Houlon Berman News

Rick Finci has been reappointed as a member of the Maryland Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy for the remainder of a term of 4 years from July 1, 2023 by the Governor, Wes Moore.

Rick Finci Makes the 2023 POWERLIST for Criminal Law by The Daily Record Click here for the PDF version. Richard “Rick” Finci primarily handles criminal and traffic matters in the federal and state courts of Maryland and the District of Columbia as co-managing partner...

Rick Finci reappointed as member of the Maryland Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy by Governor Lawrence Hogan, Jr. for a term of four years from July 1, 2019.

By Jessica Anderson Baltimore Sun | Aug 15, 2019 | 10:41 AM Citing Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are a-Changin,” Maryland highest court ruled this week that the smell of marijuana alone is not enough justification for law enforcement to search a person. The 7-0 Maryland...

In early April 2016, Houlon Berman Managing Partner Richard A. Finci successfully recovered $44,000 in U.S. Currency seized by the Gaithersburg City Police Department after a drug raid on his client’s home. During the raid, which was targeting the client’s son, a...

Houlon Berman managing partner, Richard A. Finci, obtained an acquittal on behalf of a client charged in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County with Possession with Intent to Distribute Marijuana. The client was stopped late at night for a traffic violation. During...

Effective October 1, 2015, Family Law Article §7–103 will be amended to include the ground of "Mutual Consent." A couple will be able to qualify for an absolute divorce by "mutual consent" if the following four conditions are met: They have no minor children in...

Houlon Berman Managing Partner, Richard A.Finci, recently obtained an acquittal after a jury trial for a teenage client charged with Attempted Second Degree Sexual Offense and related lesser offenses.  Due to the young age of the client and alleged victim, and the...

Houlon Berman Managing Partner Richard A. Finci successfully argued recently in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County for the suppression of a four pound package of marijuana, which was recovered from the trunk of his client’s vehicle after a traffic stop. Although...

Houlon Berman Managing Partner, Richard A. Finci, Testifies Before Maryland House Judiciary Committee on Behalf of American Civil Liberties Union and Maryland Criminal Defense Attorney Association in Support of Forfeiture Reform in Maryland Forfeiture reform may be on...

On October 22, 2014, a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge granted a Motion to Suppress after an all-day hearing, resulting in the dismissal of felony drug charges against Houlon Berman’s client.  The State alleged that the Houlon Berman client possessed an ounce of...

Houlon Berman's client was charged with Second Degree Assault after a short verbal argument with a customer at his business in Glen Burnie, Maryland.  The customer claimed that he pushed and threatened her, but he claimed that he had been the one assaulted by the...

Houlon Berman’s client was charged with Distribution and Possession with Intent to Distribute a large quantity of cocaine found in her vehicle. The client drove two other Defendants to a meeting with a prospective drug purchaser who turned out to be an undercover...

Houlon Berman’s client was indicted, along with two co-defendants, for her alleged role in the attempted sale of three ounces of cocaine to an undercover police officer. The Government claimed at trial that the client had driven the seller to the drug deal, that the...

A recent forfeiture case has been featured in an article by The Montgomery County Sentinel Newspaper. $83,000 in seized funds were returned to Houlon Berman's client. Click here to read the entire article. - Representation in this case by Richard Finci.

On May 1, 2014, the Montgomery County Circuit Court ordered the County to return $83,000 seized from Houlon Berman’s client after a drug raid at her home. As a result of the raid, the client had been charged with felony drug charges, which were eventually dismissed,...

Houlon Berman managing partner, Richard Finci, represents 84 year old retired physician Dr. Leslie Altstatt, who has been charged with multiple counts of child abuse and sex offenses. Police arrested him on Friday, April 25th at his home in Silver Spring,...

On April 22, 2014, Houlon Berman was able to obtain the release of its 24 year old client after a Post-Conviction hearing.  In 2009, the client, who was only 18 years old at the time and had no prior record, was convicted of Robbery with a Deadly Weapon and First...

During the week of March 24th, in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County, Houlon Berman’s client was acquitted of First Degree Burglary charges after the Court ruled that the police had illegally executed a search warrant at the client’s home. The search warrant...

On Friday March 21, after a 3 hour trial in the District Court of Maryland for Montgomery County, Houlon Berman’s 24 year old client was acquitted of charges of Driving Under the Influence (DUI) and Driving While Impaired (DWI). The evidence at trial showed that the...

Houlon Berman Partner Richard A. Finci was quoted in The Rockville Gazette as a professional on use of the plea of Not Criminally Responsible (Insanity) in Maryland Criminal Prosecutions.  

In September of 2011 MTPD Lt. David Mann was called on to address a disturbance at the Southern Maryland Bus Annex. John Dowtin was found to be throwing rocks, breaking windows, and creating an unsafe atmosphere at the bus annex. Lt. Mann was forced to utilize several...

Houlon Berman Managing Partner Richard A. Finci successfully defended multiple charges of sexual abuse and kidnapping against his client, Matthew Maldonado.  The charges stemmed from an incident involving a female student from the same martial arts school Mr....

Houlon Berman Managing partner Richard A. Finci, with the extensive assistance of Senior Associate Benjamin C. Marcoux, successfully settled a wrongful death action before the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County last month. The details of the case and settlement...

