Counterfeit & Forgery Attorney in Westchester County, New York

Counterfeit and forgery are serious crimes. They include a wide variety of activities, ranging from the production of forged documents, the making of fake money, and profiting from the illegitimate use of a company’s trademark. Forgery charges are a highly serious matter, and any individual who is charged with these crimes will be facing the full extent of the law. If you were charged with one of these crimes, you need help from a Westchester counterfeit and forgery lawyer who can protect your rights and ensure you are treated fairly throughout the process.

Call us now or contact the Law Office of Michael D. Litman online for a free consultation about how to fight the charges against you.

Protecting Your Future from the
Consequences of a Conviction

Lesser cases of counterfeiting and forgery are misdemeanors, which carry a penalty of up to a year in jail. The most severe cases of these white-collar crimes are class C felonies, punishable by up to 15 years. The state takes all these crimes seriously and will do all it can to prosecute them as far as possible.

What most people think of as counterfeiting (producing fake bills for spending) falls under the definition of forgery in the state of New York. Forgery has to do with the creation and use of “forged instruments,” which include counterfeit currency, fake checks, physical documents of other types, and falsified digital documents.

There are three degrees of forgery:

• Forgery in the third degree: Creation or completion of a written instrument with the intent to deceive. This is a class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail.

• Forgery in the second degree: Making or altering a forged deed, contract, public record, prescription, etc. This is a class D felony, punishable by up to 7 years in prison.

• Forgery in the first degree: Forgery of money, stamps, securities, stocks, bonds, etc. This is a class C felony, carrying a penalty of up to 15 years in prison.

Counterfeit also includes “trademark counterfeiting” and “counterfeit of wagering instruments.”

Stealing Intellectual Property

Trademark counterfeiting has to do with creating or profiting from the illegitimate use of an individual’s or an organization’s trademark. This can include manufacturing goods that are meant to resemble the products of an established organization, using false trademarks to evade restrictions and a number of other possibilities. In the third degree, trademark counterfeiting is a class A misdemeanor, a class E felony in the second degree, and a class C felony in the first degree.

The main determining factor in the various degrees of trademark counterfeiting is the retail value of the goods forged—in cases of second-degree trademark counterfeiting the value exceeds $1,000, while in first-degree trademark counterfeiting it exceeds $100,000.

Counterfeit of wagering instruments concerns the creation or use of fake casino wagering instruments (usually fake chips, but also including checks, tokens, vouchers, etc.) to defraud a casino. Use of counterfeit wagering instruments is a class A misdemeanor, but it is likely to be combined with stronger penalties concerning gaming fraud. These include possession of unlawful gaming property, use of unlawful gaming property, and manipulation of gaming outcomes in a gaming establishment.

Schedule a Free Consultation Right Away

If you’ve been arrested for crimes related to counterfeiting and forgery, it’s important that you remain calm and be polite with the police. Do not resist arrest. Do not try to talk the arresting officer out of arresting you. You’re much more likely to say something to incriminate yourself further than you are to convince anybody not to arrest you. Exercise your right to remain silent, and ask to speak to an attorney immediately.

The state is already preparing its case against you, so it’s time for you to start planning your defense. A strong defensive strategy can be the difference between walking and being found guilty. It can also be the difference between receiving the minimum and the maximum sentence. Be smart. Get a good attorney who can put up a strong defense.

Call us now to get started.