Sentencing Defendant In Absentia OK If Court Finds Absense Voluntary
USA v. Lahbib Achbani, 06-4190. In December 2005, Lahbib Achbani pleaded guilty to making and uttering a counterfeit check in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 513(a). Mr. Achbani disappeared shortly before his scheduled sentencing hearing. The district court postponed the hearing several times while the Government searched for Mr. Achbani. Ultimately the court...
Permanent Disfigurement for USSG Determined on Date of Sentencing
USA v. Bronson L. Webster, 06-4430. Bronson Webster punched Leah Tourtillott in the face five times and, after she collapsed, kicked her in the face five times. The attack broke her nose and the bone around her right eye; it also caused lacerations that a physician concluded would leave prominent facial scars. Because...
Jury Deliberation Allegations of Juror Misconduct – USA Has Burden to Overcome Presumption of Prejudice to Defendant
USA v. Felix Vasquez-Ruiz, 06-2180. Felix Vasquez-Ruiz ostensibly practiced medicine in the Chicago area. In reality, he was bilking insurance companies by ordering a multitude of unnecessary tests for patients who visited his clinic. Eventually he was caught and tried on multiple counts of mail and healthcare fraud.
Nine days...
Sentencing Disparity. OK For More Culpable Co-Defendant To Get Lower Sentence
USA v. Scott Serfling, 06-1613. Scott Serfling and co-defendant Mary Capri engaged in a scheme to defraud Western United Life Assurance Company ("WULA") of nearly $12 million by procuring a loan through repeated false representations.
Capri pleaded guilty, and a jury found Serfling guilty of two counts of wire...
Guidelines Sentence Presumption of Reasonableness Not Allowed
USA v. William Ross III, 07-1215. William Ross challenges his 78-month sentence for his role in a conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine and marijuana. See 21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1). Because it appears from the record that the district court improperly applied a presumption of reasonableness for a within-guidelines sentence, we...
Practice Tip: If Client Asks To Appeal, File That Notice
USA v. Armando Nunez, 06-1014. Charged with multiple cocaine offenses, Armando Nunez negotiated a plea bargain: the prosecutor dismissed all counts but one and recommended a sentence at the lowest point in the Guideline range. As part of the deal, Nunez agreed not to appeal or file a collateral attack unless the sentence...
Depite No Counsel At Prior Plea, Criminal History Points OK
USA v. Josue L. Feliciano, 06-3423. Josue Feliciano’s appeal focuses on the district court’s reliance for purposes of a federal sentence on an earlier misdemeanor conviction he received in Florida, in a case where he proceeded without counsel.
Feliciano was before the federal court on charges of distributing methamphetamine in...
Phone Tap Surveillance – Have Other Investigative Procedures Been Exhausted?
USA v. Victor Goodwin, et al., 06-3057. A jury convicted Victor Goodwin, Leo Brown, Jr., Timothy Doerr, and Jermal Phillips of multiple counts of drug trafficking and other related offenses stemming from a multi-state conspiracy. Following their convictions, the four defendants filed a consolidated appeal challenging various aspects of their respective convictions...
Drug Conspiracy – Boilerplate Rules Regarding Sufficiency and Variance
USA v.MIGUEL BUSTAMANTE, RAPHAEL PENA, ABRAHAM ESTREMERA AND STEVE LISCANO, Nos. 03-3388, 04-1469, 05-4798 & 05-4799. On November 20, 2002, a grand jury indicted Miguel Bustamante, Raphael Pena, Abraham Estremera, and Steve Liscano for a number of crimes related to a drug conspiracy in Aurora, Illinois.
For the following reasons,...
Terry Car Stop OK: Boilerplate Rules
USA v. Ralph Wesley Riley, 06-2557. Ralph Wesley Riley pleaded guilty to two counts of bank fraud and eleven counts of attempted bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1344, and to one count of theft of mail, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1708; in his plea agreement, however, he reserved the...