Rodriguez challenged her guilty plea to conspiracy to commit the federal crimes of mail fraud and wire fraud arguing that her plea was not knowing or voluntary. She also claimed her plea should not have been accepted by the district judge because she told the district judge she suffered from…
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 U.S. v. Massam, the defendant was convicted of theft and embezzlement of an employee benefit fund (E.R.I.S.A) he set of for himself and his employees and for which he served as the pension plan administrator. After divorcing his fifth wife, the state divorce court entered a distribution order to…
In U.S v. Tellis, the Defendant pleaded guilty to selling crack cocaine in October of 2001. The presentence investigation report designated him as a career offender giving him an offense level of 37 under the sentencing guidelines, but because of the amount quantity of crack cocaine his base offense level…
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…
In U.S. v. Joseph, the defendant was convicted mail fraud and theft from the government for filing false income tax returns using false information. As a result of his committing this federal crime, the Internal Revenue Service actually disbursed $37,196. Before sentencing the government obtained an order from the district…
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…