United States v. Qurashi, No. 10-348-cr (2d Cir. March 8, 2011) (Newman, Walker, Pooler, CJJ) Imran Quarashi and his brother, Adnan, purchased $3 million insurance policies on Adnan’s life from two different insurance companies. They then faked Adnan’s death, falsely asserting that he had died in a car accident in Pakistan, and the insurers paid … Read more
United States v. Paul, No. 09-3191-cr (2d Cir. March 7, 2011) (Cabranes, Chin, CJJ, Crotty, DJ) Defendant Peter Paul pled guilty to securities fraud, in connection with a stock manipulation scheme that permitted him to fraudulently obtain multi-million dollar margin loans, which he never repaid, from two brokerage houses. The district court sentenced Paul principally … Read more
United States v. Pescatore, No. 10-0520-cr (2d Cir. February 23, 2011) (Kearse, Winter, Hall, CJJ) In connection with a plea agreement that covered both a long-running chop-shop operation and an extortion scheme, Michael Pescatore agreed to accept a 132 month sentence, a $2.5 million forfeiture and “no less than $3 million” in restitution. The agreement … Read more
United States v. Bengis, No. 07-4895-cr (2d Cir. January 4, 2011) (Feinberg, Cabranes, Hall, CJJ) Three defendants pled guilty to various offenses arising from their South African lobster fishing businesses; they illegally harvested large numbers of rock lobsters from South African waters for export to the United States, conduct that violated both South African and … Read more
United States v. Kalish, No. 08-3374-cr (2d Cir. November 24, 2010) (Newman, Winter, Lynch, CJJ) Defendant Kalish was convicted of mail and wire fraud in connection with an advance loan fee scheme. The district court ordered him to pay $ 1.2 million in restitution, and also ordered a $ 3.9 million forfeiture. On appeal, Kalish … Read more
United States v. Kyles, No. 06-4196-cr (2d Cir. April 2, 2010) (Miner, Katzmann, Raggi, CJJ) In 1993, defendant Kyles received a long bank robbery sentence, along with a $4,133 restitution order. The court did not set a payment schedule, and instead (illegally) delegated that task to the Probation Department, which never acted. In 1998, the … Read more
United States v. Sabhnani, No. 08-3720-cr (2d Cir. March 25, 2010) (Wesley, Livingston, CJJ, Restani, JCIT) The defendants, husband and wife, were convicted of forced labor, harboring aliens, peonage and document servitude, both substantive and conspiracy. The wife received an eleven-year sentence, while the husband was sentenced to forty months. The court also imposed fines … Read more
United States v. Battista, No. 08-3750-cr (2d Cir. August 6, 2009) (Walker, Wesley, Wallace, CJJ) James Battista was part of an illegal NBA gambling operation. He pled guilty to conspiring to transmit wagering information, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371 and 1084, and his sentence included restitution to the NBA. On appeal he unsuccessfully … Read more
United States v. Pearson, No. 07-0142-cr (2d Cir. July 2, 2009) (Miner, Katzmann, Raggi, CJJ) (per curiam) Title 18, U.S.C. § 2259 provides that, in sex abuse cases, restitution is mandatory for the full amount of any loss to the victim, including the costs of medical or psychiatric care. Here, in a case of first … Read more
United States v. Varrone, No. 07-4533-cr (2d Cir. January 30, 2009) (Calabresi, Sotomayor, Parker, CJJ) Joseph A. Castello ran a check cashing business. He cashed more than $200 million in checks that exceeded $10,000 – charging a four percent check-cashing fee – for which he was obligated to file currency transaction reports (CTR’s). He did … Read more