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Jordan v. United States Parole Commission, No. 12-5021-cr (2d Cir. Jan. 21, 2014) (Winter, Calabresi, and Raggi) (summary order), available here

Jordan, a treaty transfer prisoner under 18 U.S.C. § 4106A, was convicted by a Hungarian court of the rape of a woman and the attempted murder of another woman. The Hungarian tribunal sentenced him to a 14-year prison term with the possibility of conditional release after ten and one-half years. On this appeal, Jordan challenged an order of the United States Parole Commission, entered pursuant to the applicable treaty, that required him to serve 12 years in prison before release on his Hungarian convictions. This summary order affirms the sentence as procedurally and substantively reasonable. [Disclosure: the Federal Defenders of New York, Inc., represents Mr. Jordan.] 

Jordan’s principal argument on appeal was that the Parole Commission erred by calculating his Guidelines range to include a four-level enhancement for inflicting “permanent or life-threatening bodily injury” on …

United States v. Paquin, No. 13-253-cr (2d Cir. Jan. 23, 2014) (Kearse, Raggi, and Korman) (summary order), available here

This summary was prepared by noted criminal defense attorney Francisco Celedonio, Esq., who is also a member of the Board of Directors of Federal Defenders of New York, Inc.:

After Paquin violated the terms of supervised release, he was sentenced to six months of imprisonment and an additional 48 months of supervised release. On appeal, he argued that the 48-month term of supervised release was procedurally and substantively unreasonable. This summary order rejects the defendant’s arguments.

United States v. Thavaraja, No. 12-4330-cr (2d Cir. Jan. 23, 2014) (Walker, Livingston, and Chin), available here

This summary was prepared by noted criminal defense attorney Francisco Celedonio, Esq., who is also a member of the Board of Directors of Federal Defenders of New York, Inc.:

Pratheepan Thavaraja, a native of Sri Lanka, pled guilty to conspiracy to
provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and conspiracy to
bribe public officials. Defendant was the principal procurement officer for the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (“LTTE”), a militant separatist group in
northern Sri Lanka engaged in a civil war against the Sri Lankan government.
The State Department …

United States v. Hoke, No. 13-615-cr (2d Cir. Jan. 14, 2014) (Jacobs, Lohier, and Droney) (summary order), available here

Hoke deposited into her own bank account a Social Security check made out to a third party. For that conduct, a jury convicted her of bank fraud and of passing a forged Treasury check. This summary order affirms her convictions.

The Court first held that the evidence was sufficient to establish Hoke’s intent to defraud under both counts. The beneficiary of the check testified that she never received the check or endorsed it. Though handwriting analysis concluded that the false signature and endorsement to Hoke was not done in Hoke’s hand, the evidence allowed a rational jury to find that Hoke knew that the check was forged. In particular, Hoke gave conflicting accounts of how she came to deposit the check, and she appeared nervous when depositing it.

The Court next held, applying plain error …

United States v. Moore, Nos. 12-1644-cr(L), 12-1654-cr(CON) (2d Cir. Jan. 17, 2014) (Jacobs, Lohier, and Droney) (summary order), available here

United States v. Hatala, No. 13-613-cr (2d Cir. Jan. 15, 2014) (Calabresi, Raggi, and Droney) (summary order), available here

United States v. Clark, No. 12-1221-cr (2d Cir. Jan. 17, 2014) (Newman, Winter, and Droney) (summary order), available here

United States v. Clark, No. 12-1221-cr (2d Cir. Jan. 17, 2014) (Newman, Winter, and Droney), available here 

United States v. Kurti, No. 12-3503-cr (2d Cir. Jan. 16, 2014) (Winter, Straub, and Hall) (summary order), available here

United States v. Shand, No. 13-227-cr (2d Cir. Jan. 13, 2014) (Pooler, Parker, and Wesley), available here