Circuit Split Brewing Over Government Access to Cell Phone Location Data
A split among the U.S. courts of appeals is taking shape over the threshold requirements for the government’s ability to obtain historical cell phone location data, in the wake of a July 30, 2013, ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. That court held that a U.S. district court must order…
Read MoreWas This Sentence Quite Excessive for a Bizarre Fraud Scheme?
A $3 billion fraud scheme, more farcical than dangerous and in any case doomed to fail, led to 20-year sentences in federal prison for all four conspirators. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, however, vacated the sentences on procedural grounds, and U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill of the District of Connecticut,…
Read MoreLaw Enforcers Place Online Payday Lenders in Their Cross Hairs
At least six federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau (CFPB), and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), are currently coordinating a broad crackdown of the online payday lending industry. The agencies are trying to shut down companies that offer short-term loans online at very high interest rates. The…
Read MoreDid Florida Accidentally Outlaw All Smartphones?
A lawsuit recently filed by Incredible Investments, LLC, owned by entrepreneur Consuelo Zapata, alleges that the language in a recently enacted Florida law that was intended to shut down Internet cafes and slot machines has actually outlawed all mobile devices that are capable of accessing the Internet. The complaint, which seeks to have the new…
Read MoreFull Tilt Poker Remission Process for Players Expected to Begin ‘Shortly,’ and on Favorable Terms
More than two years after “Black Friday” – the day on which federal prosecutors shut down the U.S. operations of Full Tilt Poker and other major online poker providers and seized billions of dollars in assets – it appears that the final chapter in that enforcement action may soon be written. The Garden City Group,…
Read MoreD.C. Circuit Clarifies Key Issue in Wake of High Court’s ‘Honest Services’ Decision
A recent D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decision narrows the ability of the government to revisit uncharged crimes against a person whose plea has been vacated due to a change in the law. In 2007, Russell Caso had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit honest-services wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 1343…
Read MoreConspirators Get Prison Time for Defrauding Small Business 8(a) Program
White-collar crime can involve any number of types of fraud against the government or private parties. One that isn’t usually thought about but can result in serious jail time involves conspiracies to obtain government contracts fraudulently by setting up bogus small and minority-owned businesses in order to qualify for government preferences. In the past few…
Read MoreJudge Declares He’s Not Potted Plant, Asserts Right to Supervise Deferred Prosecution Agreements
A recent decision by U.S. District Judge John Gleeson in the Eastern District of New York may be the harbinger of new limits on the government’s ability to use a prosecutorial tool of which it has become very fond lately – the deferred prosecution agreement. Judge Gleeson’s assertion that a district court has a right to…
Read MoreHigh Court Clarifies Rule on Plea Discussions in Federal Criminal Cases
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court held last month in United States v. Davila that a guilty plea does not need to be automatically vacated, regardless of whether there has been prejudice to the defendant, when a magistrate judge improperly advises a defendant to plead guilty. In 2009, Anthony Davila was charged with conspiracy…
Read MoreBP Employee Gains Dismissal on Obstruction of Justice Charge
When is a committee not a committee? When it is a subcommittee. More than just a punchline, this is one of the key facts that led a U.S. district judge recently to dismiss charges against an employee of British Petroleum arising from his statements made in response to inquiries from a Congressional subcommittee regarding the…
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