The defendant in this case, Francisco Gonzalez, pled guilty to a drug conspiracy charge pursuant to a written plea agreement. As part of that agreement, Gonzalez agreed to cooperate with the Government. Subsequently, Gonzalez participated in a debriefing session, pursuant to the terms of a proffer letter, in which the ...

A special condition of supervised release requiring the defendant to transfer to the Government all property required to make restitution did not constitute an illegal order of forfeiture, issue without compliance with the formal procedures for forfeiture.

Here the Court held that a condition of supervised release requiring the defendant ...

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996's (IIRIRA) repeal of discretionary relief for aggravated felons who have been ordered deported, is not impermissibly retroactive as applied
to an alien convicted of an aggravated felony prior to enactment of the IIRIRA.

Appellant alien challenged the decision of the ...

The defendant in this case was convicted of violating 18 U.S.C. § 115(a)(1)(B) by threatening to murder federal law enforcement officers who were preparing to execute a search warrant on his home. On appeal, he raised numerous issues, including a claim of error that the trial court had erred when ...

The principal issue in this appeal was whether the defendant had forfeited his right to object to the district court’s refusal at sentencing to grant him an additional one-level downward adjustment for acceptance of responsibility under U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1(b). The defendant in this case pled guilty to a number of ...

Here the Court affirmed an enhancement for murder under U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(d)(1) on the grounds that the murder was both foreseeable and in furtherance of the underlying drug conspiracy, even though the defendant was acquitted of the murder charge.

In this case, the Ninth Circuit held that a sentencing court ...

Judge Rakoff started his decision in the case by stating: "The issue here presented concerns the extent of the Court's authority to inquire into the circumstances that led, seemingly unwittingly, to the Government's making material misrepresentations to the Court."

This case involved Abdallah Higazy, a prospective grand jury witness, who ...

In an action alleging that a hospital policy of drug testing pregnant women's urine constituted an unreasonable search under the 4th Amendment, no rational jury could find that patients gave their informed and voluntary consent to testing.

This case is the continuation of a long, legal saga in which ten ...

District court did not err in granting defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal as the government's evidence was insufficient to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant committed the offense of aiding and abetting the possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.

This case represents one of those classic judicial confrontations over the arcane and inflexible world of the Guidelines. It also shows the dogged insistence of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in fighting against any semblance of a sentencing “break” as a matter of principle. The battle in this particular case arose ...

Apprendi does not apply to a sentence falling within the statutory range mandated by defendant's stipulation to drug quantity; conviction is proper under 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) even if defendant does not know the type or quantity of the controlled substance.

Here the Court held that a federal inmate is entitled to credit for time served in post-federal-sentence state incarceration under 18 U.S.C. § 3585(a), where he has been forced to serve his federal sentence on an "installment" basis.

On February 21, 1995, the petitioner/inmate, Johnny Weekes, was designated to be ...

It is becoming increasing clear that the sheer number of Federal pornography prosecutions has taken off like a rocket, aided in large part by a growing patchwork of hastily-drafted, politically-popular Federal statutes which both have increased the scope of activities that are punishable, and have dramatically expanded the penalties and ...

It is becoming increasing clear that the sheer number of Federal pornography prosecutions has taken off like a rocket, aided in large part by a growing patchwork of hastily-drafted, politically-popular Federal statutes which both have increased the scope of activities that are punishable, and have dramatically expanded the penalties and ...