Here the Court denied a Government request to impose a 5-level enhancement under USSG § 2G2.2(b)(4) on the grounds that there is a distinction between sexual harassment and sexual abuse or exploitation.

This case deals with the growing number of Sentencing Guideline provisions that relate to sex crimes committed over ...

Here the Court upheld the district court's decision not to apply a two-level enhancement based on USSG § 3B1.4 (Using a minor to commit a crime) because of a patent ambiguity in that section about whether it applied to abstract intentions.

This case deals with the growing number of Sentencing ...

In a decision that the Court itself called "perhaps surprising", the Second Circuit vacated a series of mail fraud convictions obtained pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1341 on the ground that venue was improper in the Eastern District of New York. The defendants were charged with making a series of ...

Here the Court held that a conspiracy to commit robbery that violates the Hobbs Act is a "crime of violence" within the meaning of 18 USC § 924(c)(1) which prescribes using or possessing a firearm during a crime of violence.

In this case the majority took issue with the Fourth Circuit's holding in U.S. v. Phan, 121 F.3d 149, 153 (4th Cir. 1997) where that court, under similar circumstances, held that the delivery of guns to a prospective robber for use in the robbery (which never took place) was "in ...

Here the Court stated: "The money laundering statute makes it a crime for someone who, "knowing that the property involved in a financial transaction represents the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity, conducts . . . such a financial transaction which in fact involves the proceeds of specified unlawful ...

In a decision that was quickly reversed by the D.C. Circuit, the district court held that an indictment for engaging in a scheme to conceal material facts from government agents was impermissibly vague.

Here the Court held that the district court erred in allowing the Government to withdraw its § 5K1.1 motion after the defendant was convicted of a new crime, because it had not specifically reserved that remedy in its plea agreement.

While the holding in this case is narrow, it does ...

Under the Guidelines, prior sentences imposed more than 15 years (or, in some cases, 10 years) before the commencement of the defendant's current offense are not to be counted in his criminal history. (USSG § 4A1.2(e)). However, "[i]f the court finds that a sentence imposed outside this time period is ...

This is one of those astonishing cases that seems to suggest that all that is required of prosecutors in District Judge Alley's courtroom in Oklahoma is to follow the biblical precept of "Ask and you shall receive." At issue in this drug case were the provisions of 21 U.S.C. §§ ...

Here the Court upheld a three level increase in the defendant's criminal history category based on a series of convictions despite the defendant's arguments that they were too old and too dissimilar under the provisions of U.S.S.G. § 4A1.2(e).

Under the Guidelines, prior sentences imposed more than 15 years (or, ...

This case deals with the notice requirements for sentencing enhancement provisions of 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A); and it shows how the courts often cater to the Government, even if it entails ignoring the plain language of the relevant statutes. In this case, the Government timely filed a notice, pursuant to ...

Relying on Carter v. Kentucky, 450 US 288, the Court held that the trial court had erred in failing to instruct the jury not to draw an adverse inference from the defendant's failure to testify after the defendant requested that instruction.

The Court also held that: "After thorough examination of ...

In this case former FBI agent Earl Edwin Pitts pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit espionage and one count of attempted espionage in violation of 18 U.S.C.§ 794. On appeal from his sentence he argued that the district court erred when it determined that his two counts ...

In this case the Government filed a civil forfeiture action against three vehicles, alleging two separate claims: (1) that the vehicles were purchased with drug money, subjecting them to forfeiture under 21 U.S.C. § 991(a)(6); and (2) the vehicles were involved in a transaction designed to conceal the fact that ...

Here the Court held that the "gun bump" enhancement contained in USSG § 2D1.1(b)(1) is not precluded because the gun charge was dismissed under the Supreme Court's decision in Bailey v. U.S., 516 U.S. 137 (1995).

This case sheds further light on the broad sweep of the two level "gun ...

Here the Court held that the district court erred in allowing the Government to withdraw its § 5K1.1 motion after the defendant was convicted of a new crime, because it had not specifically reserved that remedy in its plea agreement.

While the holding in this case is narrow, it does ...

Case held that conduct that warrants a sentence enhancement for possession of a gun under USSG § 2D1.1(b)(1) "necessarily defeats" the application of the safety valve under § 5C1.2(2).

Here a gun was discovered in the defendant's backpack, and the Court held that was sufficient to support an enhancement for ...