In this case, the Fourth Circuit addressed an important and frequently recurring question for sex offenders - namely, whether the district court erred in considering at a defendant's sentencing hearing certain admissions he made while participating in a Sex Offender Treatment Program, which he was ordered to complete as a ...

Reading this decision, one’s first reaction is to breathe a sigh of relief that the Supreme Court finally struck down various onerous provisions of a Colorado civil forfeiture statue that violated the most basic concepts of due process, common sense and fair play. Sadly, however, any such sigh of relief ...

When defendants are convicted of Federal crimes, it has become quite common for district courts to enter two different judgments: an initial judgment of the conviction and the incarceratory portion of the sentence, and a subsequent, amended judgment of restitution after a hearing under the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act. And, ...

This is an interesting decision in which the Court addressed an issue of first impression (at least for the Eighth Circuit) - namely, what is the appropriate remedy when defense counsel breaches the terms of his client’s plea agreement.

Here, Bruce Swisshelm pled guilty to one count of bank fraud, ...

This is another in the growing series of cases addressing the Government’s use of its Network Investigative Technique (“NIT”) in cases involving child pornography - and this one has an interesting twist.

The NIT is a special software technology developed by the FBI which allows the Government to track down ...

Jeffrey Rothbard pled guilty to one count of wire fraud in connection with his participation in a scheme to defraud companies that were interested in obtaining loans for environmentally friendly upgrades to their facilities. He committed this offense, which yielded more than $200,000 for him, while he was on probation ...