Tag: White-collar crime
The Struggle to Revive ‘Honest Services’
On November 16, 2010, the Los Angeles-based Daily Journal published an article by Jeffrey Hamlin, an associate at Ifrah PLLC, on a recent U.S. District Court ruling. The following is the full text of the article. Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court, in the much-watched case of former Enron executive Jeffrey Skilling, limited the… Read More
In Federal Sentencing, Age Begins to Matter
On November 1, 2010, a new amendment to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines will go into effect that will allow a judge to consider a defendant’s age far more often than before in handing down a sentence in federal court. We think this change will have a major impact on sentencing in white-collar criminal cases. Defendants… Read More
The Foreclosure Crisis: Don’t Believe Everything You Read
Legal pressure is mounting against the firms involved in the nationwide foreclosure crisis. In the wake of reports that possibly fraudulent court documents were used to fast-track home foreclosures, a federal Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force is investigating possible criminal violations committed by banks and mortgage companies. We need to ask: What laws are available… Read More
Banned From the Internet: A Term of Probation That Is Overly Restrictive
The following opinion article by Ifrah PLLC founding partner A. Jeff Ifrah and associate Steven Eichorn appeared in the National Law Journal on October 11, 2010. Banned from the Internet Prohibiting a defendant on probation from conducting any business online is overly restrictive and not reasonably related to legitimate sentencing goals. By A. Jeff Ifrah and… Read More
Too Little, Too Late for Defense Argument?
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit is considering whether the government’s belated disclosure of potentially exculpatory evidence deprived criminal defendant Amit Mathur of a fair trial. The fact that Mathur’s counsel received some of the evidence after the government’s case in chief and declined to use it in Mathur’s defense makes it… Read More
Can the Constitution Shield a Congressman From an Extortion Probe?
Federal prosecutors recently responded to an appeal filed by former U.S. Representative Rick Renzi before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which seeks a dismissal of Renzi’s February 2008 extortion indictment. The indictment stems from a government land-swap deal that prosecutors say illegally benefited Renzi’s former business partner. Prosecutors claim that Renzi,… Read More
In Lerach Case, An Interesting Sentencing Distinction
The U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles just took an interesting and nuanced position concerning a very high-profile request for community service as part of a guilty plea. Disgraced plaintiffs attorney William Lerach pleaded guilty in 2007 to a charge of conspiring to obstruct justice and make false statements in many of his law firm’s… Read More
Is DOJ Using Too Many Deferred Prosecution Agreements?
The Senate Judiciary Committee recently held confirmation hearings for Jim Cole, a partner at Bryan Cave and well known D.C. white-collar defense lawyer, who is President Obama’s nominee for deputy attorney general. During the confirmation hearings, an interesting back-and-forth occurred between Cole and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) regarding the use of deferred prosecution agreements. Sen…. Read More
Skilling Having Impact on Pending Honest Services Fraud Cases
On June 24, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its much-awaited ruling in Skilling v. United States, which limited the scope of honest-services fraud. The next step is to look at the lower courts and see how they are interpreting the Skilling decision. After comments made very recently by U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle… Read More
National Law Journal Article: Circuits Split Over Securities Fraud Sentencing
The below article is reprinted with permission from the July 19, 2010, issue of the National Law Journal. Copyright 2010 ALM Media Properties, LLC. Further duplication without permission is prohibited. All rights reserved. By A. Jeff Ifrah and Rachel Hirsch July 19, 2010 This summer, Richard Berger will be resentenced by a court that now… Read More
