In U.S. v. White, former Commissioner White of Jefferson County, Alabama, was convicted of the federal crime of conspiracy to take a bribe in connection with federal funds. White was also convicted of the substantive federal crime of bribery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 666. In writing the opinion,…
The court of appeals held that the 5-level enhancement for distributing child pornography to a minor requires proof it was intended for an actual child or a fictitious child created by law enforcement. In U.S. v. Fulford, the Defendant was convicted of possessing and distributing child pornography and given a…
The issue in Walton v. Attorney General, State of Florida was whether Walton’s second state petition for a writ of habeas corpus was properly filed under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) so as to toll the one-year limitations period for filing a federal petition for a writ…
The defendants in U.S. v. Augustin, a case known in the Miami area media as the Liberty City Seven case, lost their appeal from convictions for the following offenses: 1. Conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization (Al Qaeda) knowing it to be engaged in terrorist activities;…
A professional sports agent, the defendant in U.S. v. Dominguez was charged and convicted of smuggling 5 Cuban baseball players to the United States, transporting them from Miami to Los Angeles, and then harboring them there until they applied for asylum. Dominguez represented over 100 baseball players, many of whom…
In U.S. v. Perez, the defendants were charged with a Hobbs Act conspiracy for planning to rob a fictitious cocaine stash house in Miami. The Hobbs Act makes it a federal crime to conspire to commit a robbery that has some affect on interstate commerce. They were also charged with…
In U.S. v. Doe, the defendant John Doe went to the Miami passport agency office to apply for a passport presenting drivers license, birth certificate and other identifying documents in the name of Laurn Daniel Lettsome. Doe was not Lettsome. When the passport agency official became suspicious, Doe was asked…
In Fajardo v. U.S. Attorney General the court of appeals reversed an order of removal. Soon after he entered the U.S. from Cuba, Fajardo was arrested and convicted of false imprisonment, misdemeanor assault and misdemeanor battery as a result of an altercation with his wife. Three years later when Fajardo…
On October 4, 2011, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals vacated U.S. v. Rojas decision. A majority of the judges on the Court have voted to rehear the case en banc. This means that the issue of whether the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (FSA) applies to defendants sentenced after…
In U.S. v Mckay, the defendant pled guilty to a federal drug crime, charging him with possession with intent to distribute cocaine base (crack cocaine.) His pre-sentence report classified him as a career offender under the sentencing guidelines §4B1.1. McKay qualified as a career offender if he had two prior…