In United States v. Korchevsky, the Second Circuit (Walker, Parker, Carney) affirmed two defendants’ conspiracy and securities fraud convictions over defendants’ myriad claims of error, which included challenges to the...more
On December 3, 2019, the Second Circuit (Kearse, Pooler, Livingston) issued a decision in United States v. Calderon, et al., reversing an $18 million restitution order and otherwise affirming the defendants convictions and...more
In United States v. Pauling, the Second Circuit (Katzmann, Kearse, and Chin) affirmed the District Court’s post-trial order granting Pauling’s motion under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 29 to set aside his conviction for...more
In Doe v. Unites States, the Second Circuit (Katzmann, Kearse, and Chin) reversed the district court’s denial of Doe’s petition for a writ of coram nobis. In a partially redacted opinion (we do not even know the district...more
Robert du Purton was convicted of mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in 2001 for participating in an “elaborate scheme of fraudulent representations” in his rare coin business. According to trial...more
In United States v. Rodriguez, a panel of the Second Circuit (Judges Katzmann, Walker, and Bolden (D. Conn., sitting by designation)) reversed the conviction of a defendant for money laundering....more
In United States v. Djibo, the Second Circuit vacated and remanded a judgment of conviction entered in the Eastern District of New York (Johnson, J.) following the defendant’s trial on charges arising from an international...more
4/20/2018
/ Abuse of Discretion ,
Brady Violation ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Criminal Justice Act ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Drug Trafficking ,
Evidentiary Rulings ,
Exculpatory Evidence ,
Motion to Remand ,
Sentencing Factors
In United States v. Rutigliano, No. 16-3754 et al., the Second Circuit (Jacobs, Raggi, Droney) refused to endorse the reduction of a restitution order against defendants who had conspired to submit fraudulent disability...more
Update: The Second Circuit’s decision in United States v. Betts (No 17-231), which was initially released as a non-precedential summary order on February 5, 2018, was re-released as a published opinion on March 28, 2018. ...more
In United States v. Papas (17-cr-1591-cr), the Second Circuit remanded by summary order a $5 million forfeiture order entered in the Southern District of New York (Daniels, J.) after the defendant pleaded guilty to conspiracy...more
In United States v. Dove, 14-1150-cr, the Second Circuit (Walker, Pooler, Chin) upheld a drug conspiracy conviction against claims that the government improperly shifted its case away from the broader conspiracy charge in the...more
On August 15, 2016, the Second Circuit issued a rare opinion on the subject of the sufficiency of evidence to establish venue in United States v. Lange, No. 14-2442-cr (Jacobs, Chin, Droney). ...more
In United States v. Tank Yuk, et al., 15-131 (March 15, 2018), the Second Circuit (Chin (dissenting), Carney, Forrest, sitting by designation) affirmed the convictions of three defendants in a drug trafficking conspiracy who...more
A divided Second Circuit panel (Katzmann, Pooler (dissenting), Chin) on Wednesday upheld the insider trading conviction of former SAC Capital portfolio manager Mathew Martoma. Confronting its precedent in United States v....more
3/12/2018
/ Confidential Information ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Hedge Funds ,
Insider Trading ,
Martoma ,
Personal Benefit ,
SAC Capital ,
Securities Fraud ,
Special Relationship ,
Tippees ,
US v Newman
In a short opinion in United States v. Ohle, 16-601-cr, the Second Circuit (Leval, Calabresi, Cabranes) resolved two open questions about the application of Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4, both in the context of a...more
In United States v. Betts (No. 17-231), the Court (Leval, Calabresi, Cabranes) vacated by summary order the imposition of a special condition of supervised release prohibiting the consumption of alcohol by a defendant whose...more
On January 9, 2018, the Second Circuit (Kearse, Cabranes, Wesley) rejected a request by ex-AOL Inc. employee Jason Smathers to junk the restitution component of his sentence, which requires him to recompense the online...more
1/16/2018
/ Advertising ,
AOL ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Data Breach ,
Email ,
Fraud ,
Internet ,
Misappropriation ,
Pro Se Litigants ,
Restitution ,
Spam ,
Theft ,
User Names
In United States v. Scully, 16-3073-cr (Pooler, Lynch, Cogan[1]), the Second Circuit vacated the defendant’s conviction for various offenses, including mail and wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States, the sale of...more
12/28/2017
/ Advice-of-Counsel Defense ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Drug Distribution ,
Evidence ,
Evidentiary Rulings ,
Mail Fraud ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
Wire Fraud
The Second Circuit has denied the government’s request for rehearing en banc in United States v. Allen, et al. (16-cr-98). In July, a panel of the Court (Cabranes, Pooler, Lynch) vacated the convictions of Anthony Allen and...more
On September 18, 2017, in United States v. Caltabiano, No. 16-1275-cr, the Second Circuit (Walker, Lynch, and Lohier, Js.) clarified the jurisdictional scope of a Notice of Appeal. The Court confirmed its authority to...more
United States v. Gill, No. 15-4444-cr(L) (Livingston, Chin, Carney), a decision in a drug trafficking and murder conspiracy appeal, offers several interesting rulings on evidentiary and trial practice issues that arose out of...more
On July 19, 2017, in United States v. Allen, et al. (16-cr-98) (Cabranes, Pooler, Lynch), the Second Circuit issued a decision reversing the convictions of defendants Anthony Allen and Anthony Conti for wire fraud and...more
7/20/2017
/ Bank Fraud ,
Banking Sector ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Fifth Amendment ,
Interest Rates ,
Libor ,
Reversal ,
Self-Incrimination ,
UK ,
Wire Fraud
In United States v. Martinez, Nos. 14-2759, 15-511, 15-836, 15-1001, 15-3699 (Kearse, Jacobs, Pooler), issued on July 7, the Second Circuit affirmed the convictions of several co-conspirators in a decade-long scheme where at...more
The murder-for-hire statute makes it a crime to agree to commit murder in exchange for “anything of pecuniary value.” 18 U.S.C. § 1958. The Second Circuit has understood this language to require that, at the time of the...more
Aéropostale is known by many as a staple of adolescent wardrobes and shopping-mall standard. But as a patsy for kickback schemes? In United States v. Finazzo, 14-3213-cr, 14-3330-cr (Droney, J., joined by Judges Sack and...more
3/13/2017
/ Appeals ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Fashion Industry ,
Fraud ,
Joint Venture ,
Mail Fraud ,
Remand ,
Restitution ,
Right to Control ,
Travel Act ,
Vacated ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Wire Fraud