Amtrak Employee Found Not Guilty of Multiple Charges in Criminal Case
Recently, a Virginia-based Amtrak conductor found himself in some trouble after operating a passenger train that ran between Washington, D.C. and Cleveland, Ohio. During the trip, the man allegedly followed a female passenger up and down the train, cornered her, and touched her inappropriately. After ending his shift, he got off the train in Pittsburgh and went about his life.
About a month later, the train conductor showed up for work in D.C., and was greeted by Amtrak detectives wanting to get his statement about a situation in which he was being accused of inappropriate actions by the female passenger. Not thinking much of the request, the man supplied his statement. A week later, he was fired for violations of Amtrak’s internal code. And about a week after that, he was charged with four criminal offenses:
- Stalking
- Indecent assault
- False imprisonment
- Harassment
If he were to be found guilty of the above crimes, he would face up to 13 years in prison and 15 years of sex offender registration, so he knew he needed the help of a skilled Pittsburgh criminal defense attorney. This is what brought him to Worgul, Sarna & Ness, Criminal Defense Attorneys, LLC.
Attorney Matthew Ness immediately got to work on the case. The client, an immigrant who had recently obtained his full citizenship, maintained his innocence throughout the process. As such, the case went to trial.
In preparing for court, attorney Ness was able to connect with a passenger who was on the train on the night in question. The young man communicated with the alleged victim via Facebook about the incident with the client, and traveled to Pittsburgh to testify in the case.
After deliberating for around 45 minutes, the jury found the client not guilty of all charges. As a result, he was able to avoid the harsh statutory and collateral consequences of a conviction.
The outcome of an individual case depends on a variety of factors unique to that case. Case results do not guarantee or predict a similar result in any similar or future case.