For over 20 years, Pate & Johnson has been representing individuals charged in serious criminal cases in federal court. When the media takes an interest in these cases, they will sometimes discuss them in the news.
The Augusta Chronicle reported on the case of Colonel Anthony Roper and his wife, Audra Roper, who were charged in a conspiracy and bribery case in federal court in the Southern District of Georgia. The Ropers were accused of giving the owner of a company, Calvin Lawyer, more than $20 million of sole-source federal contracts in exchange for nearly $200,000 in bribes between 2008 and 2014. Attorney Page Pate represents Col. Anthony Roper in this case.
During the investigation of this case, a search warrant was issued for the personal email account of Col. Roper and his wife. Agents were looking for communications related to any alleged bid rigging or government contracts. Page and Audra Roper’s attorney, Warren Lietz, III, filed Motions to Suppress in the case arguing that the search and seizure of the Roper’s personal email account was invalid because agents collected all email correspondence of the Roper’s. They further argued that the only resolution to this invalid search and seizure was to suppress the evidence seized.
The Judge heard argument from the government asserting that they were required to retain all of the evidence and provide it to the defendants in case there was something favorable to the defense within all of the correspondence. The parties were then allowed to submit written briefs to the judge for consideration before he ruled whether or not the email evidence was admissible.
