Contact Information
Sami Azhari
Azhari LLC
30 N. Lasalle Street, Suite 2140
Chicago, Illinois 60602
312.626.2871
sazhari@azharillc.com
www.federalcriminallawyer.us/
Bar Certifications
- State Bar of Illinois
- State Bar of California
- Northern District of Illinois
- Central District of Illinois
- Northern District of Indiana
- Northern District of California
- Central District of California
- Eastern District of California
- Southern District of California
- Northern District of New York
- Eastern District of Michigan
- Northern District of Texas
- 7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Education
- Purdue University B.S. Electrical Engineering – 2004
- Michigan State University J.D. – 2007
Associations
- American Bar Association – White Collar Crime Committee
- Chicago Bar Association – Member
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers – Member - Arab American Bar Association – Judicial Evaluation Committee
- Illinois State Bar Association – Judicial Investigator
- Northwest Suburban Bar Association – Court Appointed Bar Attorney
- Suburban Bar Coalition – Judicial Investigator & Judicial Evaluation Committee
Sami Azhari
Attorney at Law
Sami is an attorney and principal of Azhari LLC, with over 17 years of experience as a trial lawyer. He has tried over 100 jury and bench trials. His practice focuses on federal and white collar criminal defense, where he has defended attorneys, traders, and corporate executives on a litany of federal crimes including wire fraud, bank fraud, racketeering (RICO), and conspiracy charges. His clients also include physicians, business owners, professional athletes, and board members.
He handles all aspects of federal criminal prosecutions, representing witnesses, targets, and defendants from the investigative phase through trial, and if necessary, sentencing and appeals. He has dealt with every investigative agency including FBI, ATF, DEA, IRS, Department of Homeland Security and the United States Secret Service.
He has been consistently recognized in numerous publications, such as Super Lawyers Magazine as being one of the most highly skilled and highly regarded criminal lawyers. He achieved the Illinois Rising Star award for 8 consecutive years, an honor given to the top 2.5% of attorneys in the state. He was also a Superlawyer for White Collar Criminal Defense, which is given to the top 5% of practicing attorneys in the state.
He also handles criminal fraud charges that revolve around the Paycheck Protection Program that was rolled out after the passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. He recently received a federal jury acquittal on behalf of his client, a foreign national from Mauritania that was facing federal criminal charges in the Northern District of Illinois. The case went to a jury trial where he was found not guilty of all charges.
He has been published numerous times in publications on issues of white collar criminal defense, jury deliberations, and other matters. Recently, The Champion, the nationwide journal for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers published his article, Guilty Until Proven Guilty: The Prosecution of Public Corruption and White Collar Crime. He was also on the faculty at the American Bar Association’s annual White Collar Crime Conference.
Select Federal Criminal Matters
- Represented a church bishop on charges of wire fraud and labor trafficking.
- Represented an email marketer accused of wire fraud, allegedly using a fictitious name to access email servers to conduct snowshoe spamming.
- Represented a business owner on an extradition request from Poland to face criminal charges.
- Represented a Chief Financial Officer on wire fraud charges, where he was accused of embezzling $5.8 million dollars from the corporate account.
- Represented a foreign national on charges of assaulting a federal agent. The case went to a jury trial and resulted in a full acquittal.
- Represented a commodities trader on mail fraud charges, where he allegedly misappropriated $8 million dollars.
- Represented an individual accused of wire fraud and identity theft.
- Represented an individual accused of failure to file tax returns.
- Represented a bookkeeper on bank fraud charges.
- Represented a CEO of home healthcare company on charges of Medicare fraud.
- Represented CFO of real estate development firm charged with bank fraud.
- Represented an Illinois financial advisor on wire fraud charges.
- Represented a business owner of tax fraud charges at oral argument in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Select Publications
- Author, “Federal Prosecution of PPP Fraud,” IICLE Flashpoints, May 2021.
- Co-Author, “Loss Amount is Shaping PPP Fraud Prosecution Sentencing,” Law 360, March 2021.
- Author, “Guilty Unity Proven Guilty: The Prosecution of Public Corruption and White-Collar Crime,” The Champion, December 2020.
- Author, “The Jury Problem: Why Courts Should Change the Way Juries Deliberate,” CBA Record, May 2020
- Co-Author, “Supreme Court Remand Raises Questions of Jurisprudential Implications on Criminal Law, IICLE Flashpoints, May 2020
- Co-Author, “Ineffective Assistance: Ignorance of the Law is Not an Excuse,” IICLE Flashpoints, April 2020
Select Media Interviews, Editorials, and Press Cases
- Editorial, “Judge sets high bond for man who spit on Chicago cop, then was body slammed,” Chicago Tribune, February 3, 2020.
- Editorial, “Chicago man body slammed by police officers faces new charges,” Daily Herald, February 3, 2020.
- Editorial, “Man body slammed by Chicago police officer faces new charges,” Fox 32 Chicago, February 3, 2020.
- Editorial, “Foreign National Acquitted of Assault Charges Remains Detained,”Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, January 14, 2020.
