Defendant Is Aspiring
Hollywood Actor
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The family of
Vivek M. Shah of West Hollywood, Calif., has retained Charleston attorney Troy
N. Giatras to represent Shah against federal charges in West Virginia.
A federal grand jury in Charleston
indicted Shah on four counts of interfering with interstate commerce and using
interstate commerce to threaten extortion. An affidavit from a U.S. Postal
Service inspector claims that Shah targeted five people for extortion,
including Christopher Cline, a West Virginia native who owns a majority stake
in Foresight Reserves, a coal company with operations in Illinois and northern
Appalachia. The affidavit does not identify the other four targets of the
alleged extortion, but media reports have mentioned film executive Harvey
Weinstein and Groupon chairman and cofounder Eric Lefkofsky as two of them.
“Before we rush to judgment, we need
to wait until all of the facts are in,” Giatras said. “We are still in the
process of gathering those facts. I have had limited discussions with my client
and expect to have more when he arrives in West Virginia in the coming week.”
Shah, 25, has had acting roles in
movies, television shows and commercials.
Giatras is head of The Giatras Law
Firm, PLLC, and has practiced law in Charleston, W.Va., since 1990. He has
represented clients in state and federal cases, including appeals to the West
Virginia Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court. The areas of law in which he
practices include federal and state court cases involving white-collar crimes,
drug crimes, guns, automobile accidents and business litigation.
More information on the case is
available at: www.thewvlawfirm.com
and www.thewvlawblog.com.
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