Skaftouros v. United States, No. 11-0462-cv (2d Cir. December 20, 2011) (Cabranes, Hall, Lohier, CJJ) Dimitrious Skaftouros is charged in Greece, his native country, with murdering a sixteen-year-old boy after a botched kidnapping. The crime took place in March of 1990; Skaftouros fled Greece that May, and ultimately ended up in the United States. He … Read more
United States v. Cadet, No. 10-4220-cr (2d Cir. December 20, 2011) (Miner, Cabranes, Wesley, CJJ) An Eastern District jury convicted Joseph Cadet of 16 tax offenses based on his preparation of dozens of false tax returns for his “clients” between 2003 and 2006. Although the court affirmed his conviction – he challenged only the admission … Read more
United States v. Bourke, No. 09-4704-cr (2d Cir. December 14, 2011) (Pooler, Hall, CJJ) Defendant Bourke was convicted of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Travel Act, and § 1001 atfer his involvement in a complex bribery scheme arising from the late 1990’s privatization of Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil company, SOCAR. Although it noted that … Read more
Several Interesting per curiams rounded out 2011: In United States v. Steppello, No. 10-4527-cr (2d Cir. December 23, 2011) (Jacobs, Cabranes, Wesley, CJJ) (per curiam) the court reversed a Northern District order granting suppression of cocaine seized from the defendant’s person when arrested, and, later, from his home pursuant to a search warrant, and his … Read more
United States v. Bruno, No. 10-1887-cr (2d Cir. November 16, 2011) (Parker, Chin, CJJ, Korman, DJ) The story of Joe Bruno, former New York State Senate Majority Leader, is fairly well known. Having seemingly turned his position into a veritable cesspool of self-interested profiteering, he was ultimately convicted of two counts “honest services” fraud – … Read more
United States v. Simmons, No. 10-1526-cr (2d Cir. October 26, 2011) (Winter, Pooler, Parker, CJJ) New York City police officers accompanied an individual to his apartment in the Bronx to retrieve his belongings. He was moving out because his roommate, defendant Simmons, had pulled a gun on him during an argument a few days earlier. … Read more
Well, it’s taken months, but at last there are three summary orders worth noting. So, in reverse order, here they are: United States v. Persing, no. 10-638-cr (2d Cir. August 26, 2011), concerned the district court’s admission of a loan-shark’s computer records. Those records revealed the extent of his business, and other evidence showed that … Read more
United States v. Bahel, No. 08-3327 (2d Cir. October 26, 2011) (Pooler, Raggi, CJJ, Korman, DJ) Sanjaya Bahel, a chief procurement officer at the United Nations, was convicted of honest services fraud and bribery offenses in connection with a kickback scheme in which he improperly steered lucrative U.N. procurement contracts to a friend, in exchange … Read more
United States v. Banki, N o. 10-3381-cr (2d Cir. October 24, 2011) (Cabranes, Pooler, Chin, CJJ) Defendant Banki is an Iranian-born United States citizen. Starting in 2006, his family transferred about $3.4 million from Iran to the United States, all of which was effectuated through the “hawala” system. Banki’s hawala broker used a “matching” system … Read more
United States v. Rivera, No. 10-1199 (2d Cir. October 21, 2011) (Katzmann, Chin, CJJ, Gleeson, DJ) This interesting decision answers an unanswered question in the circuit’s jurisprudence on § 3582(c)(2) motions. The outcome is favorable for Mr. Rivera, but will likely not last. An amended version of U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10 goes into effect on November … Read more