Sentencing/Post Conviction

Man admits to Facebook threats against federal judge, agrees to 366-day prison term

A Nevada man has pleaded guilty to threatening a federal judge on Facebook, in exchange for a prison term of just over a year. Jason Andre Willis, 41, pleaded guilty on Tuesday in federal court in Las Vegas to a felony charge of threatening interstate communications, reports the Las Vegas…

Mar 29, 2016 12:50 PM CDT

Prison a ‘blessing in disguise’ for jailhouse lawyer who got a new trial and a paralegal job

After years of insisting that he did not commit the carjackings and armed robberies for which he was originally sentenced a decade ago, a Flint, Michigan, man was set free on Monday—at least for now. A federal judge in Detroit ordered that Omar Rashad Pouncy, 28, be released on a…

Mar 29, 2016 12:20 PM CDT

Pardon attorney’s resignation letter cites backlogs and reversals

The Obama administration’s pardon attorney, Deborah Leff, said in a January resignation letter that she could not continue in her job because of backlogs caused by a lack of resources and directions over priorities. USA Today used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain a copy of the letter (PDF),…

Mar 29, 2016 11:48 AM CDT

Ex-lawyer gets weekend jail time for collecting $247K in disability payments while still practicing

A former New York bankruptcy lawyer who admittedly collected more than $247,000 in Social Security disability payments over a seven-year period, while continuing to practice law, has been sentenced to weekend jail time. Christopher Chadick, 63, was sentenced Thursday to six months of weekend jail time, from 6 p.m. Friday…

Mar 25, 2016 3:45 PM CDT

Lawyer gets 30 days for contempt after admitting he took money from ex-judge’s ‘honey pot’ estate

A New York lawyer was sentenced Wednesday to 30 days for contempt for not complying with a court order requiring him to account for $2.28 million received from the sale of a deceased former judge’s real estate in 2012. The sentence came after attorney Frank Racano, 54, admitted during a…

Mar 25, 2016 2:20 PM CDT

Imprisoned mothers should be allowed to spend six months with newborns, report says

Imprisoned mothers should be allowed to live with their newborn babies for at least six months, according to a report released on Friday regarding incarcerated Washington, D.C., women. Incarcerated women from the District have significant problems maintaining contact with their children, according to the report (PDF) by the Washington Lawyers’…

Mar 25, 2016 11:09 AM CDT

Utah is first state with registry for white-collar criminals

Convicted white-collar criminals in Utah who want to remove their names from a new state registry will have to pay court-ordered restitution in full. Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes says the state’s new registry for white-collar criminals who don’t timely comply with court orders is a “carrot” for offenders to…

Mar 25, 2016 7:14 AM CDT

Judge who reduced verdict from $5M to $1M, expecting campaign gift, gets 10 years in bribe case

A former Arkansas judge was sentenced Thursday to a maximum 10-year prison term for admittedly reducing a jury verdict in the expectation of a contribution to his planned campaign for a state appeals court seat. Michael Maggio, now 54, lost his seat on the Faulkner County Circuit Court bench after…

Mar 24, 2016 3:30 PM CDT

Longtime lawyer and CEO of failed bank gets 11 years in fraud case

A longtime Nebraska lawyer who later served as the CEO of TierOne Bank when it became insolvent was sentenced Wednesday to an 11-year federal prison term. He was also ordered to pay a $1.2 million fine and undetermined restitution. Gilbert Lundstrom, 74, was accused by the government of causing more…

Mar 23, 2016 5:00 PM CDT

Rare full restitution to victims of law firm chief’s $1.2B fraud takes some defendants off the hook

With the help of a major judgment against a bank used by former law firm chief Scott Rothstein in connection with a $1.2 billion fraud, a rare outcome has occurred. Federal prosecutors say victims have been made whole for their financial losses, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports. So that…

Mar 23, 2016 1:30 PM CDT

Convicted of murder despite out-of-state vacation alibi, man is freed on DA’s motion after 20 years

A New York City man was freed from prison Wednesday, at the request of the Bronx district attorney’s office, after serving 20 years for a murder he says he didn’t commit. The DA’s office agreed to a new trial for Richard Rosario, who identified more than a dozen alibi witnesses…

Mar 23, 2016 12:35 PM CDT

Prosecutor’s book offers firsthand look at ‘Making a Murderer’ subject Steven Avery (podcast)

A year before Netflix’s viral hit Making a Murderer was making headlines, Wisconsin prosecutor Michael Griesbach released his book The Innocent Killer: A True Story of a Wrongful Conviction and its Astonishing Aftermath.

Mar 23, 2016 8:30 AM CDT

Former State Department employee gets nearly 5 years in ‘international sextortion campaign’

A former State Department employee was sentenced Monday to four years and nine months in what federal prosecutors called an “international sextortion campaign” operated from his computer at the U.S. Embassy in London. They said Michael Ford, 36, tricked hundreds of women into providing him with their email and social…

Mar 21, 2016 3:45 PM CDT

Man with rifle case, but no gun, outside courthouse gets 210 days for obstruction, resisting arrest

There was only a tripod, a camera and other accessories in the rifle case that Floyd Wallace was carrying outside a Nebraska courthouse earlier this month. However, the 20-year-old was sentenced last week to a 210-day jail sentence, for obstruction and resisting arrest concerning the manner in which he responded…

Mar 21, 2016 3:05 PM CDT

Lawyer, a Harvard law grad, gets house arrest after he is convicted of theft and barratry

A lawyer has been sentenced to house arrest after his conviction for stealing $10,200 from a Seattle-area law firm where he was working despite having no law license in Washington state. Philip Kong, a Harvard law grad, was sentenced last Wednesday to 60 days of electronic home detention, 30 days…

Mar 21, 2016 9:01 AM CDT