Blog

USA v. Georgia Thompson,  06-3676.  In 2005 Wisconsin selected Adelman Travel Group as its travel agent for about 40% of its annual travel budget of $75 million. The selection came after an elaborate process presided over by Georgia Thompson, a section chief in the state’s Bureau of Procurement. Statutes and regulations require...

USA v. Demetris Simmons, 06-3894.  Demetris Simmons was convicted following a jury trial of dealing in firearms without a license and sentenced to 56 months’ imprisonment. Simmons appealed the calculation of his sentence under the United States Sentencing Guidelines.

In this appeal, Simmons argues that the district court miscalculated his...

USA V. James P. Roti, 06-3192.  Saddled with a judgment for more than $400,000 on account of a guarantee of his small corporation’s debts, James Roti decided to hide his assets from creditors. He has been convicted of bankruptcy fraud, see 18 U.S.C. §157, and concealing assets from the bankruptcy trustee, see 18...

USA v. Daryl L. Wilson, Stevie Thomas, Donnell L. Cohn, Sammy Armstead, and Tyree Collins.  04-1594.  This multi-defendant criminal appeal concerns a drug conspiracy at a public housing complex in Chicago. The five defendants were members of the Gangster Disciples ("GD") street gang, which organized all drug sales at a building at...

USA v. Mike Singh and Paul Busara, Nos. 05-4509 & 05-4575.  The intriguing issue in this case is when does "transportation" begin in a prosecution under the Federal Kidnapping Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1201(a). A jury found Singh guilty on all three counts and Busara entered a guilty plea to counts 2...

USA v. Clarence Hendrix, 05-3644.   A jury convicted defendant Clarence Hendrix one count of distributing at least fifty grams of crack cocaine.  The district court sentenced Hendrix to 240 months of imprisonment, a mandatory minimum based on his prior felony drug conviction. 

The conviction arose out of a drug transaction...

U.S. v. Krishnaswami Sriram 05-2752.  The defendant, a cardiologist who had billed Medicare some $17 million over a five-year period, pleaded guilty to health care fraud and tax fraud. The defendant admitted having received "substantial payments" for fraudulent claims (estimated in the presentence investigation report to be between $5 and $10 million) submitted...

USA v. Henry C. Renken, 05-2838.    Note:  Attorney Michael J. Petro represented Mr. Renken in the District Court and the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.  As such, this is the entire opinion.)

A jury convicted Henry Renken of bank robbery (and using a firearm while committing the robbery)...

USA v. John L. Carraway, 06-3226.  Defendant-Appellant John L. Carraway appeals pro se from the district court’s decision to dismiss, for want of jurisdiction, his post-judgment motion seeking relief from his conviction and sentence and the denial of his request for reconsideration.

Thirteen years ago, a jury convicted Carraway of...

USA v. Alfred McGowan, 06-1546.  Alfred McGowan appeals the 132-month sentence he received following his conviction for two counts of distributing cocaine. The two counts involved small, controlled-buy sales of cocaine to a woman named Christine Beu. The first sale, involving 7.2 grams, was on February 3, 2003. The second, which involved 4.9...