The New York Times Daily

Trials in North Carolina History

In Charlotte, the Freitekh family stunned the world with their story. They have suffered unimaginable pain over something they did not do.

A family of seven daughters and their brother, along with their parents from two different backgrounds, moved over fifteen years ago from Jerusalem. To live a peaceful life in Charlotte, they gave up hundreds of millions in assets and businesses in Jerusalem.

Freitekh holds two bachelor’s degrees: one in architecture and a second in film and video production. As a member of several nonprofit organizations, he is involved with Seeds of Peace and ANRWA. Besides his successful businesses, he has also founded one of the most influential labels, production studios, and manufacturing firms. Izzat Freitekh, the father, founded a chain of restaurants, food packaging operations, and a catering company. In addition, he performed other acts of kindness throughout the world.

On December 17th, 2020, the Charlotte, NC business owner and his son were falsely charged with obtaining a Covid PPP loan. Both father and son own successful businesses that qualify for big loans and are hardworking citizens. Due to false allegations, this family has been through a lot for over a year. As a result of these false allegations, the seven sisters, their brother, their mother, and their father have had to cope with a lot.

Along with not applying for the PPP loan as the attorney for the Western District of North Carolina claims, the law-abiding father and son were deemed qualified to receive larger loans for their well-established businesses.

As indicated in the case text, the trial is scheduled to begin in January 2022, and the Freitekh legal team is one of the most experienced in North Carolina. Listed below are a few details about the team.

The legendary trial lawyer Stephen P. Lindsay Stephen P. Lindsay

Steve graduated with honors in criminal justice from Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina. As well as attending on a football and baseball scholarship, Steve was also awarded a Dana Scholarship for academic excellence. He graduated with honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill law school. He also served as a director of the Braxton Craven National Moot Court Competition while he was in law school.

The first 10 months of Steve’s law career were spent as an associate with the Asheville law firm of Elmore and Powell. Steve started his own law firm in 1991 with just a handful of cases, and has run it ever since. At present, he practices law with Kerry Sutton, with offices in Durham and Asheville, North Carolina.

Over the years, he has been involved in several notable cases. He previously worked with lawyers in Raleigh on US v. McDonald, a well-known case about a military doctor convicted of killing his wife and children. Soon after, Steve was working in the Guilford County District Attorney’s Office as the Klan/Nazi trial was going on. This involved a march in the streets of Greensboro that erupted into a violent gun battle. In one of his earliest cases, Steve was trial and appellate counsel in United States v. Ross & Silvers, 844 F.2d 187 (4th Cir. 1988), used as Key Case for “What Constitutes ‘Counterfeit’ Obligation or Security of United States Within Statutory Provisions Setting Forth Criminal Penalty for Uttering or Dealing in Counterfeit Obligations or Securities,” 99 A.L.R. Fed. 243 (1990).

In more recent years, Steve has handled several high-profile murder cases. State v. Lippard involved two young men who murdered six people including two grandparents, two parents and a young child. Through the efforts of Steve and his co-counsel, Mr. Lippard avoided death sentences. Steve worked with Judy Clark on the Eric Rudolph case involving multiple bombings in the southeast, with Kerry Sutton on the Mike Peterson murder case in Durham (an author accused of bludgeoning his wife to death), and on US v. Locust, a federal trial in which the defendant was tried for the murder of a Park Ranger (government sought death but withdrew request at sentencing phase). Steve and Kerry Sutton successfully argued for the removal of the elected District Attorney in Durham, North Carolina. Tracey Cline, who replaced Mike Nifong of the infamous Duke Lacrosse cases, made numerous disparaging remarks about a local judge which triggered the action. Only once before in North Carolina history has an elected district attorney been ordered out of office.

Steve devotes between six and eight weeks a year to training programs, lectures and keynote addresses. He is a faculty member at the National Criminal Defense College (since 1996), at the Defender Advocacy Institute (University of Dayton Law School since 1998), at the Federal Defender Trial Skills Institute (Case Western Law School since 2008), at the Institute for Criminal Defense Advocacy,

and for Bill Daniels Trial Skills College (annual training for Georgia Academy of Criminal Defense Attorneys). Steve has published several articles including “Cross Examination in Capital Cases: May I have some … uh … sprinkles. Yes, some sprinkles,” THE CHAMPION (April 2001); “Storytelling: Why We Do It and How To Do It Better,” THE CHAMPION (December 1999); “Do You Hear What I Hear? Demonstrative Evidence Makes A Difference,” THE CHAMPION (June 1998); and “Prosecutorial Abuse of Peremptory Challenges in Death Penalty Cases,” Campbell University Law Review, Fall, 1985 (cited by United States Supreme Court in Gray v. Mississippi, 481 U.S. 648, n. 19 (1987)).

Steve is a Life Member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys (NACDL); and a Life Member of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys (GACDL). He is a member of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice and the North Carolina Bar Association. He is admitted to practice in North Carolina, in the United States District Courts for Western, Middle and Eastern Districts of North Carolina, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and Supreme Court of the United States.

