307 Henry St., Suite 211, Alton, IL 62004
(618) 462-8484
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Providing trial-tested, results-focused, aggressive criminal defense for serious charges in state and federal court. Serving Edwardsville, IL; Alton, IL; Madison County, IL; and the Federal Southern District of IL. Fluent in English and Spanish.
Request a confidential appointment to explore how Stobbs Law Offices can assist in your aggressive legal defense.
Watch Donna Sasek's Criminal Defense Testimonial
Watch Dave Huggins' Criminal Defense Testimonial
Watch Jeremiah Hodge's Criminal Defense Testimonial
Serving Edwardsville, IL; Alton, IL; Madison County; the Southern Federal District of IL; and the Eastern Federal District of MO
Hi, my name is John Stobbs. I've been a criminal defense attorney for about 25 years. Partly because I'm fluent in Spanish I have handled over 1000 federal criminal defense cases in St. Louis, MO and East Saint Louis, IL. I've also handled a couple hundred Madison County cases in Edwardsville, IL.
I have been successful in fighting the government in trial and in the video above you can see some of the acquittals I have won in federal criminal jury trials.
I fight hard for all of my clients. I fight hard to get good deals for my clients even if that means going to trial. The prosecutors know who the plea bargain lawyers are and who the attorneys are who fight hard for their clients!
The prosectors are always going to give better deals to the attorneys that fight hard for their clients.
When you hire John Stobbs, you hire ME! I do all the work for your case - not a paralegal or an associate.
I am a lifelong resident of Alton, Illinois, which is located across the Mississippi river from St. Louis, Missouri. My Dad is a legendary Madison County trial lawyer and my brother Steve is a Madison County Judge. I cemented my family legacy as a criminal defense lawyer in Edwardsville, IL by being elected President of the Madison County Bar Association in 2010.
Because I don't believe in a "volume law practice" I average only 15-20 open files at a time. This allows me to give personal attention to a particular client's case, and to personally see a case through to the end. I don't believe in being hired by a client and then passing the case off to an associate to handle. If a client hires me, I do all of the work.
I have become a leader in the federal defense bars in the Southern District of Illinois and Eastern District of Missouri as witnessed by my being a part of the panels to retain and appoint Magistrates Cohn and Wilkerson respectively. I also have served on the retention committees for Federal Public Defenders Phil Kavanaugh in the Southern District of Illinois and Lee Lawless in the Eastern District of Missouri. In 2011 I was appointed by Chief Judge Catherine Perry to be the Criminal Justice Act Panel Representative for the Eastern District of Missouri. I have been an attorney for nearly 25 years and for over a decade have enjoyed an AV rating which is the highest rating given by Martindale Hubbell. I have worked with some of the best attorneys in St. Louis and elsewhere and am proud that these attorneys hold me in high regard.
I am proud to consider myself a trial lawyer, like my Dad, and average between one and two federal jury trials a year. In the very first jury trial I was appointed to, U.S.A. v. Martinez, 92-CR-40088-JLF I acted as co-counsel and my client was acquitted. I am equally as proud of an acquittal in U.S.A. v. Solares 94-CR-30064-WDS where the Assistant U.S. Attorney prosecuting the case was my former trial advocacy teacher at St. Louis University.
I studied at St. Louis University receiving my Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1986 and Juris Doctoris degree in 1989. I spent several years studying in Madrid, Spain, first at la Universidad Complutense and then at a law program sponsored by William & Mary's law school.
Upon graduating from St. Louis University I returned to Madrid where I worked at Zulueta y Asociados for one and one-half years. When I returned to the United States, I practiced general law with my Dad at Stobbs & Sinclair in Alton.
Because I speak Spanish fluently, I was contacted by the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Illinois to represent a Mexican Defendant pro bono. After the favorable result I achieved in this pro bono case, other Spanish speaking clients contacted me to represent them and the District Court began appointing me in other cases.
In part due to being a member of the Criminal Justice Act Panels, I have represented in excess of 800 criminal Defendants in federal courts in the Southern District of Illinois and Eastern District of Missouri. In recent years, my practice has evolved towards representing clients charged with federal drug crimes, gun crimes, or white collar crimes.
