Sentencing/Post Conviction

6th Circuit Rejects Sentence Delay for Woman Convicted in Rick Pitino Extortion Attempt

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected an effort to force the recusal of a federal judge who presided over the attempted extortion trial of a woman who sought to obtain millions from University of Louisville coach Rick Pitino in exchange for her silence about what she called…

Feb 14, 2011 7:01 PM CST

Crim Defense Colleagues Throw Going Away Party for Mickey Sherman, Headed to Club Fed

Michael “Mickey” Sherman isn’t complaining. The 64-year-old Connecticut criminal defense attorney did the crime, and now he’ll have to do the time—a year and a day—for failing to pay his federal income tax. “I didn’t get railroaded. I made a mistake. I never groused about paying the price,” he tells…

Feb 12, 2011 12:10 AM CST

Former Legal Assistant to Attorney-Judge Gets Probation in Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Telling a federal judge she was truly sorry and would never make the same mistake again, a 36-year-old New Jersey legal assistant was sentenced to probation instead of prison for tax fraud yesterday because of her cooperation with authorities in an alleged $8 million mortgage-fraud scheme. Among the alleged co-conspirators…

Feb 11, 2011 10:51 PM CST

Russian Hacker Apologizes, Gets Probation in $10M Raid on Scottish Bank

A 27-year-old Russian man who participated in a hack attack on a Scottish bank that eventually netted some $10 million from 2,000 ATMs has been sentenced to probation by a Siberian court. Yevgeny Anikin, who apologized for his role in the crime, also was given a five-year suspended sentence and…

Feb 11, 2011 8:45 PM CST

Judge Rushed Murder Case Summation to Get to St. Maarten for Pina Coladas, Alan Dershowitz Argues

It isn’t just in Nevada that a judge’s vacation plans reportedly may have trumped the defendant’s right to an unhurried trial. Famed attorney Alan Dershowitz blasted Queens Supreme Court Justice Robert Hanophy in an argument before a New York state appeals court today, contending that his client’s defense lawyer at…

Feb 10, 2011 1:15 AM CST

As Experts Disagree About Evidence in Shaken-Baby Cases, Some Verdicts Face New Questions

It is now conventional wisdom that shaking a baby can leave the child with devastating, sometimes-fatal injuries. But some experts say the testimony on which criminal courts rely in convicting those responsible for such child abuse may not be as reliable as was once thought, according to the New York…

Feb 7, 2011 10:07 PM CST

AG of Ill. Sues Over Pension Board’s OK of Benefits to Disgraced Police Commander

After a pension board’s OK last month of a $3,000-a-month pension to a former Chicago police commander accused of playing a leading role in alleged widespread torture of suspects by his officers decades ago, the state attorney general has stepped into the fray. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan sued today…

Feb 7, 2011 7:01 PM CST

Convicted of Official Misconduct, Former PD Is Now Suspended for 1 Year Over Sex with Client

A former assistant public defender who was criminally convicted of official misconduct in 2009 for having sex with a then-client was suspended from practice yesterday for one year by attorney disciplinary authorities. Matthew Swedick “engaged in illegal conduct that adversely reflected on his honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer,…

Feb 4, 2011 10:06 PM CST

Madoff Trustee Is Seeking $300M From NY Mets Owners, Per Lawsuit Made Public Today

It wasn’t merely $48 million that a bankruptcy trustee winding up the affairs of convicted swindler Bernard Madoff was seeking in a lawsuit filed in December against the owners of the New York Mets. It was $300 million, say news reports today. That amount represents the “fictitious profits” allegedly reaped…

Feb 4, 2011 6:50 PM CST

Unsealed Madoff Trustee Suit Details $6.4B Claim Against JPMorgan Chase

Unsealed today in federal bankruptcy court, a $6.4 billion lawsuit filed late last year against JPMorgan Chase & Co. details the theories under which a trustee liquidating the business of convicted Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff is seeking to force the bank to ante up for some Madoff investor losses. Copies…

Feb 4, 2011 1:18 AM CST

Reports: Judge Pulls Gun on Crutch-Swinging Defendant, Who Is Then Shot By Cop in Ala. Courtroom

Unhappy about a judge’s jail sentence or fine in a misdemeanor harassment case, a defendant recovering from a broken hip with a cast on his leg reportedly began swinging his crutches in a courtroom at the Goodwater, Ala., city hall today and was shot in the abdomen and side by…

Feb 3, 2011 11:50 PM CST

Targeted in Necklace Theft Probe, Lindsay Lohan May Have Been Tipped Off to Search Warrant, TMZ Says

Was actress Lindsay Lohan tipped off about a search warrant issued yesterday for her Venice, Calif., home? If she wasn’t, TMZ wonders, why would her assistant have returned a missing necklace to the Los Angeles Police Department rather than the jeweler from which Lohan says she borrowed it? The question…

Feb 3, 2011 1:45 AM CST

CPA’s Stellar Law School Career Screeches to a Halt as St. John’s Rescinds His Admission

Third in his class at St. John’s University School of Law, a certified public accountant working at PricewaterhouseCoopers was looking ahead to a bright future in the law. But David Powers’ would-be legal career came to a screeching halt after he wrote to New York’s character and fitness committee to…

Feb 2, 2011 11:57 PM CST

Hit with 30 Extra Days on Life Term for Cellphone, Helter-Skelter Slayer Manson Is Found with a 2nd

Highlighting an ongoing security issue in the nation’s prisons and California’s cash-strapped facilities in particular, one of the country’s most notorious murderers reportedly has been found, for the second time, in possession of a contraband cellphone. Charles Manson, who was profiled in the book Helter Skelter for his leadership role…

Feb 2, 2011 9:22 PM CST

Imprisoned Ex-Lawyer Lifts Weights, Learns to Type, Is Fired and Rehired as Cook, E-Mails Friends

Once a prominent forensic accountant and attorney known for his natty attire and expertise concerning receiverships, Lew Freeman is now serving a federal prison term of more than eight years in South Florida for stealing millions while working as a court-appointed fiduciary. But although his expensive suits and technicolor socks…

Feb 1, 2011 10:02 PM CST