
* Public Corruption
* International Transaction Crimes
* Mortgage & other Real Estate Financing Crimes
* False Claims to the Government
Criminal Defense
Michael also has extensive experience representing individuals who are investigated or charged with other state and federal criminal offenses. He frequently is asked to represent persons accused in high-profile cases. His five-year term as Chief of the General Drug Division in the U.S. Attorney’s Office provided substantial experience in the following areas:
* Complex Narcotics and Money Laundering Investigations and Prosecutions
* International Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions
* Wiretaps and other forms of Electronic Eavesdropping
* Grand Jury Criminal Investigations
* Response to Search Warrants and Property Seizures
* Federal Sentencing Issues
* Asset Forfeiture
Grand Jury & Investigative Representation
Michael is frequently asked to represent persons and businesses who are approached by law enforcement authorities in connection with criminal investigations. He has represented witnesses subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury or produce records, as well as persons asked by law enforcement officers to answer questions.
High-Profile & High-Stake Litigation
Michael has been called upon to represent numerous persons involved in high-profile/high-stake litigation, each of which have had significant local and/or national media exposure. Cases in which there is significant media exposure raise distinct issues and challenges for the criminal defense attorney and his client. Michael’s extensive experience in these types of cases includes the following:
* Represented the elected Sheriff of Bexar County, Texas, in a public corruption investigation
* Represented a prominent attorney accused of bribery of several San Antonio City Councilmen
* Represented a prominent criminal defense attorney accused of criminal tax fraud
* Represented numerous persons accused of leading major international drug trafficking organizations
* Represented two prominent attorneys accused of embezzling several prominent citizens
* Represented a major school district superintendent investigated for bribery
* Represented a prominent civil attorney investigated for bribery of a state district judge
* Represented a federal law enforcement agent accused of committing several crimes
* Represented a federal law enforcement task force agent accused of committing federal crimes
* Represented a San Antonio deputy sheriff accused of committing several crimes
* Represented a San Antonio police officer accused of committing several crimes
* Represented several San Antonio physicians investigated for health care fraud crimes
* Represented elected District Attorney’s personal bodyguard in high-profile federal criminal trial
* Represented a prominent attorney accused with several tribal leaders of embezzlement from the Kickapoo Tribe.
Appellate Representation
Michael has extensive experience in appellate law. As a federal prosecutor in the 1990s, Michael was lead prosecutor for the government in numerous federal appeals, appearing before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, Louisiana on numerous occasions. In private practice for the past eleven years, Michael has continued to be active as lead counsel in post-conviction litigation, seeking relief for convicted persons in numerous appeals, post-conviction writs, and motions for new trial. Michael’s experience includes his successful representation of Carl Brooks before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, where Michael’s appearance and argument before the court led to a reversal of the death penalty.