“The worse case would naturally be that there's an indictment for federal felonies dealing with these transactions that we’ve already heard about,” said former Monroe County Bar Association President Mike Wolford. Wolford has prosecuted and defended many federal cases. He thinks the fact that Spitzer may have lost a little legal leverage when he resigned Wednesday. “Here the Governor has already resigned there s been no resolution of any potential criminal charges, so one would suggest that maybe there’s no further it leverage left,” said Wolford. Although Governor Spitzer has not been charged with any crime some think a number of criminal charges apply. There’s talk he could face structuring, money laundering, and Mann Act Violations. Structuring involves parceling out payments in amounts below $10,000 to avoid reporting those transactions to the IRS. The Mann Act was enacted in 1910 to prevent the movement of prostitutes across state lines for “immoral acts”. “It has not been used recently in connection with a individual crossing state lines for the purpose of transporting someone for the purpose of engaging in prostitution,” said Wolford. While Wolford thinks it’s unlikely the Governor will do any time he does offer this advice. “The best thing you could counsel any individual in this situation is to be forthcoming and to be candid and honest with his attorney so that the attorney is able to have a full comprehension of what’s involved here,” added Wolford.
