In federal court, “not guilty” doesn’t always mean no punishment. Under a quirk of federal sentencing law, judges are permitted to consider at sentencing anything that they consider relevant, including conduct for which a...more
Two labor-market criminal antitrust trials recently ended in acquittals, further demonstrating the challenges the United States has faced in this area (See our previous coverage of this prosecution trend, reported on: Feb....more
Previously relegated to purely civil enforcement, in the last year the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has increased its focus on pursuing criminal charges for anti-poach agreements between companies that attempt to...more
ME trial reminiscent of DaVita anti-poaching case that also ended in acquittal; DOJ strategy questioned - In Apr. 2022, juries in TX and CO acquitted healthcare companies charged by the DOJ’s Antitrust Division. In the CO...more
Last month, the first two trials arising from the DOJ’s recent push to criminally prosecute wage-fixing and employee non-solicitation agreements both ended in acquittals on the antitrust charges. In United States v. Jindal,...more
The Department of Justice criminal prosecution of Mark Forkner, chief technical pilot at Boeing responsible for the 737 Max, ended in quick acquittal. DOJ prosecutors suffered an embarrassing loss in an attempt to hold...more
Takeaway: Despite this acquittal, the Department of Justice has demonstrated that it can and will prosecute individuals for corporate malfeasance. A settlement by a corporation does not necessarily protect individual...more
This newsletter reviews five notable court holdings over the last semester. Moral harassment: the employer's investigation is valid even if all victims have not been interviewed (Cass, Soc., 8 January 2020, n°18-20.151) ...more
On February 26, 2020, the US District Court for the District of Connecticut reinforced the Second Circuit’s recent decision to limit prosecutors’ ability to pursue Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) charges against foreign...more
On February 26, a federal district court in Connecticut acquitted the defendant in United States v. Hoskins on all counts related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”). A jury had previously found the defendant guilty...more
On February 26, 2020, a federal judge in Connecticut granted, in part, defendant Lawrence Hoskins’s post-trial motion for acquittal on seven counts relating to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. United States v....more
District Court Finds Insufficient Evidence That He Acted As Agent of U.S. Subsidiary - Background - On February 26, 2020, a federal judge in Connecticut granted in part the motion for acquittal of a former senior executive...more
In a closely followed case, on February 26, 2020, a District Court Judge in Connecticut granted Lawrence Hoskins’ motion for acquittal on the seven FCPA counts on which the jury convicted him. Hoskins was a UK citizen who...more
The SFO faced a challenging 2019, with some high-profile acquittals, dropped investigations and new cases which were widely perceived as relatively underwhelming. We look back at the last 12 months, and set out what might be...more
On December 2, 2019, a jury in the Eastern District of New York acquitted Jean Boustani, a Lebanese citizen who is alleged to have been a key player in coordinating more than $200 million in bribe and kickback payments to...more
On May 2, 2019, a jury sitting in the District of Massachusetts convicted five senior executives of Insys Therapeutics, Inc. (Insys) with racketeering conspiracy in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1962(d)....more
On 16 July 2019, three individuals were acquitted of conspiracy to corrupt and conspiracy to bribe. On the basis of the same evidence, their employer, Sarclad Limited, had previously admitted corporate criminal liability and...more
On June 20, 2019, the United States Supreme Court decided McDonough v. Smith, No. 18-485, holding that the statute of limitations for a fabricated-evidence claim under 42 U.S.C. §1983 begins to run when the criminal...more
On March 4, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California acquitted a former sell-side foreign exchange trader on all counts brought against him arising from his alleged misuse of confidential client...more
A recent decision out of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia adjudicating a seemingly straight-forward alleged fraud and money laundering scheme reminds us that money laundering charges still...more
Imagine an individual who is convicted of fraudulently obtaining $5,000 but simultaneously acquitted by a jury of conspiring to fraudulently obtain $1 million. Yet at sentencing, the court bases its sentence of the defendant...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), in January, announced a wave of coordinated spoofing cases that the Acting Assistant Attorney General, John P. Cronan, described as the...more
On April 24, 2018, a federal jury in New Haven, Connecticut, acquitted a former trader who was accused of manipulating the precious metals futures market through a practice known as “spoofing”. Andre Flotron, who faced 25...more
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini commented on a case in which a defendant – convicted in a criminal proceeding of knowingly and willfully making false statements to investors, regulators, an outside accountant and...more
In a short summary order issued on February 9, 2018, in the case of United States v. Muir, 17-150, the Second Circuit affirmed a sentence and reminded everyone that nothing about Apprendi, Booker and their progeny changes the...more