Counsel

Anna Estevao

+1 212 202 3354

Anna represents individuals and entities in connection with criminal proceedings, internal investigations, and complex commercial litigation. Her clients benefit from the compassion, strategic advocacy, and uncompromising dedication she brings to each matter.

Anna handles a variety of high-stakes matters involving financial fraud, insurance fraud, tax fraud, money laundering, health care fraud, immigration offenses, and narcotics and weapons offenses. Committed to helping her clients overcome the most challenging of circumstances, she provides sensitive, effective representation at every stage of the case, from initial contact with law enforcement through trial, sentencing, and appeal. For individuals who are being investigated but not charged, she creates pathways through the process to avoid charges entirely. When individuals do face criminal prosecution, Anna develops novel, creative legal arguments that consistently result in positive outcomes, including charges being dismissed altogether and, where unavoidable, reduced charges and favorable sentencing outcomes. She also assists clients in mitigating collateral consequences; her in-depth knowledge of restitution and forfeiture issues often leads to the drastic mitigation of financial consequences.

Prior to joining Sher Tremonte, Anna was a trial attorney at the Federal Defenders of San Diego, where she represented indigent criminal defendants in federal court, with particular emphasis on immigration-related offenses. Her achievements at the Federal Defenders office include winning an appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit after arguing that the sentencing court misinterpreted a provision of the Sentencing Guidelines, resulting in the case being remanded for resentencing, as well as securing a path to U.S. citizenship and dismissal of illegal reentry charges for a client who had been previously deported from the country.

During law school, Anna co-authored a successful presidential clemency petition in her capacity as the Charles Stillman Research Fellow at the Center on the Administration of Criminal Law. She also worked at the Voting Rights Project at the ACLU, the Orleans Public Defenders, and the Public Defender Service in Washington, D.C., and served as a research assistant to Prof. Barry Friedman on issues related to the Fourth Amendment. Following law school, Anna clerked for the Hon. Denny Chin on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and for the Hon. Vernon S. Broderick on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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Experience

A full acquittal in a federal weapons trial in the Southern District of New York: Anna and partner Justine Harris were appointed pursuant to the Criminal Justice Act to defend an indigent client against the charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. They scored an early victory in the case, persuading the judge to suppress statements obtained in violation of Miranda v. Arizona. At trial, Anna and Justine conducted vigorous cross-examinations of the government’s law enforcement and forensic expert witnesses, and the jury returned a not guilty verdict after less than two hours of deliberation. This was the first acquittal in federal court in New York City since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resumption of jury trials.

Obtained probationary sentence and mitigated financial consequences for a Guatemalan soccer leader in the FIFA corruption scandal: The former president of the Guatemalan soccer federation and FIFA committee member was indicted in connection with bribes received in exchange for granting media and marketing rights to Guatemala’s future World Cup qualifying matches. After pleading guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy and one count of wire fraud conspiracy, he was sentenced to two years’ probation. With partner Justine Harris, Anna’s advocacy also led to the enormous reduction in the client’s restitution obligations. (See media coverage of the case from the BBC and The Associated Press.)

Other notable experience includes:

  • Represented a postal employee charged with conspiring to import and distribute synthetic cannabinoids in the Southern District of New York; succeeded in having charges reduced to a petty offense misdemeanor and obtained a sentence of one-year probation.
  • After an indigent client was charged with drug conspiracy, secured the client’s enrollment in the Southern District of New York’s Young Adult Opportunity Program over the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s objection. The client’s successful completion of the diversion program led to the dismissal of all charges.
  • Successfully opposed the government’s request for over $13 million in restitution and forfeiture from a doctor in a health care fraud case in the Southern District of New York.
  • For a client facing sentencing for a $9 million tax fraud scheme, obtained a sentence of home detention and probation in the Eastern District of New York.
  • Obtained the dismissal of charges for a client charged with money laundering conspiracy in the Eastern District of New York.
  • Represented a litigation finance company in connection with a dispute with a claimant; obtained an arbitration award (and confirmation of such award) in the full amount of recovery sought (approximately $3 million), plus legal fees and interest.
  • In a commercial dispute, represented a building developer that claimed the building’s seller had deficiently constructed and then concealed said defects; successfully defeated motions to dismiss all claims.

Recognitions

Selected to the Rising Stars in White Collar Crimes list, Thomson Reuters’ Super Lawyers (2021)