Yesterday, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued its fourth opinion regarding the federal sentencing of Kenneth Livesay, former chief information officer for HealthSouth Corporation. The Court has insisted that Livesay must serve time in prison for his role in the accounting fraud at HealthSouth. We are disappointed in the…
Ed. Note: This week, the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s 2009 Amendments to the federal Sentencing Guidelines went into effect. Once a week this month, we will post an analysis of some of the more important changes to the Guidelines. The Sentencing Commission’s reader-friendly guide to the 2009 amendments is available here.…
Frank DiPascali, Bernie Madoff‘s top financial aide, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to ten criminal counts, including conspiracy, tax evasion, and securities fraud. He was taken into federal custody immediately after the hearing, at which he had waived indictment and admitted to helping Madoff falsify trading records for decades. Although he…
Last Monday, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Weyhrauch v. United States, a federal criminal honest services fraud case. We are in Atlanta, Georgia, which is in the Eleventh Circuit. Because this case may impact Eleventh Circuit law, we will follow this case closely and provide any updates. The question…
In a move that is sure to keep federal criminal defense attorneys in Atlanta and other places busy, the Federal Bureau of Investigation recently announced an increase in federal criminal mortgage fraud investigations. According to recent news reports, since last October, the FBI has transferred 75 agents working on other…
As you may remember, we have been closely following United States v. Svete, which involves the federal criminal mail fraud statute, in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in here Atlanta, Georgia. In this post back in April 2008, Paul Kish explained the facts of the case and the original…
Most of us that practice criminal law in federal court have become familiar with the federal identity fraud statute. In essence, this statute requires a federal judge to impose a two year mandatory minimum sentence on an individual who, in the context of committing a certain enumerated federal felony offense,…
Recently, the Eleventh Circuit (which is headquartered here in Atlanta, Georgia) identified the issues that it will address in a federal criminal appeal involving the federal mail fraud statute. As both Paul Kish and I have discussed here and here, one of the main issues in the case is whether…
In a case that is being closely watched by federal criminal defense attorneys, the Eleventh Circuit vacated its prior opinion in a federal fraud case. In the initial opinion, the Court concluded that the pattern jury instruction for federal mail fraud cases is deficient in that it fails to require…
In a federal mortgage fraud case origninating out of Atlanta, Georgia, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a 360 month sentence against a real estate closing attorney. The appeal arose after a two week federal trial that occurred in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. On appeal,…