Isaacson appealed his conviction following a jury trial for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud and securities fraud. The conspiracy defrauded investors through a hedge fund that placed money in shell companies with no assets or business operations. The hedge fund drove up the prices of the shell…
The defendants in U.S. v. Chahla were three brothers from Syria who were convicted following a jury trial of various federal crimes in connection with their fraudulent marriages and their subsequent attempt to procure citizenship. The three brothers, all of whom resided in Florida, paid three women for a marriage.…
Defendants Esquenazi and Rodriguez were convicted in Miami federal court of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. The FCPA makes it a crime to bribe the foreign official for the purpose of influencing the official. A foreign official…
The defendant in U.S. v Harrell received a 25 year sentence after pleading guilty to conspiracy and the substantive robbery a Miami Walgreens and a McDonalds in violation of the Hobbs Act and two counts of possession of a firearm in relation to the robberies. He argued on appeal that…
In Osley v. United States, the Eleventh Circuit rejected the defendant’s section 2255 claim that his counsel failed to advise him he faced a mandatory sentence, because he had turned down a plea offer prior to trial that would have given him only 70 months. Osley was convicted of multiple…
After the defendant in U.S. v Ramirez-Florez pleaded guilty to reentry after deportation, he received a 16-level enhancement in his sentencing guidelines range because of a prior conviction for burglary of a dwelling in violation of the South Carolina conviction for burglary of a dwelling conviction that the district court…
The defendant in U.S. v. Harris was convicted of three counts of a Hobbs act robbery and four counts relating to possession and use of firearms during those robberies. Under federal sentencing laws, his prior convictions for violent crimes resulted in a life sentence of imprisonment and a consecutive sentence…
In U.S. v. Ransfer, the defendants were convicted of a Hobbs Act violations, and the use and carrying of firearms during the commission of a violent crime. The first issue the defendants raised in challenging these federal criminal convictions was the admission of evidence resulting from the installation and use…
In U.S. v. Edwin Aguilar-Ibarra the defendant was convicted of a conspiracy to commit a Hobbs Act robbery, which is a federal crime under 18 U.S.C. 1951. The facts of this conviction arose from a robbery of a Florida warehouse by four masked man brandishing pistols. The intruders bound gagged…
The Defendants in U.S. v Sterling appealed their federal criminal convictions for 1) armed bank robbery, 2) use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime violence, and 3) possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. On appeal the defendant’s challenged the admission of their prior convictions…