Practice Tip: If Client Asks To Appeal, File That Notice
USA v. Armando Nunez, 06-1014. Charged with multiple cocaine offenses, Armando Nunez negotiated a plea bargain: the prosecutor dismissed all counts but one and recommended a sentence at the lowest point in the Guideline range. As part of the deal, Nunez agreed not to appeal or file a collateral attack unless the sentence...
Depite No Counsel At Prior Plea, Criminal History Points OK
USA v. Josue L. Feliciano, 06-3423. Josue Feliciano’s appeal focuses on the district court’s reliance for purposes of a federal sentence on an earlier misdemeanor conviction he received in Florida, in a case where he proceeded without counsel.
Feliciano was before the federal court on charges of distributing methamphetamine in...
Phone Tap Surveillance – Have Other Investigative Procedures Been Exhausted?
USA v. Victor Goodwin, et al., 06-3057. A jury convicted Victor Goodwin, Leo Brown, Jr., Timothy Doerr, and Jermal Phillips of multiple counts of drug trafficking and other related offenses stemming from a multi-state conspiracy. Following their convictions, the four defendants filed a consolidated appeal challenging various aspects of their respective convictions...
Drug Conspiracy – Boilerplate Rules Regarding Sufficiency and Variance
USA v.MIGUEL BUSTAMANTE, RAPHAEL PENA, ABRAHAM ESTREMERA AND STEVE LISCANO, Nos. 03-3388, 04-1469, 05-4798 & 05-4799. On November 20, 2002, a grand jury indicted Miguel Bustamante, Raphael Pena, Abraham Estremera, and Steve Liscano for a number of crimes related to a drug conspiracy in Aurora, Illinois.
For the following reasons,...
Terry Car Stop OK: Boilerplate Rules
USA v. Ralph Wesley Riley, 06-2557. Ralph Wesley Riley pleaded guilty to two counts of bank fraud and eleven counts of attempted bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1344, and to one count of theft of mail, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1708; in his plea agreement, however, he reserved the...
Boilerplate Requirements for Ostrich Instruction
USA v. Fabio Carani, 06-2007. Fabio Carani was charged with one count of possessing child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(5)(B), and two counts of knowingly receiving child pornography in the form of certain computer files in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(2)(A). A jury found Carani guilty of possession, but...
Harmless Error Analysis Applies to Sentencing Factors
USA v. Kevin Williams, 05-4405. Kevin Williams was convicted of conspiracy to violate 21 U.S.C. § 846 by knowingly and intentionally possessing and distributing "cocaine and cocaine base, commonly known as ‘crack,’ . . . heroin and marijuana." In finding him guilty, the jury made no factual findings about either drug type or...
Dangerous Weapon Enhancement for Itty Bitty Pocket Knife Reversed
USA v. Darryl Franklin, 06-3462. Darryl Franklin pleaded guilty to two counts of using a telephone in the commission of a drug crime, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 843(b). The district court sentenced Franklin to 84 months of imprisonment applying the dangerous weapon enhancement under Sentencing Guideline § 2D1.1(b)(1). Franklin appeals the...
Georgia Sweet Georgia: 7th Circuit Finds Well Meaning Employee Innocent
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...
Departures Are Obsolete – Boilerplate Language for Sentencing Memos
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...