Information and Insight on Criminal Law and Civil Rights
As any experienced Idaho criminal defense lawyer will tell you, the vast majority of cases are resolved with a plea bargain long before they ever reach a courtroom. Plea bargains are important to prosecutors because they help efficiently clear dockets and allow them to prosecute more cases. They can also be beneficial to defendants by allowing them to serve …
Continue Reading Supreme Court Tightens Rules on Plea Bargains
Thanks again for the nice thoughts about my Dad – but even he would want me back in the saddle and getting ready for trial. Before I get deep into trial mode (two weeks and counting), I wanted to take a minute and answer a question about federal criminal sentencing. A prospective federal client asked me about the use of…
Continue Reading Back to Defending People – And the Business of Federal Cases
I am back from a sentencing today and again it is obvious. What matters when it comes to sentencing is the protection of society. So says virtually every judge you encounter in any courtroom in any sentencing proceeding.
How can you best demonstrate that your conduct does not pose a risk to the community? That’s what it usually comes down…
Continue Reading Sentencing: It’s All About Protecting Society
In another one of those confusing 9th Circuit fraud decisions – the Court of Appeals has upheld the convictions and sentences of three men who summoned the likes of Charles Ponzi and swindled 1700 investors out of $40 million. In US v. Treadwell the Court upheld an instruction that “intent to defraud is an intent to deceive or cheat,” and…
Continue Reading 9th Circuit Says Intent to Defraud is the Intent to Cheat
If you think that white colar crime results in a slap on the wrist, consider the recent sentencing decision in a case of mortgage fraud, in Georgia. The Georgia United States Attorney reports that last week Adriene Newby-Allen was sentenced to 135 months imprisonment and ordered to pay $5,278,703 in restitution. Newby-Allen pled guilty in July to charges arising from…
Continue Reading Mortgage Fraud Sends Defendant To Prison For 135 Months
I was at the beach – Mission Beach to be precise – and relaxing with my bride over the weekend. The sun was shining and the sea air cooling, but like all good things – that too came to an end on Monday. I am now in Nevada, taking depositions in a crop insurance fraud case. There is lots of…
Continue Reading Away from the beach – thinking about sentencing guidelines