United States v. Cartagena, No. 12-4910-cr (2d Cir. Nov. 21, 2013) (Newman, Hall, and Lynch) (summary order), available here Cartagena was convicted by a jury of attempting and of conspiring to distribute at least five kilograms of cocaine. At trial, the court admitted testimony that Cartagena had been involved earlier an an uncharged 2009 drug … Read more
United States v. Schwamborn, No. 12-5125-cr (2d Cir. Nov. 21, 2013) (Pooler, Raggi, and Wesley) (summary order), available here Convicted of securities fraud, the defendant was sentenced principally to 121 months of imprisonment and about $182,000 in restitution. On appeal, he challenged the restitution order on three grounds: (1) one of the victim’s affidavits was … Read more
United States v. Beckett, No. 12-4233-cr (2d Cir. Nov. 20, 2013) (Pooler, Raggi, and Wesley) (summary order), available here After the defendant violated his supervised release, the district court imposed a sentence of 10 months of imprisonment, to be followed by a new, 19-month term of supervised release. On appeal, the defendant argued that the new … Read more
United States v. Roy, 12-3242-cr (2d Cir. Nov. 19, 2013) (Lynch, Chin, and Carney) (summary order), available here Convicted of distributing marijuana and of possessing a firearm as a previously convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), the defendant was sentenced under the Armed Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”), 18 U.S.C. 924(e), to 300 months of … Read more
United States v. Christie, No. 13-245-cr (2d Cir. Nov. 15, 2013) (Lynch, Chin, and Droney), available here Defendant moved for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(2), based on the 2011 Amendments to the Sentencing Guidelines lowering the penalties for crack cocaine offenses. Both the Probation Office and the government agreed that the defendant was eligible … Read more
United States v. Kuruzovich, No. 12-1789-cr (2d Cir. Nov. 14, 2013) (Hall, Droney, and Restani) (summary order), available here The defendant was sentenced to one year of imprisonment and about $59,000 in restitution. [Disclosure: the Federal Defenders of New York represented the defendant for a time in the district court.] While his appeal was pending, but … Read more
United States v. Purnell, No. 12-4167-cr (2d Cir. Nov. 14, 2013) (Walker, Cabranes, and Lohier) (summary order), available here This summary order holds that the district court properly exercised its discretion to halt jury deliberations and investigate potential juror misconduct. During deliberations, the jury sent two notes stating that it was deadlocked. Both times, the district … Read more
United States v. Simmons, No. 12-2187-cr (2d Cir. Nov. 13, 2013) (Katzmann, Leval, and Pooler) (summary order), available here Convicted of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, the defendant was sentenced to 41 months of imprisonment, $1.3 million in forfeiture, and $1.3 million in restitution to Siren Management Company and Community Preservation Corporation (“CPC”). On … Read more
United States v. Heatley (Jackson), No. 12-2812 (2d Cir. Nov. 13, 2013) (Newman, Hall, and Lynch) (summary order), available here In this summary order, the Circuit agreed with the district court that the defendant was not eligible for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(2) and Amendment 599 to the Sentencing Guidelines. Amendment 599 provides that … Read more
United States v. LaDeau, No. 12-6611 (6th Cir. Nov. 4, 2013) (Rogers, Griffin, and Donald), available here In this noteworthy ruling, the Sixth Circuit upheld a district court’s decision to dismiss an indictment in a child pornography downloading case based on prosecutorial vindictiveness. The defendant was originally charged with one count of possessing child … Read more