United States v. Hassan, No. 05-6949 (2d Cir. August 21, 2009) (Calabresi, Pooler, CJJ) Hassan was convicted of three conspiracy counts – (1) importation of a controlled substance (2) distribution of a controlled substance, and (3) money laundering – along with forty-one substantive money laundering counts, in connection with his importation of khat into the … Read more
The court’s latest per curiam (“PC”) opinion deals with the narrow definition of “crime of violence” in the illegal reentry guideline, U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2. United States v. Gamez, No. 07-3660-cr (2d Cir. August 20, 2009) (per curiam), holds that the New York State offense of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, which … Read more
United States v. Pizzonia, No. 07-4314-cr (2d Cir. August 19, 2009) (Calabresi, Straub, Raggi, CJJ) Dominick Pizzonia, a one-time captain for the Gambino crime family, was convicted of a racketeering conspiracy and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. On appeal, he raised an unsuccessful statute of limitations claim. The government filed the indictment against Pizzonia … Read more
United States v. Ware, No. 07-5222-cr (2d Cir. August 18, 2009) (Kearse, Sack, Hall, CJJ) For five months in 2001 and 2002, Ware, an attorney, ran a “pump and dump” scheme, in which entities he controlled issued fraudulent, and supposedly independent, press releases promoting two penny stocks that he owned. When other investors acted on … Read more
United States v. Parker, No. 08-4199-cr (2d Cir. August 14, 2009) (McLaughlin, Calabresi, Raggi, CJJ) Travious Parker received a 180-month sentence after a jury trial. This sentence comprised a 120-month drug mandatory minimum and mandatory sixty-month consecutive sentence on a § 924(c) count. On appeal, he argued that under United States v. Williams, 558 F.3d … Read more
Here is the latest collection of summary orders of interest: In United States v. Bender, No. 08-3103-cr (2d Cir. August 14, 2009), the court rejected both substantive and procedural challenges to an upward departure in a child pornography case, even though the district court “should have provided a written statement of the specific reasons for … Read more
United States v. Freeman, No. 08-1886-cr (2d Cir. August 10, 2009) (Cabranes, Wallace, CJJ) In United States v. Delmarle, 99 F.3d 80 (2d Cir. 1996), the circuit held that it was within the district court’s discretion to apply the guideline enhancement for possessing child pornography that depicted sadistic or masochistic conduct where the image showed … Read more
United States v. Battista, No. 08-3750-cr (2d Cir. August 6, 2009) (Walker, Wesley, Wallace, CJJ) James Battista was part of an illegal NBA gambling operation. He pled guilty to conspiring to transmit wagering information, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371 and 1084, and his sentence included restitution to the NBA. On appeal he unsuccessfully … Read more
United States v. Perez, No. 08-4131-cr (2d Cir. August 3, 2009) (Newman, Pooler, Parker, CJJ) Here, the circuit concluded that an internal BOP investigation into corrections officers’ use of force against an inmate constituted an “official proceeding” within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 1512. The court rejected the defendants’ sufficiency challenge and affirmed their … Read more
United Statse v. Plugh, No. 07-2620-cr (2d Cir. July 31, 2009) (Jacobs, Wesley, Hall, CJJ) In September of 2005, FBI agents arrested Gordon Plugh on child pornography charges. In the car, an agent read him his Miranda rights and asked him to sign a waiver form. Plugh told the agent that he understood his rights … Read more