In this illegal reentry case the 11th Circuit once again faced the question of whether a prior conviction for a crime of violence triggered the steep sentencing enhancement imposed by the sentencing guidelines. The prior conviction in question here was a Florida conviction for false imprisonment. In U.S. v. Rosales-Bruno…
In U.S. v. Lebowitz the defendant was charged with producing child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. §2251(a) and one count of attempting to entice a child to engage in unlawful sexual activity in violation of 18 U.S.C. §2422. Lebowitz began communicating with a15 year old boy male, K.S. on…
In U.S. v. Lewis an 11th Circuit panel majority reversed the district court’s order suppressing evidence seized during an investigatory stop in this government interlocutory appeal. The district court in Florida federal court had granted defendant Lewis’ motion to suppress a firearm discovered after he and three associates were briefly…
In U.S. v. John Doe the 11th Circuit came down on the side of a person’s Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself. Doe was held in civil contempt for failing to comply with a subpoena duces tecum requiring him to appear before a grand jury and produce the unencrypted…
In U.S. v. Owens the defendant pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and his sentence was enhanced because the district court determined his prior convictions under Alabama law for second degree rape and second degree sodomy qualified as a violent crime under the Armed Career…
Sanders was convicted of distributing cocaine after he was stopped by Georgia State Patrol driving a tractor trailer containing 153 kilograms of cocaine. After giving consent to the search of the truck, officers found cocaine hidden in the trailer hidden inside a pallet of rotting cabbage. At trial, the jury…
The defendant, an attorney in Dixie County Florida, was convicted of mail fraud and money laundering charges relating to two separate fraudulent schemes. One scheme involved the defendant’s conversion of funds developers gave him to hold in trust for future expenses associated with a development (River Shores Scheme). The other…
Defendant McQueen was convicted of attempted alien smuggling and failing to obey an order by federal saw enforcement to heave to the U.S. Customs and Boarder Patrol (CBP) vessel (18 U.S.C. 2237(a)(1). His sentence was enhanced by sentencing guidelines section 2L1.1(b)(5)(A) because a firearm was discharged by law enforcement in…
In this appeal Juanita Davenport challenged a final order of criminal forfeiture of $214,980 seized from a safety deposit box. In U.S. v. Davenport, the defendant and her codefendants were charged in the indictment with participating in a drug conspiracy. In addition, Davenport was charged with making a false statement…
In this unusual result, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeal reversed a conviction and dismissed the case because it found the government would be legally barred from proving a crucial element of the offense. The defendant in U.S. v Valdiviez-Garza was convicted in the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Florida,…