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History of the Fraud Guidelines
Amy Baron-Evans, Sentencing Resource Counsel, Federal Public and Community Defenders, alerted me to a wonderful site that provides the history of the amendments to the Fraud Guidelines. It is located here. (esp)
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Hirschhorn & Bieber Joins Ranks of Big Firms
The three-lawyer Coral Gables criminal law firm of Hirschhorn & Bieber has joined the Orlando-centered multi-city law firm of Gray Robinson. See here. Their move from a small criminal law practice to a much larger firm reflects a trend of many of "the best and the brightest" of the criminal defense bar leaving small firm practices
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Field Acquitted, Daugerdas Re-Convicted, In Tax Fraud Case
Business Week has the story here. Former BDO Seidman CEO Denis Field, represented by Sharon McCarthy of Kostelanetz & Fink LLP, was acquitted on all seven counts he faced. Paul Daugerdas, former head of now-defunct Jenkens & Gilchrist's Chicago office, was convicted on seven of 16 counts. The original convictions against Daugerdas and Field were
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Ninth Circuit Vacates Conviction Due To Judicial Participation In Plea Discussions
The opinion is in United States v. Kyle. Although not a white collar prosecution, the ruling applies to all federal criminal cases in the Ninth Circuit. The Ninth Circuit noted that when a district court goes beyond giving the reasons for its rejection of a plea agreement and starts discussing hypothetical agreements that it might
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Sixth Circuit Reverses Convictions Under 18 USC Sections 1014 and 1028A
In United States v. Miller, the Sixth Circuit today reversed three of four counts of conviction in a mortgage fraud prosecution. The court held that appellant Miller did not unlawfully "use" a means of identification within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. Section 1028A, the Aggravated Identity Theft statute, when he falsely stated that two named
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Former Congressman Rick Renzi Sentenced to 36 Months
USA Today has this story. Here is the interesting part, at least to federal sentencing aficionados. Renzi took the government to trial. Judge David Bury calculated Renzi's U.S. Sentencing Guidelines range at 97-121 months. (The government asked for a 9-12 year sentence.) Judge Bury downwardly varied to 36 months. This is striking, and yet another
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Worst Practices 101: The Composite Interview Report
We live in an age of massive arrogance, misconduct and lawlessness–individual, governmental and corporate. In the realm of federal criminal investigations, as each new outrage reveals itself, a federal law enforcement flak is trotted out to announce that "this program is entirely legal" or "you can trust us not to abuse our power" or my
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FHFA Cuts Own Deal With JPMorgan Chase: No Admission Of Wrongdoing
According to the New York Times (Deal Book), the Federal Housing Finance Agency has announced its own $4 billion dollar settlement with JPMorgan Chase, covering the bank's sale of mortgage-backed securities to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the period (2005-2007) leading up to the financial crisis. FHFA's original suit alleged that JPMorgan Chase, and
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Jury Finds Against BOA, Based on Countrywide Unit’s Pre-Acquisition Sales to Fannie and Freddie
This just in from the WSJ (subscription required). The WSJ headline is misleading, as the unit in question was located within Countrywide Financial Corporation, and the actions at the heart of the case occurred prior to Countrywide's acquisition by BOA. The Forbes story is here.(wisenberg)
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Ninth Circuit Pops Stargell on Wire Fraud Affecting Financial Institution
Last week in United States v. Willena Stargell, the Ninth Circuit declared, in effect, "we are family with our sister circuits" in interpreting the federal wire fraud statute. Stargell, a tax preparer, was charged and convicted under 18 U.S.C. Section 1343 with wire fraud "affect[ing] a financial institution." Based on her filing of false tax
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