On March 19, 2013, Houlon Berman attorney, Richard A. Finci, Co-presented a seminar on Federal and State Forfeiture laws to the members of the Maryland Criminal Defense Attorney Association. Finci’s part, entitled “What the State Does Not Want You to Know” focused on...

Houlon Berman partner Richard A. Finci with the assistance of partner Alan D. Levenstein, obtained a wrongful death settlement of 1.85 million dollars on behalf of a family last month. The case involved an automobile accident in Prince George’s County between a...

Houlon Berman’s client was charged with Possession with Intent to Distribute Crack Cocaine after a search of his vehicle resulted in the discovery of 58 grams of the substance. The search occurred behind a local motel. During a site visit, Houlon Berman’s attorney...

Houlon Berman’s client was charged on October 2010 with possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine found in an apartment at which he was visiting. Earlier that day, narcotics officers interdicted a package thought to contain a large volume of marijuana....

Houlon Berman’s managing partner, Richard A. Finci, a member of the Maryland State Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy since 2003 has been appointed by the Commission to its influential Sentencing Guidelines Subcommittee. The Subcommittee is charged with...

Houlon Berman’s client was charged on February 2011 with possession of crack cocaine. He was seen leaving a motel room by undercover officers watching the motel. The officers claimed that when they approached the client, he consented to being searched and the drugs...

Houlon Berman’s client was charged on December 2010 with possession of marijuana after being searched by a Metropolitan police officer. The officers were called to the scene of a verbal dispute. The Houlon Berman client was involved in this dispute and officers...

Houlon Berman’s client, charged with assault on a police officer, disorderly conduct, threat to do bodily harm and failure to obey a traffic order, was found not guilty on December 6, 2010 after a Court trial lasting two days in the Superior Court for the District of...

Houlon Berman’s client was the wife of a person convicted of a drug offense in Federal Court. The Government sought forfeiture of numerous bank and investment accounts, vehicles and defendant’s marital home. Houlon Berman successfully recovered currency and vehicles...

In November 2010, Houlon Berman’s managing partner, Richard A. Finci, noticed that two separate clients with District of Columbia DUI cases involving very high breath testing results had retained the firm. Neither client demonstrated extreme levels of intoxication and...

Houlon Berman’s client was charged on October 2010 with felony theft for his involvement in a scheme to obtain diesel fuel for his tractor trailer. The State alleged that the Houlon Berman client would pay cash to an employee of a company with a fuel account. Using...

Houlon Berman’s client in this case was charged on September 2010 with possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine. The State alleged that the client drove a friend to a drug deal with a police officer at a Wawa Store in Frederick County, Maryland. The drug...

Houlon Berman’s client, charged with armed carjacking, first degree assault, robbery with a deadly weapon, use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence and conspiracy to commit armed carjacking, was found not guilty of all charges on July 22, 2010 after a...

Houlon Berman’s client was charged on July 2010 with possession with intent to distribute PCP, possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine and destruction of evidence as well as lesser misdemeanor counts including simple possession of those drugs and resisting...

A Houlon Berman clients Cadillac Escalade was seized after a large quantity of drugs was found inside the vehicle as a result of an investigation. Detectives seized the vehicle for forfeiture and Montgomery County filed a Petition for Forfeiture of Motor Vehicle....

Houlon Berman’s client was indicted on first degree murder charges. Approximately one month prior to trial, Attorney Richard Finci was finally able to convince the Assistant State’s Attorney that DNA evidence he had uncovered showed that the client was not the person...

When asked for a quote as to whether the Houlon Berman client was relieved that no further Grand Jury investigation would be undertaken, Houlon Berman Managing Partner Richard A. Finci stated “relieved only because it’s always stressful to be under question, but we...

After a lengthy federal Grand Jury Investigation, no charges were filed against Houlon Berman client, a current Chief of Police and former Deputy Chief. The client was publicly accused of fraudulent conduct related to his benefits from a serious injury sustained at...

Houlon Berman’s client, charged with DUI in the District of Columbia, was acquitted after a Court trial lasting two days. The client had been involved in an automobile accident, striking a parked vehicle and hitting his head on the steering wheel and windshield....

In this extremely complex and lengthy trial, the Houlon Berman client was acquitted of all charges after a two-week trial in the United States District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland. The conspiracy involved over $1M in credit card fraud losses and seven co-defendants....

The Houlon Berman client in this case was charged with possession with intent to distribute over 60 grams of crack cocaine but was acquitted of that charge by a jury after a three-day trial. The jury’s decision was largely a result of disbelief of the charging...

The Circuit Court for Worcester County, Maryland, denied the State’s Attorney’s Petition for Forfeiture of Houlon Bermans’ client’s home even after he was convicted of a drug felony. The felony case involved the execution of a search warrant at the client’s home and...

(Due to the facts, details and privacy concerns, no further details of this case can be provided.)

The Houlon Berman client in this matter was charged in one indictment with nine separate robberies. In order to assure a fair trial, the Houlon Berman attorney fought to separate or sever the case. This Motion was granted and the trials were scheduled to take place...

The Houlon Berman client in this case was charged with attempted first degree murder for his aiding and abetting in a near fatal shooting. The incident arose when the victim in the case was attempting to steal a quantity of drugs from a home at which defendant was a...