United States v. Woolf Turk, No 09-5091-cr (2d Cir. November 30, 2010) (Katzmann, Hall CJJ, Jones, DJ) Ivy Woolf Turk was a principal in a real estate development company. Between 2003 and 2007 she and her partner persuaded investors to lend them $27 million, primarily to renovate apartment buildings in upper Manhattan. They induced the … Read more
United States v. Fuller, No. 09-1437-cr (2d Cir. November 30, 2010) (McLaughlin, Straug, Raggi, CJJ) In 2004, Ross Fuller pled guilty to a sex offense in Missouri and became a registered sex offender. He complied with the applicable registration requirements until June of 2006, when he moved to New York, and failed to register either … Read more
Well, it’s been a while since the court gave us any interesting summary orders, but here are two that are worth noting. In United States v. Crawford-Bey, No. 09-3309-cr (2d Cir. December 1, 2010), the defendant challenged on appeal the U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(b)(1) gun possession enhancement. He had given away four guns, in pairs, to … Read more
United States v. Kalish, No. 08-3374-cr (2d Cir. November 24, 2010) (Newman, Winter, Lynch, CJJ) Defendant Kalish was convicted of mail and wire fraud in connection with an advance loan fee scheme. The district court ordered him to pay $ 1.2 million in restitution, and also ordered a $ 3.9 million forfeiture. On appeal, Kalish … Read more
United States v. Miller, No. 08-1152-cr (2d Cir. November 23, 2010) (Straub, Parker, Livingston, CJJ) In 1994, Michelle Miller had a son, Robbie, with her former high school boyfriend; they later married. Shortly thereafter, the marriage dissolved. A Vermont family court awarded Miller legal custody of Robbie, and gave the father visitation rights. The following … Read more
United States v. Douglas, No. 09-4955-cr (2d Cir. November 23, 2010) (Miner, Katzmann, Hall, CJJ) (per curiam) Defendant Douglas was trolling a fetish Internet chatroom, and struck up an acquaintanceship with a Vermont police officer posing as “Liz,” a thirty-eight-year-old divorced nurse with a thirteen-year-old daughter, “Anna.” Douglas tried to persuade Liz to bring Anna … Read more
United States v. Davis, No. 09-3636-cr (2d Cir. November 5, 2010) (Newman, Raggi, CJJ, Rakoff, DJ) Williams Davis was convicted, after a jury trial, of inter alia, producing child pornography, and was sentenced to 120 years’ imprisonment. This opinion address the novel issue of whether the defendant must know that the pornography will be transmitted … Read more
United States v. Rosa, No. 09-0636-cr (2d Cir. October 27, 2010) (Walker, Livingston, CJJ, Kaplan, DJ) Back in June, in a case called Julius, after finding a Fourth Amendment violation, the circuit remanded the case so that the district court could perform a cost-benefit analysis in deciding whether to apply the exclusionary rule. See Julius’ … Read more
United States v. Drachenberg, No. 09-3114-cr (2d Cir. October 2, 2010) (Kearse, Pooler, Hall, CJJ) (per curiam) The court’s latest per curiam puts to rest several recurring tax-protester argumenst. Representing himself pro se, Drachenberg argued that federal courts had no jurisdiction over him because “New York is not subject to the legislative or territorial jurisdiction … Read more
United States v. Marks, No. 08-1207-cr (2d Cir. October 19, 2010) (Leval, Hall, Livingston, CJJ) Defendant Chad Marks was convicted after a jury trial of drug trafficking offenses and two § 924(c) counts, and was sentenced to the resulting 40-year mandatory minimum. The trial came after months of plea negotiations, including an offer by the … Read more