Steve Statsinger United States v. al Kassar, No. 09-1051-cr (2d Cir. September 21, 2011) (Jacobs, Hall, CJJ, Scheindlin, DJ) Defendants were convicted of various terrorism offenses in connection with a sting operation in which a CI, who was working for the DEA, introduced al Kassar to two undercover DEA agents posing as members of FARC, the left-wing … Read more
United States v. Archer, No. 10-4684-cr (2d Cir. September 20, 2011) (Newman, Calabresi, Hall, CJJ) Thomas Archer, a solo-practitioner immigration lawyer in Queens, ran a visa fraud mill. His specialty was the I-687, an amnesty program that permitted certain aliens who were here illegally in the 1980’s to adjust their status and receive a visa. … Read more
United States v. Elbert, No. 10-72-cr (2d Cir. September 19, 2011)(Jacobs, Cabranes, CJJ, Kravitz, DJ) A recent anomaly in circuit practice has been its treatment of cases where the district court did not provide a written statement of reasons for the sentence that complies with 18 U.S.C. § 3553(c)(2). In cases where appellate counsel files … Read more
United States v. Page, No. 10-3150-cr (2d Cir. September 16, 2011) (Walker, Hall, Chin, CJJ) Defendant was tried on five drug counts and a felon-in-possession count. In the district court, he moved to sever the gun count so that the jury considering the drug charges would not learn that he had a felony conviction. The … Read more
United States v. Gansman, No. 10–0731-cr (2d Cir. September 9, 2011) (Cabranes, Chin, CJJ, Keenan, DJ) From 2005 to 2007, James Gansman, an attorney at Ernst and Young, was having an affair with one Donna Murdoch. Perhaps as part of their “pillow talk,” Gansman – the “tipper” – would pass Murdoch material, non-public information, on … Read more
United States v. Aumais, No. 10-3160-cr (2d Cir. September 8, 2011) (Jacobs, Winter, McLaughlin, CJJ) In this interesting opinion, the court weighs in on a subject of national controversy: whether a defendant convicted of possessing or receiving child pornography should be ordered to pay restitution to those depicted in the images. On the facts here … Read more
United States v. Rodriguez, No. 10-2724-cr (2d Cir. August 25, 2011) (Miner, McLaughlin, Pooler, CJJ) While detained at the MDC, Rodriguez called his sister and asked her to tell their brother to contact Rodriguez’ attorney so that they could discuss whether he should “cop out” before being indicted. He indicated that the sooner he spoke … Read more
United States v. Nadirashvili, No. 08-4211-cr (2c Cir. August 23, 2011) (Winter, Pooler, Hall, CJJ) Six-defendant appellants appealed their convictions in a wide-ranging firearms conspiracy that had both international and domestic components. One part of the activity involved trafficking in “foreign defense articles” – here, grenades, warheads, missiles and launchers, amongst other things – under … Read more
United States v. Celaj, No. 10-2792-cr (2d Cir. August 22, 2011)(Miner, Cabranes, Straub, CJJ) Din Celaj headed a crew that would rob – or try to rob – drug dealers. When successful, they would obtain drugs, which they would themselves sell, money and firearms. He went to trial on several Hobbs Act robbery and associated … Read more
United States v. Echeverry, No. 10-2828-cr (2d Cir. August 19, 2011) (Winter, Parker, Chin, CJJ) (per curiam) The facts of this latest per curiam could have been pulled straight from a law school exam. During an ongoing narcotics conspiracy, Echeverry and his accomplice attempted to recover stolen narcotics from a third person; they possessed and … Read more