W. Rob Heroy

The work of Rob Heroy involves solving problems. By standing up to the government, he believes that he can deliver the most effective results for his clients. He has significant trial experience both in state and federal courts. In January of 2012, he joined Goodman Carr as a partner after leaving a prominent Charlotte law firm. Formerly, he was an assistant district attorney in Mecklenburg County.

Throughout the state and federal courts, Rob represents clients with criminal matters. Among his practice areas are white collar crime charges and investigations involving millions to billions of dollars, large-scale drug trafficking conspiracies, weapons violations, serious assaults, and homicides. There are no limits to the number of jury trials he has tried, and he does not back down from a challenge.

His work also frequently involves representing individuals and companies who are the subject of investigations. These individuals and companies want to know their legal options and whether steps can be taken early on to protect themselves. In many cases, he has kept his clients from being charged, and their names from ever seeing a news reel.

His cases have been prominently featured in media including the New York Times, the BBC, L.A. Times, MSNBC, CNN, the Charlotte Observer, and others. He was

recently recognized in a novel by a nationally recognized journalist for his assistance in contributing to the knowledge of prosecution of organized crime in the Charlotte area. He provided commentary to the BBC for the El Chapo trial, as well as the 566.

He is experienced in state and federal criminal appeals, and in post-conviction relief. He has had success overturning decades-long sentences for clients. For example, he obtained reversal of a client’s 35-year sentence based on insufficient evidence of the client’s knowledge of criminal wrongdoing from the N.C Court of Appeals. In 2019, he was granted reversal of a synthetic drug conspiracy conviction based on improper venue. In 2018, he overturned a 50-year murder sentence solely on the ineffective assistance of the client’s trial lawyer, and overturned another conviction on direct appeal where the client had not been properly advised of his rights to counsel. He obtained a 100-month sentence reduction on remand for another State client, and obtained a remand for resentencing from the Fourth Circuit for a 2-year reduction for another client (readmore). He has scores of other victories where cases have been overturned onappeal or when challenged in post-conviction proceedings.

He has a number of other exciting appellate challenges working their way through the courts including a habeas corpus challenge to the immigration detention policies in North Carolina, where the ACLU and Just Futures have joined the litigation, as well as a First Amendment challenge to our jury intimidation statute in which renowned legal blogger Eugene Volokh is arguing with Mr. Heroy. The last case involves the defense of an attorney where Rob is challenging her conviction based on arbitrary enforcement by federal law enforcement. In this case and dozens of other cases, he is the lawyer that lawyers call when they need assistance, either with criminal charges or investigations or with disciplinary proceedings.

Rob also litigates immigration matters in federal district court and federal courts of appeal. In some cases, he has obtained court orders compelling immigration

to grant relief to individuals or release them from detention. In others, he has obtained relief by appealing arbitrary immigration decisions to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. He has presented at continuing legal educations seminars before other attorneys on the subject of immigration law and has been accepted as an expert witness in the area of immigration law in North Carolina Superior Court.

Business North Carolina Magazine selected Rob to the Legal Elite every year since 2010. This is an award in which Business North Carolina polls attorneys to vote for the top 3 percent of attorneys in their field. North Carolina Super Lawyers has recognized him on multiple occasions as a Rising Star in criminal defense. Martindale Hubbell has rated him as an AV Preeminent lawyer, their highest rating for legal ability. Martindale also lists him as having a 4.9 out of 5.0 client rating. He has a 10 out of 10 attorney rating on Avvo.com. He was selected to the Mecklenburg County Bar Leadership Institute in 2011.

Rob is the president of the Mecklenburg Country Criminal Defense Bar. He is on the Board of Directors for the Mecklenburg County Bar Foundation and an executive committee member. He previously taught advanced criminal law at the Charlotte School of Law. He also puts on the annual criminal law CLE for the North Carolina Bar Association. He has received pro bono awards and recognition over the last several years.

Outside of the law, he was a finalist in the 2010 World Series of Poker. He is married to Katie Heroy, and they have three adorable boys, Linus, Arthur, and Leo and love spending time in the North Carolina mountains. He is also the founding member of The Adventure Club, which explores the world and whose members are limited to Rob, Katie, Linus, Arthur, and Leo. Recent Awards & Recognitions

Recognized as “Rising Star” for 2019 in the category of criminal defense Recognized on the 2018 list of the Legal Elite by Business North Carolina Magazine

Recognized by North Carolina Super Lawyers as a Rising Star Recognized as one of Charlotte’s “Legal Elite” by Business North Carolina Magazine

Selected to Mecklenburg County Bar Leadership Institute Received Pro Bono Honors from North Carolina’s Legal Aid “AV” rating from Martindale-Hubbell NACDL White Collar Defense College

