United States v. Darden, No. 06-4567-cr (2d Cir. August 15, 2008) (Cardamone, Pooler, CJJ, Keenan, DJ) Under the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. § 924(e) (“ACCA”), a felon-in-possession of a firearm or ammunition faces a fifteen-year mandatory minimum sentence (the maximum is life) if he has at least three prior convictions for felony crimes … Read more
United States v. Guevara-Umana, No. 07-1410-cr (2d Cir. August 15, 2008) (Leval, Calabresi, Pooler, CJJ) (per curiam) Guevara was deported in 1999. By 2004, he was back; on February 21, 2004, he was charged with grand larceny in New York State. That same day, ICE filed an immigration detainer. On March 4, 2004, ICE filed … Read more
United States v. Keller, No. 07-3330-cr (2d Cir. August 14, 2008) (Miner, Cabranes, CJJ, Berman, DJ) This case provides an important clarification of the procedure that the court set out earlier this year in United States v. Regalado, 518 F.3d 143 (2d Cir. 2008). In that case, the court held that a remand was warranted … Read more
United States v. Marcus, No. 07-4005-cr (2d Cir. August 14, 2008) (Straub, Sotomayor, Wesley, CJJ) (per curiam) Between 1999 and 2001, Glenn Marcus kept a woman, “Jodi,” as his sex slave. Having met her on the internet, he induced her to move from the Midwest to Maryland, where he set her up in an apartment. … Read more
United States v. Doe, No. 06-4124-cr (2d Cir. August 13, 2008) (Kearse, Pooler, CJJ, Cote, DJ) Defendant John Doe, along with others, was charged with “an array” of drug and gun offenses, racketeering, robbery and two murders. He expressed an interest in trying to cooperate with the government, but the government declined. Two year later, … Read more
United States v. Valentine, No. 06-5648-cr (2d Cir. August 5, 2008) (Leval, Calabresi, CJJ, Nevas, DJ) Federal agents intercepted a fifty kilogram drug shipment that was addressed to an apartment building in Brooklyn. They arranged for a controlled delivery, and watched from a surveillance van across the street. Valentine went to the fake FedEx truck … Read more
United States v. Klump, No. 06-0339-cr (2d Cir. August 4, 2008) (McLaughlin, Sack, Livingston, CJJ) Federal drug agents followed a fan believed to be associated with drug activity to a home depot, and then to a warehouse in Buffalo that Klump owned. The agents watched the warehouse for a while, and when Klump and another … Read more
United States v. Abiodun, No. 06-5335-cr (2d Cir. July 30, 2008) (Cardamone, Cabranes, Katzmann, CJJ) Emmanuel Abiodun was one of a group of people who ran a large credit card and identity fraud scheme in which credit reports were illegally downloaded and used to obtain credit cards in the victims’ names. Abiodun himself purchased between … Read more
United States v. Gray, No. 07-3636-cr (2d Cir. July 25, 2008) (Wesley, Hall, CJJ, Koeltl, DJ) In New York, reckless endangerment in the first degree involves conduct “evincing a depraved indifference to human life” that “creates a grave risk of death to another person.” Nevertheless, under Begay v. United States, 128 S.Ct. 1581 (2008), the … Read more
United States v. Delossantos, No. 06-4713-cr (2d Cir. July 25, 2008) (Feinberg, Miner, Parker, CJJ) Marino Delossantos was a drug dealer, who was negotiating a deal with an undercover officer. While Delossantos was under surveillance, defendant Rodriguez was seen at the building where Delossantos lived ,and also drove him to and from various locations related … Read more