Partner

Joseph M. Schuster is an experienced trial lawyer whose practice focuses on international narcotics trafficking, money laundering, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions, white collar criminal defense, internal investigations, and complex civil litigation. He is co-counsel in the FCPA-based money laundering prosecution of Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab.

Before forming Sweetnam, Schuster & Schwartz, Joe served for over nine years as an Assistant United States Attorney with the United States Department of Justice in both the Middle and Southern Districts of Florida. He successfully tried nearly 20 federal jury trials, represented the government in hundreds of court hearings, and argued before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Joe spent most of his career with the DOJ in the Southern District of Florida’s International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section where he achieved Top Secret clearance and specialized in counternarcotics, sophisticated money laundering, and public corruption/obstruction of justice prosecutions. In addition to prosecuting leaders of some of the largest Drug Trafficking Organizations in the world, Joe also targeted corrupt foreign law enforcement officers who aided those illegal activities.

During his time at the United States Attorney’s Office, Joe worked extensively throughout Central and South America, forging partnerships with federal law enforcement officers and local counterparts stationed in Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru and Brazil. He also investigated Transnational Criminal Organizations operating in Europe, building relationships with agents and foreign law enforcement agencies across the continent. These experiences gave Joe a unique insight into the manner in which the United States works in partnership with multiple law enforcement agencies abroad to investigate criminal organizations, gather evidence, and extradite foreign nationals for prosecution in American courts.

  • As an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Joe also investigated and prosecuted bank fraud, wire fraud, tax fraud, aggravated identity theft, structuring, counterfeiting, immigration offenses, continuing criminal enterprise, bank robbery, commercial robbery, firearm offenses, threats against the President, supervised release violations related to sexual assault and domestic violence, child exploitation, human trafficking, and murder. He received commendations from the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

    Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Joe worked for several years in the New York office of Dechert, LLP, one of the largest international law firms in the world. As a member of the White Collar & Securities Litigation Group, Joe served as a lead associate in the firm’s representation of clients involved in alleged OFAC violations, securities violations, and civil fraud. He also successfully tried, as co-counsel, a federal murder for hire case in New York. As part of the firm’s pro bono program, Joe represented numerous federal criminal defendants in the Southern District of New York, obtaining favorable results for clients charged with drug trafficking, firearms violations, and immigration offenses.

education

  • J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, 2006

    • Dean’s Scholar

  • M.A., with honors, History of International Relations, London School of Economics
    and Political Science, 2003

  • B.F.A., with honors, Dramatic Writing, New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, 2000

court admissions

  • Florida

  • New York

  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

  • U.S. District Court for the District of Colombia (Washington, D.C.)