- Editorial, “Attorneys, mom of man body-slammed by cop say he is schizophrenic,” Chicago Sun Times, December 6, 2019.
- Editorial, “Man body slammed by Chicago police officer to remain in jail,” NBC 5 Chicago, December 5, 2019.
- Editorial, “5K bail for man who allegedly spat on cop before being body slammed,” Chicago Sun Times, December 1, 2019.
- Editorial, “Dupage probation officer gets year in prison for sexual misconduct with probationer,” Chicago Sun Times, November 1, 2019.
- Editorial, “Man accused of sexually assaulting student at Skokie religious school to remain held without bail,” Chicago Tribune, August 21, 2019.
- Editorial, “Ex-DuPage county probation officer might take plea deal in sexual misconduct case,” Daily Herald, April 5, 2019.
- Editorial, “Chicago Heights Man Accused of Fatally Shooting Teen Denied Bail,”Chicago Tribune, September 20, 2017.
- Editorial, “Feds say they were: Frauds with Benefits,” Chicago Sun Times, August 17, 2017.
- Editorial, “Lawyer: Escort not brains of $5.8 million spent on exec’s credit card,” Chicago Tribune, August 6, 2017.
- Editorial, “Scottsdale man indicted in ‘snowshoe’ spamming,” The Arizona Republic, February 9, 2017.
- Editorial, “Bizman & 6M escort, Pharma exec let her have his company credit card,” New York Daily News, August 4, 2017.
- Editorial, “Executive, escort suspected of spending $5.8 million on company credit card,” Chicago Tribune, August 3, 2017.
- Editorial, “Executive and escort indicted in $5.8 million plot,” Chicago Tribune, August 17, 2017.
- Editorial, “Indiana Singer Charged with Sexually Exploiting Minor,” ABC.
- Editorial, “Claim over police raid to proceed,” Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, May 4, 2016.
- Editorial, “McHenry County Minister Charged with Possession of Child Porn,” Chicago Sun Times, August 21, 2015.
- Editorial, “Robert Serritella, accused Skokie child killer, linked to other sex attacks,” ABC 7 Chicago, February 17, 2015.
- Editorial, “Defense: Prosecutors intentionally misled jury on Richard Wanke murder charges,” Rockford Registered Star, May 30, 2014.
- Editorial, “Jury wont hear about Utica’s bad police cameras,” NewsTribune, February 20, 2014.
- Interview, “Former Cook County cop claims he’s being targeted by police, Fox News Chicago, 2013.
- Editorial, “Palatine law firm negotiated lighter sentence for Arlington Heights care giver,” Patch, January 14, 2013.
- Editorial, “Arlington Hts. Caregiver gets for years for thefts,” Daily Herald, January 11, 2013.
- Editorial, “Three accused of $4 million fraud scheme,” The Dispatch Argus, January 6, 2011.
Select Presentations
- Provisors: “Shift in PPP Fraud Enforcement” April 2022
- Federal Criminal Law Committee
- Panel Moderator: “Compliance and Monitoring” – March 2022
- American Bar Association White Collar Crime Conference
- Speaking Topic: “Shadow Trading: SEC v. Matthew Panuwat” October 2021
- Provisors: “White Collar Criminal Defense: Past, Present and Future” March 2021
- Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education
- Moderator: Federal Criminal Practice, April 2020 (Delayed)
- Speaking Topic: Views from the Bench with four federal judges.
- Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education
- Moderator: Scientific Evidence in Criminal Cases
- “Speaking Topic: Use of Technology in Formulating a Defense,” October 2017
- Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education, “Misdemeanor Crime and How to Defend Them,” March 2017
- Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education, “Basic Misdemeanors,” March 2017
- Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education, “Illinois Felony Procedure” March 2017
- Northwest Suburban Bar Association, “Traffic Court: Do I Need a Lawyer?” July 2014
- Chicago Bar Association, “Expungements and Sealings,” November 2014
- Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education, “Statutory Summary Suspension Hearings: Limited Grounds but Unlimited Uses” September 2014
- Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education, “Hot Air & Bodily Fluids: Breath, Blood, and Urine Testing” September 2014
- Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education, “Recognizing a “Bad” Client,” April 2014
- Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education, “How to Get and Keep Good Clients in a Competitive Market,” April 2014
Nationwide Practice
Azhari LLC handles cases all over the country. From California to New York and everywhere in between. We know the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure as well as local rules for specific jurisdictions. With a national reputation and local familiarity, every courtroom is our “home court.”
Notable Representations
Federal Criminal Cases
USA v. Chychula – Wire Fraud
USA v. Estrada – Bank Fraud
USA v. Amaya – Racketeering
USA v. Dickey – Labor Trafficking & Wire Fraud
USA v. Abdallah – Tax Fraud
USA v. Laskowski – Failure to File Tax Returns
USA v. M’Baye – Assaulting a Federal Agent
USA v. Kennedy – Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud
Presentations
Get in touch.
Speak with Sami Azhari.
