Firm Attorneys Secure Big Win for Client in a Criminal Pretrial Hearing

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Saul Ewing attorneys Justin Danilewitz, Patrick Hromisin and Zachary Kizitaff in Philadelphia secured a big win in Pennsylvania state court (Chester County) in a criminal pretrial hearing on behalf of Frank Recknagel, a Security Manager for Energy Transfer LP. Mr. Recknagel was charged with seven felony conspiracy offenses spread over 59 counts, alleging complicated theories of conspiracy to engage in money laundering, bribery, and State Ethics Act violations. Mr. Danilewitz’s team completed several declination presentations to the District Attorney’s Office, but the prosecution proceeded in a politically charged and controversial case relating to Energy Transfer's construction of the Mariner East Pipeline. Over the course of an approximately five-hour preliminary hearing on June 25, 2020, including rigorous cross-examination of the lead Detective that elicited admissions fatal to the prosecution's theory of the case, the Magistrate Judge dismissed the entire criminal case. In short, Mr. Danilewitz and his team persuaded the Judge that the Commonwealth did not even present prima facie evidence of the defendant's commission of the alleged offenses, a rare and significant outcome.

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