Date: 06-12-2025

Case Style:

United States of America v. Gary Denkberg

Case Number:

Judge: Joan M. Azrack

Court: United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (King County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: United States District Attorney's Office in Brooklyn

Defendant's Attorney: Matthew W. Brissenden

Description: Brooklyn, New York criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with multiple counts of mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341, wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, use of
fictitious names and titles in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1342, and aiding
and abetting mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2 and 1341.

In 2003, Novis owned and operated a direct-mailing operation in Long Island, New York. Denkberg joined the operation in 2004 and served as Novis’s partner. Working together over more than a decade, Denkberg and Novis engaged in a mass-mailing fraud scheme in which they sent hundreds of thousands of fake “prize notices” to American consumers that were designed to give recipients the impression that they had won a large cash prize—typically in excess of one million dollars. To claim their prize, the elaborately designed notices instructed recipients that they needed only to pay a small processing fee, typically between $20 and $40. And so they did. From 2004 until September 2016, Denkberg and Novis’s operation generated.

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In August 2020, the Government sought an initial criminal indictment against Denkberg and Novis, followed by a superseding indictment a year later.18 On August 25, 2021, a federal grand jury sitting in the Eastern District of New York returned the 19-count superseding indictment charging Denkberg and Novis with conspiracy to commit mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349 (Count One); six counts of mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341 (Counts Two through Seven); four counts of wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343 (Counts Eight through Eleven); four counts use of fictitious names and titles in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1342 (Counts Twelve through Fifteen); and four counts of aiding and abetting mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2 and 1341 (Counts Sixteen through Nineteen).

Outcome: Trial began before Judge Azrack on April 26, 2022. On May 17, 2022, after a three-week trial, the jury acquitted Denkberg on two counts of mail fraud (Counts Six and Seven), two counts of wire fraud (Counts Eight and Nine), and two counts of fraud using fictitious names (Counts Thirteen and Fifteen), and found him guilty on all 13 remaining counts. The jury convicted Novis on all 19 counts.

Affirmed

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

Comments: