Justia White Collar Crime Opinion Summaries

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and several counts of mail and wire fraud. The district court sentenced Defendant to a thirty-month term of immurement for the fraud offenses. The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s convictions but vacated his sentence for securities fraud after finding procedural error in the district court’s calculation of the loss amount. On remand, the court below again sentenced Defendant to a term of thirty months’ imprisonment. The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court, holding that the district court (1) did not abuse its discretion in admitting certain expert testimony at sentencing; and (2) did not commit clear error in determining the amount of the loss attributable to the offense of conviction. View "United States v. Jordan" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of fifty-eight criminal counts arising from her participation in a Medicare fraud scheme. Defendant appealed, alleging several procedural defects in the proceedings below and arguing that the Government did not present sufficient evidence to convict her of identity theft and money laundering. The district court sentenced Defendant to two years and one day of imprisonment and three years of supervised release. The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) the Government presented sufficient evidence to convict Defendant of identity theft and money laundering; and (2) any procedural defects were harmless. View "United States v. Vega" on Justia Law

Defendant was the mastermind of a Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 230 investors out of over $22 million. Defendant pled guilty to bank fraud and to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The district court sentenced Defendant to concurrent terms of sixty months’ imprisonment on the wire fraud conspiracy count and 242 months on the bank fraud count. Restitution was also ordered in the amount of $10,629,021. Defendant appealed, arguing that his 242-month sentence was too high. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that the 242-month sentence was both procedurally and substantively reasonable. View "United States v. Reyes-Rivera" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Defendant, a former Massachusetts state trooper, was convicted of knowingly participating in the use of extortionate means to attempt to collect an extension of credit. The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) the district court’s finding of discrimination with respect to the government’s attempt to strike one juror and the court’s chosen remedy was not inadequate under Batson v. Kentucky; (2) the district court did not err in denying Defendant’s motion for acquittal based on insufficiency of evidence; and (3) the district court did not err in instructing the jury, and even assuming that the district court committed error, the error was harmless. View "United States v. Analetto" on Justia Law