United States v. Delis, No. 08-0641-cr (2d Cir. March 5, 2009) (McLaughlin, Calabresi, Livingston, CJJ) On a flight from Zurich to JFK, Pierre Delis, upset that the meal service ran out of chicken, got into a scuffle with a flight attendant during which, at a minimum, he pushed her hand away from his face. He … Read more
United States v. Williams, No. 07-2436-cr (2d Cir. March 5, 2009) (Pooler, Hall, CJJ, Trager, DJ) Title 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) provides for consecutive mandatory minimum sentences for the use or possession of a firearm in connection with a drug offense or crime of violence except “to the extent that a greater minimum sentence is … Read more
United States v. Friedberg, No. 08-3763-cr (2d Cir. March 2, 2009) (Pooler, Katzmann, CJJ, Preska, DJ) Daniel Friedberg was Grand Secretary of an Odd Fellows lodge for eighteen years. During that time, he embezzled nearly $600,000 of the organization’s funds. He also failed to pay tax on the money, and ultimately pled guilty to tax … Read more
February turned out to be an interesting month for summary orders. Here are the final four: In United States v. Santillo, No. 08-4378-cr (2d Cir. February 26, 2009), the court upheld the imposition of a year-and-a-day prison sentence even though both the defendant and the government had stipulated to a sentence of five years’ probation. … Read more
United States v. Johnson, No. 08-2296-cr (2d Cir. February 25, 2009) (Cabranes, Wesley, CJJ, Korman, DJ) (per curiam) Defendant Johnson stole a firearm during a burglary, and pled guilty to being a felon in possession of that same gun. At sentencing, he received a four-level enhancement for possessing it in connection with “another felony,” the … Read more
United States v. Ayon-Robles, No. 07-0785-cr (2d Cir. February 24, 2009) (Jacobs, Wesley, CJJ, Arcara, DJ) (per curiam) Recently, in an immigration case, Alsol v. Mukasey, 548 N.Y.S.2d 207 (2d Cir. 2009), the court held that a second state-court conviction for simple drug possession was not an “aggravated felony” under the relevant immigration statute, 8 … Read more
United States v. Carr, No. 06-5490-cr (2d Cir. February 19, 2009) (Kearse, Sack, Kaztmann, CJJ) Carr was convicted after a jury trial of racketeering, drug and firearms offenses. At his original sentencing, since the racketeering predicate was murder, the then-mandatory guidelines prescribed a life sentence, and that is what he received, plus five years on … Read more
United States v. Reyes, No. 06-3699-cr (2d Cir. February 19, 2009)(Leval, Cabranes, Livingston, CJJ) (per curiam) Defendant Reyes participated in the beating of a victim with, amongst other things, a baseball bat. The victim was left with severe brain damage – his wife told the court that he would “never wake up again.” Reyes pled … Read more
United States v. Gutierrez, No. 08-3581-cr (2d Cir. February 11, 2009)(Cabranes, Sotomayor, CJJ, Rakoff, DJ) Before Gutierrez was sentenced, his counsel filed a lengthy sentencing memorandum outlining five separate grounds for a below-guideline sentence. The government’s written response sought a guideline sentence. At sentencing, the court did not address the attorneys at all. It gave … Read more
United States v. Poindexter, No. 07-1151-pr (2d Cir. February 10, 2009) (Walker, Calabresi, Katzmann, CJJ) (per curiam) In 1995, Melvin Poindexter was charged with a cocaine conspiracy, with no drug quantity specified in the indictment. He therefore faced a 20-year maximum, but no mandatory minimum. Before trial, the government filed a prior felony information, which … Read more