Ken Swartz’s White Collar Crime Blog

Recent Posts from Ken Swartz’s White Collar Crime Blog

• Supervised release does not run during period of imprisonment unless period is less than 30 consecutive days.

  U.S. v. JOHNSON, 2009 WL 2767048 (11th Cir. September 2, 2009) The defendant challenged his supervised release sentence revocation on the ground that he had completed his three years of supervised release prior to the…

• Failure by the trial Court to include all statutory elements of aggravated identity theft in a jury instruction was not harmless error.

  U.S. v. GOMEZ, 2009 WL 2633039, (11th Cir. August 28, 2009) The Eleventh Circuit vacated the defendant’s conviction for aggravated identity theft and remanded the case back to the district court because the district court…

• State’s regulation for safety inspections of commercial motor vehicles was adequate substitute for warrant under Fourth Amendment.

  U.S. v. PONCE-ALDONA, 2009 WL 2450282 (11th Cir. August 12, 2009) The defendant conditionally pled guilty to drug charges but on appeal argued that the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress because…

• District court erroneously dismissed first indictment containing error and sentenced defendant on plea to second indictment, violating the double jeopardy clause.

  US v. McIntosh, 2009 WL 2611294 (August 27, 2009) The defendant pleaded guilty to an indictment alleging drug and firearm charges and the district court accepted the plea. However, before the defendant was sentenced, the…

• Promotional money laundering and Concealment money laundering are two separate offenses that do not require a special verdict form or a specific unanimity instruction to the jury.

  U.S. v. Felts, 2009 WL 2568362 (August 21, 2009) The defendant was convicted of conspiracy to commit money laundering, money laundering, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and was sentenced to 210…

• A two-level enhancement was not impermissible double-counting.

  U.S. v. Demarest, 570 F.3d 1232 (11th Cir. June 10, 2009) The defendant appealed his conviction and sentence for three counts of money laundering. The court found that the defendant’s physical and mental efforts on…

• Carrying a concealed firearm and escape are not properly considered violent felonies so as to trigger a sentence enhancement under ACCA.

  U.S. v. Canty, 570 F.3d 1251 (11th Cir. June 11, 2009) The defendant was convicted of possessing counterfeit federal reserve notes and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The government argued to enhance…

• Court finds convictions for both “receiving” and “possessing” child pornography do not violate the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment.

  U.S. v. Bobb, 2009 WL 2391918 (August 6, 2009) The defendant was convicted on both charges and sentenced to 96 months imprisonment and five years’ supervised release. Defendant appealed and argued that he received multiple…

• District court must consider Section 3553(a) factors in deciding to reduce a sentence under Amendment 706.

  U.S. v. Douglas, 2009 WL 2244519 (July 29, 2009) The defendant was sentenced to 188 months for crack-cocaine conviction and filed a motion to reduce his sentence under Amendment 709 to the Sentencing Guidelines. The…

• The District Court made procedural errors in applying the Guidelines.

  U.S. v. Gupta, 2009 WL 1749046 (11th Cir. June 23, 2009) The defendants were convicted of conspiracy to submit false Medicare claims. This third appeal involves fundamental errors about the sentencing of the Defendant, Gupta,…