PRACTICE AREAS

Federal Criminal Defense

Ms. DeBlasio is an experienced trial lawyer who vigorously and tirelessly defends individuals at all stages of the federal criminal process, from indictment to trial, guilty plea to sentencing, and pre-trial cooperation to post-conviction sentence reduction. Her recent cases have involved charges of terrorism, murder, RICO violations, international and maritime drug-trafficking, conspiracy to distribute narcotics, money-laundering, bribery, and fraud.

Ms. DeBlasio began her career even before attending law school, working part-time for her father, a New York trial attorney legendary in both the criminal and personal injury fields who was named in the first edition of Best Lawyers in America and in every annual edition thereafter, up to his retirement in 2006. Immediately after receiving her law degree in 1991 and a Master’s degree in 1992, Ms. DeBlasio clerked for a federal trial judge and, after a subsequent federal appellate clerkship, she went on to try criminal cases as a federal prosecutor at two United States Attorney’s Offices. Since her return to the private sector, she has taken both civil and criminal cases to trial in federal court.

NOTABLE CRIMINAL CASES

• Won immediate release on resentencing for a man 22 years into a life sentence for distributing crack cocaine in the late 1990s (99-Cr-157, SDNY)
• Negotiated Deferred Prosecution Agreement and dismissal of all criminal charges against a young man alleged, under the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act, to have conspired to import narcotics into the United States (15-Cr-292, SDNY)
• Negotiated Deferred Prosecution Agreement and dismissal of all criminal charges against a young woman alleged to have conspired to falsify documents and defraud the federal government (14-Cr-543, SDNY)
• Won a time-served sentence following a Rule 35 sentence-reduction proceeding for a former Member of the Italian Parliament who pled guilty for his role in facilitating a sale of weapons purportedly destined for the then-designated Colombian terrorist organization the FARC in a DEA-created “sting” operation (14-Cr-799, SDNY)
• Won an 11-month sentence for a foreign federal law enforcement agent who pled guilty to bribery and witness retaliation and faced a sentencing range of 121 to 151 months (09-Cr-270, EDNY)
• Won a 60-month sentence for the “Hugh Hefner of Canada” who pled guilty without a cooperation agreement to a scheme to export cocaine from the United States to Montreal and faced a sentencing range of 108 to 135 months (12-Cr-425, SDNY)
• Won a 30-month sentence for a citizen of the Dominican Republic who pled guilty without a cooperation agreement to conspiring with the father of two of her children to export narcotics to the U.S. and faced a sentencing range of 135 to 168 months (09-Cr-057, EDNY)
• Won a 48-month sentence for a U.S. citizen who pled guilty without a cooperation agreement as a drug courier and faced a sentencing range of 140 to 175 months (15-Cr-264, SDNY)
• Won a 72-month sentence for a U.S. citizen who pled guilty without a cooperation agreement as a drug courier and faced a sentencing range of 188 to 235 months (11-Cr-669, EDNY)
• Won a 66-month sentence for a European client who pled guilty without a cooperation agreement for his role in a conspiracy to sell weapons purportedly destined for a Mexican drug cartel in a DEA-created “sting” operation, having faced a sentencing range of 135 to 168 months (15-Cr-793, SDNY)
• Won time-served sentences for cooperating top-tier cartel leaders in several of the nation’s largest international narcotics-trafficking prosecutions.

Ms. DeBlasio communicates directly with her clients and their families in French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, as needed.

Ms. DeBlasio works predominantly in federal courts in the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York; she also is licensed to practice in federal and state courts in Florida, New Jersey and Washington, D.C.

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