This decision is one more indication of the racial overtones behind much of the crack-cocaine prosecution policies of the Government. ATF Special Agent Joseph Secrete decided that the best way to pad his arrest statistics was to approach and befriend ex-felons as they were leaving their regularly meetings with their ...

Here the Court affirmed the authority of the disctrict court to impose the same original sentence, following a successful Bailey appeal of a gun conviction, in motions under 28 USC § 2241 as well as in § 2255 motions.

United States v. Townsend, 178 F.3d 558 (D.C.Cir. 1999) (Judge Sentelle) ...

While this case is noted principally for Judge Bright's strong dissent, it is also noted for its recognition that sentencing entrapment "occurs when official [government] conduct leads a defendant predisposed to deal only in small quantities of drugs to deal in larger quantities, leading to an increased sentence." (Id., at ...

The defendant in this case ran a bingo parlor in Kentucky, where the state gambling laws permit charitable gambling under strict controls. The defendant established dummy charitable accounts and kept the proceeds from those accounts. The police knew that the illegal gambling operations started in 1991 when the defendant pruchased ...

QUOTE OF THE WEEK - "What a sad kettle of fish!"

Those were the words that Judge Bright used to describe his feelings about the misguided policy and the inherent unfairness of a system of justice that allowed two "long-time drug dealers who made hundreds of thousands of dollars" selling ...

In this case, prior to entering his guilty plea, the defendant made specific inquiry of his attorney about the possibility of being deported for this offense. The attorney informed the defendant that this was not a removable offense and that he would not be returned to Mexico following his release ...

This case was first noted in the 5/11/98 issue of P&J, when we discussed the court's earlier noteworthy ruling in U.S. v. Coleman, 138 F.3d 616 (6th Cir. 1998) (Coleman I). In that case, the defendant argued that he was entitled to a downward departure at sentencing based on the ...

Here the Court held that the Government's conclusory and uncorroborated statements concerning the defendant's alleged membership in a terrorist organization were insifficient to warrant an upward departure in his criminal history category.

The Court stated: "The Court cannot accept the informant's assertion of personal knowledge without being able to evaluate ...

Here, over the dissent of Judge Ripple, the Court held that the district court's refusal to appoint counsel and to conduct a hearing on a motion for resentencing after a retroactive change in the Guidelines was not an abuse of discretion.

In this case the Court accepted the Government's argument ...

Here the Court held that the distruct court abused its discretion by relying collectively on three separate grounds for departure when none of them individually provided an adequate basis for a departure.

In this case, the Court also rejected, as a grounds for departure, the fact that the prosecutor offered ...

Here, citing cases that held far longer periods were acceptable, the Court held that a two year gap between defendant's past activities and his current charge did not preclude such testimony under Rule 404(b).

The Court stated: "Contrary to Ruiz' apparent assumption, two years is not an inherently unacceptable gap ...

Citing the Fourth Circuit's decision in U.S. v. Ivester, 75 F.3d 182, 184 (4th Cir. 1996), the Court emphasized that the disclosure obligations under ther safety-valve provision are different than under the acceptance of responsibility provisions, because "§ 3553(f)(5) requires more than accepting responsibility for one's own acts.".

Here the ...

[Editor's Note: See U.S.S.G. § 5K2.19 - entitled "Post-Sentencing Rehabilitative Efforts (Policy Statement)", which became effective on Nov. 1, 2000 (pursuant to Guideline Amendment 602), which now makes Post Conviction Rehabilitation a prohibited factor under the Guidelines.].

Here the Court rejected the district court's decision to depart downward to a ...

This little gem comes from the far-away shores of Saipan where the Government obtained a Hobbs Act conviction against defendant Du Bo after a trial in the United States District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands. (Yes, Virginia, America exports its criminal laws to its "protectorate" in the Mariana Islands.) ...

This case is noted for its detailed discussion of the so-called "ostrich" instruction, in which the jury is told that a conviction is permissible if it equates actual knowledge with the deliberate avoidance of knowledge.

Here the actual instruction that the trial court gave, and that was approved by the ...

Here the Court held that even though the district court allocated 120 months of the original sentence to each of the drug charges and the gun charges, when the gun charges were dismissed on appeal the Court could still reimpose a 240 month sentence.

United States v. Townsend, 178 F.3d ...

The defendant in this case sought to vacate his drug conviction on the grounds that his counsel was ineffective, in part because his counsel had failed to tell him about a plea offer that had been made, and in part because his counsel had failed to object to the Government's ...

In this case, the defendants were convicted of robbing a Fuddruckers restaurant in Miami and then taking the manager's car and using it to escape. After conviction, they were sentenced to 421 and 408 months in prison, largely on the basis of the penalty provisions of § 2119. They argued ...

United States v. Ford, 184 F.3d 566 (6th Cir. 1999) (Judge Gibson)
United States v. Smith, 186 F.3d 290 (3rd Cir. 1999) (Judge Weiss)

Both of these cases deal with one of the favorite ploys of the Government: using the money laundering Guidelines as a means of increasing sentences in ...

This case is noted for its extensive discussion of the "fiduciary exception" to the attorney client privilege which, in the ERISA context, provides that an employer/fiduciary is disabled from asserting the privilege against plan beneficiaries.

The Court explained: "The fiduciary exception is rooted in two distinct rationales. See generally Rust ...

United States v. Ford, 184 F.3d 566 (6th Cir. 1999) (Judge Gibson)
United States v. Smith, 186 F.3d 290 (3rd Cir. 1999) (Judge Weiss)

Both of these cases deal with one of the favorite ploys of the Government: using the money laundering Guidelines as a means of increasing sentences in ...

The defendant contended that the court should have used the Guideline sentencing range - and not the mandatory minimum sentence - as the starting point for his § 5K1.1 departure - relying heavily on the language contained in Application Note 7 to § 2D1.1, which states that:

"Where a mandatory ...

In this case the Court held that search warrants obtained by the police and that led to the seizure of documents going back to 1984 were overly broad for failing to specify relevant dates when the police knew that the crimes started in 1991.

The defendant in this case ran ...

Quote from a dissent by Judge Bright in which he bemoaned the practice, encouraged by the Guidelines, of giving the drug lords minor sentences, while heavily penalizing the smaller players who have "no one else to snitch on".

QUOTE OF THE WEEK - "What a sad kettle of fish!"

Those ...

This case was first noted in the 5/11/98 issue of P&J, when we discussed the court's earlier noteworthy ruling in U.S. v. Coleman, 138 F.3d 616 (6th Cir. 1998) (Coleman I). In that case, the defendant argued that he was entitled to a downward departure at sentencing based on the ...