Michael J. Greene

Michael J. Greene has been a managing partner with Goodman, Carr since September 2003. He practices criminal defense both in federal and state courts. He has handled cases ranging from traffic matters to DUIs to serious felonies such as drug trafficking, sexual assault, vehicular homicide, and murder. Attorney Greene represents those who have been criminally charged in the Western and Middle Districts of North Carolina for drug trafficking and conspiracies, weapons offenses, housing and mortgage fraud, and white collar crimes. He is licensed to practice law in the State Courts of North Carolina as well as the Federal Court for the Western and Middle Districts of North Carolina. Previously, Attorney Greene

served as an Assistant District Attorney (ADA) at the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s office (Charlotte, NC). As an ADA, Attorney Greene worked in both District and Superior Court prosecuting a large volume misdemeanor and felony cases. He conducted hundreds of bench trials while in District Court and tried several jury trials in Superior Court. Attorney Greene is certified by the North Carolina State Bar as a specialist in the area of State Criminal Law. Each year since 2004, Attorney Greene has been recognized as one of Charlotte’s “LEGAL ELITE” in the field of Criminal Defense by Business North Carolina Magazine. He was named in 2009 as a “Rising Star Under the Age of 40” and in 2011, as one of the “Rising Stars” in the field of criminal defense by Charlotte Magazine. In 2010, Attorney Greene was named “Outstanding Panel Member of the Year” for legal services rendered to clients who sought legal representation through the Mecklenburg County Bar Lawyer Referral Service in the area of criminal law.

In 2014, Business North Carolina Magazine recognized Attorney Greene as both a “Legal Elite” lawyer and as the top vote recipient, voted by his peers, in the area of criminal defense. (see Rewards & Recognitions). In 2015, he was inducted into the Legal Elite Hall of Fame. Attorney Greene was also named a 2015 Super Lawyer in the area of Criminal Defense by Super Lawyer Magazine. In that same issue, he was voted as one of the Top 100 Attorneys in North Carolina. He received this same recognition in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. In 2017-2020, Super Lawyer Magazine has named Attorney Greene as one of the Top 25 Lawyers in Charlotte, NC.

Personal Information

Attorney Greene is originally from Springfield, Ohio, but has resided in Charlotte, North Carolina since 1999. Attorney Greene received his bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH) and his Juris Doctorate from The Wake Forest University School of Law (Winston Salem, NC).

In addition to the practice of law, Attorney Greene is happily married to his wife Anna. He and his wife enjoy spending time together with their daughter and their dog, Benson.

Attorney Greene is presently a co-chair of the Mecklenburg County Bar Judicial Nominating Committee and formerly served the Mecklenburg County Bar as a member of the Bar Grievance Committee, as a Judge with the Mecklenburg County Teen Court Program and as a youth advisor with the Mecklenburg County “Lunch with a Lawyer” Program.

In November of 2019, Attorney Greene was selected and sworn in to serve on the North Carolina Board of Law Examiners.

Attorney Greene serves his community as a member of the Board of Directors for the Humane Society of Charlotte, on the Board of Directors for Towne Bank, on the Board of Directors for Lawyer’s Mutual, on the Board of Directors for Sugar Creek

Charter School, as a member of Charlotte’s Good Fellows Club and as a member of the Charlotte Leatherheads. He has also appeared as a guest columnist with The Charlotte Observer in the “Talk to a Lawyer” portion of the Business section.

Recent Awards & Recognitions

Named one of the top 25 lawyers in Charlotte, NC 2020 by Super Lawyer Magazine

Named 2020 “Super Lawyer” in the category of DWI/DUI by Super Lawyer Magazine

Named Top 100 Lawyers in North Carolina by Super Lawyers Magazine

Named one of the top 25 lawyers in Charlotte, NC 2019 by Super Lawyer Magazine Named 2019 “Super Lawyer” in the category of DWI/DUI by Super Lawyer Magazine

Named one of the top 25 lawyers in Charlotte, NC 2018 by Super Lawyer Magazine Recognized by Business North Carolina as 2018 Hall of Fame in area of Criminal Defense

Named one of the top 25 lawyers in Charlotte, NC 2017 by Super Lawyer Magazine Named 2017 “Super Lawyer” and one of the top 100 lawyers in the state by Super Lawyer Magazine

2016 Vice-chair of the Judicial Nominating Committee for Mecklenburg County Bar

Named 2016 “Super Lawyer” and one of the top 100 lawyers in the state by Super Lawyer Magazine

Named 2015 “Super Lawyer” and one of the top 100 lawyers in the state by Super Lawyer Magazine

Recognized by Business North Carolina as “2014 Legal Elite” in the area of Criminal Defense

Recognized by North Carolina State Bar as a State Criminal Defense Specialist Recognized as one of Charlotte’s “Legal Elite” by Business North Carolina Magazine

Selected as one of the “Rising Stars” by Charlotte Magazine

Named “Outstanding Panel Member of the Year” by Mecklenburg County Bar It is impossible to imagine how painful and unjust it must have been for the Freitekh family to go through all that suffering for something they did not do.

As these attorneys and their team seek justice for the innocent Freitekh family, we wish them the best.