United States v. Nadirashvili, No. 08-4211-cr (2c Cir. August 23, 2011) (Winter, Pooler, Hall, CJJ) Six-defendant appellants appealed their convictions in a wide-ranging firearms conspiracy that had both international and domestic components. One part of the activity involved trafficking in “foreign defense articles” – here, grenades, warheads, missiles and launchers, amongst other things – under … Read more
United States v. Celaj, No. 10-2792-cr (2d Cir. August 22, 2011)(Miner, Cabranes, Straub, CJJ) Din Celaj headed a crew that would rob – or try to rob – drug dealers. When successful, they would obtain drugs, which they would themselves sell, money and firearms. He went to trial on several Hobbs Act robbery and associated … Read more
United States v. Echeverry, No. 10-2828-cr (2d Cir. August 19, 2011) (Winter, Parker, Chin, CJJ) (per curiam) The facts of this latest per curiam could have been pulled straight from a law school exam. During an ongoing narcotics conspiracy, Echeverry and his accomplice attempted to recover stolen narcotics from a third person; they possessed and … Read more
United States v. Marino, 09-1965-cr (2d Cir. August 18, 2011) (Jacobs, Winter, McLaughlin, CJJ) Matthew Marino was at the margin of the Bayou Hedge Fund Group disaster – a Ponzi scheme that defrauded its investors of more than $300 million. The fund was opened in 1996 by two principals, who hired Marino’s CPA brother, Daniel … Read more
United States v. Simels, No. 09-5117-cr (2d Cir. August 12, 2011) (Newman, Calabresi, Hall, CJJ) Former defense attorney Robert Simels appealed his conviction, after a jury trial, of various counts relating to a witness-tampering scheme, and his fourteen-year sentence. The circuit dismissed two minor counts as insufficient but otherwise affirmed. The case arose from Simels’ … Read more
United States v. Riggi, No. 09-4391-cr (2d Cir. August 10, 2011) (Jacobs, Wesley, Chin, CJJ) Philip Abramo’s case has been running for several years. He was originally convicted after trial of murder and racketeering charges, and received a life sentence. But the circuit reversed, finding that the admission of eight of his co-conspirators’ plea allocutions … Read more
United Stateds v. FNU LNU, No. 10-419-cr (2d Cir. August 9, 2011) (Jacobs, Calabresi, Lohier, CJJ) Defendant, traveling under the name Sandra Calzada, arrived at JFK on a flight from the DR. A border patrol agent noticed that Calzada had an open arrest warrant, and flagged her for secondary inspection. An “armed guard” escorted her … Read more
United States v. Plugh, No. 10-2815-cr (2d Cir. August 8, 2011) (Jacobs, Livingston, CJJ, Rakoff, DJ) This about-face arises from a supervening Supreme Court decision. In its original opinion in this case, a divided panel held that the defendant had successfully invoked his Miranda rights by declining to sign a waiver-of-rights form. See “Car, Men, … Read more
United States v Jackson, No. 07-0263-cr (2d Cir. August 4, 2011) Leval, Lynch, CJJ, Korman, DJ) Appellant Derrick Rowe, charged with a drug-related murder, had three trials. At the first, he was convicted of only drug trafficking and possession of ammunition, but the jury hung on three other counts – murder, § 924(c) and § … Read more
United States v. Feldman, No. 10-2275-CR (2d Cir. August 1, 2011) (McLaughlin, Pooler, Sack, CJJ) Defendant Feldman sought appellate review of four sentencing enhancements. The government argued that the court should not review them because the district court had indicated that it would impose “the same sentence” even without some of the errors. The circuit … Read more