I have actively sought to improve the federal defense bars in the Southern District of Illinois and Eastern District of Missouri. In 2001 I began organizing yearly seminars which were dedicated solely to issues involving federal criminal practice in the Southern District of Illinois and Eastern District of Missouri. From 2002 through 2011 I hosted an annual dinner honoring the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Dinner drew in excess of 150 people including judges, Assistant U.S. Attorneys and members of the criminal defense bar.
Of all my achievements, I am proudest of spearheading the renaming of the Alton Federal Courthouse in honor of Judge William L. Beatty who was a great man that influenced my life and career greatly. I was initially told that it would be impossible for all of the federal entities to act within the one year timetable I set, and due to the efforts of a great many people, the "Beatty Building" was dedicated within one year of Judge Beatty's death. Click here to read the article (PDF) from The Alton Telegraph.
The word "significant" has a different meaning to different people. It would be easy for me to list ten cases where my client was acquitted or the charges dismissed and claim that case was "significant" because of the result. In actuality, some of the most "significant" cases I handled were significant because of how the outcome impacted me personally or how the outcome made a difference to my client.
Prior to this jury trial I had been co-counsel with Assistant Federal Public Defender Phil Kavanaugh in two other federal jury trials which resulted in acquittals, and this was the first "Not Guilty" verdict I received while representing a Defendant on my own. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Quinley, who was my trial advocacy teacher in law school was my adversary and Mr. Solares was the only one of the four co-defendants to be found "Not Guilty" by the jury. I had not been on my own for very long and discovery in Mr. Solares' case consumed two or three banker's boxes, yet I was able to devote the time necessary to master the discovery and convince the jury after a six week trial that the Government had not proved Mr. Solares guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. After the verdict, Mr. Quinley told me that he was proud of me, and that I had done a good job for my client. This sentiment was echoed by Judge Stiehl and this case gave me a great deal of confidence in my abilities as a trial lawyer.
Jacob Nelson was charged with drug induced homicide as well as being a drug dealer and maintaining a drug house. If convicted of drug induced homicide, Jacob would probably have been incarcerated for the rest of his life. This was the fourth trial Tom Keefe and I had together and the second one involving drug induced homicide. Tom was brilliant in his cross-examination of the Government’s experts. Because Tom and I were so comfortable working together we were able to divide the work and represent Jacob Nelson effectively. We used a risky strategy of admitting that Jacob was a drug dealer and maintained a drug house but fought hard about whether the cause of death was heroin or other illegal substances in the decedent’s body. The only witness to the alleged drug transaction which caused the drug induced homicide was Terry Moskodauz who I demolished on cross-examination. Tom’s cross-examination of the experts and my cross-examination of Terry Moskodauz combined with my closing argument resulted in an acquittal of the drug induced homicide count and conviction of the other counts. Jacob was only sentenced to 6 years in jail.
It is a rare feat to have two back to back acquittals in federal court. A month after Tom Keefe & I obtained an acquittal for Jacob Nelson, I had a jury trial with my client Willie Bassett who was charged along with three others with bank robbery. The evidence against Willie was overwhelming and included his fingerprints on weapons to be used in a robbery, video surveillance and a “confession.” Willie has an exceptionally long criminal record, including two homicides. If Willie pleaded “guilty” the only deal he could have received would have been 20 years. Willie rolled the dice and decided to go to trial and I think he was acquitted because the jury believed the FBI agent lied under oath about Willie’s confession. I pointed out in my closing argument that if the FBI agent was going to lie about something so trivial, what else would he lie about.
Paul Smith was President of Laclede Employee Credit Union who over a period of time misappropriated funds. Technically, as charged in the Indictment, what Paul did was a crime. However, Paul used the funds to assist members of the Credit Union who were charged excessive fees for overdrafts and the like. Paul had hired an attorney before me who essentially advised that Paul should throw in the towel and consign himself to spending several years in prison. When Paul explained his story to me, I corroborated what he said, and while it is a crime to misappropriate funds there were true mitigating factors which I pointed out to Judge Rosenstangel. I am proud that Judge Rosenstangel prepared a detailed sentencing memorandum which followed the argument I made to her at Paul’s sentencing. I requested a variance from a 4 year Advisory Guideline Sentence and Paul was sentenced to probation.
Request a confidential appointment to explore how Stobbs Law Offices can assist in your aggressive legal defense.