LAWFUEL – Legal Newswire – SAN FRANCISCO – United States Attorney Scott N. Schools announced that Debra Edison, age 52, was arrested today on a no bail arrest warrant that was issued after a complaint was filed on June 28, 2007, in San Francisco charging Debra Edison with obstruction of justice for creating false documents to aid her husband’s defense. Debra Edison’s husband, Michael Edison, has been indicted for defrauding a victim of over $2,000,000 and his case is set for trial before the Honorable William H. Alsup, U.S. District Court Judge, on November 26, 2007 (CR 07-0074 WHA). According to the affidavit in support of the complaint against Debra Edison, law enforcement intercepted a letter from Michael Edison to Debra Edison wherein Michael Edison provided detailed instructions to Debra Edison regarding how to create false documents to make it appear as if the victim in Michael Edison’s case loaned him the money the indictment against him alleges he stole. The affidavit also states that approximately two months after the letter was mailed, Debra Edison produced the two documents described in her husband’s letter to Michael Edison’s attorney, who, in turn, produced them to the United States Attorney’s Office as discovery in Michael Edison’s case.
Debra Edison appeared this morning before the Hon. James Larson, U.S. Magistrate Judge, and was arraigned on the complaint. She was ordered detained and the matter was continued to July 6, 2007, at 9:30 a.m. before Judge Larson for a detention hearing.
The penalty for obstruction of justice is up to twenty (20) years of imprisonment and a three year term of supervised release. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
A complaint contains only allegations against an individual and, as with all defendants, Ms. Edison must be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Jeffrey Finigan is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Rawaty Yim. The prosecution is the result of an ongoing investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Further Information:
Case #: 3 07 70386 BZ
A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.
Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
Judges’ calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court’s website at www.cand.uscourts.gov.
All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be directed to Natalya LaBauve at (415) 436-7055 or by email at Natalya.LaBauve@usdoj.gov.
