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Sentencing Posts
District Judge Orders Much-Reduced Sentence in Fraud Case
Oct 10, 2011
District Judge Orders Much-Reduced Sentence in Fraud Case
A federal judge has made a major reversal in the case of Steve Warshak, the Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals founder who was sentenced to 25 years for defrauding customers who bought his “male enhancement” pills, which were advertised in the notorious “Smiling Bob” ad campaign. We have discussed Warshak’s case in a previous blog post. Warshak…
Judge Imposes Draconian Sentences in Medicare Fraud Scheme
Oct 7, 2011
Judge Imposes Draconian Sentences in Medicare Fraud Scheme
On Sept. 16, 2011, a federal judge in Miami sentenced Lawrence Duran to 50 years in prison, the longest sentence ever imposed in a Medicare fraud case, for his role in a massive fraud scheme that resulted in more than $205 million in losses. Duran was also ordered to pay $87 million in restitution. Duran…
Judge Delivers Rebuke to Prosecutors in Sentencing NSA Official
Aug 17, 2011
Judge Delivers Rebuke to Prosecutors in Sentencing NSA Official
The recent sentencing of a government intelligence official saw a dramatic and unusual rebuke of the U.S. Department of Justice by a federal judge. Four years after searching the home of National Security Agency official Thomas Drake, who was suspected of illegally leaking classified information to a reporter, and more than year after actually indicting…
U.K. Juror Gets 8-Month Sentence for Facebook Use
Jul 5, 2011
U.K. Juror Gets 8-Month Sentence for Facebook Use
Eight months seems a harsh sentence for a juror who made some ill-considered Facebook posts. Harsh, that is, until you hear the facts. The proceeding against U.K. resident Joanne Fraill is one of the first contempt prosecutions ever against a juror for improper Internet use. And the punishment she received is a reminder that, when…
Perjury, Obstruction, and Barry Bonds’ Conviction
Jun 6, 2011
Perjury, Obstruction, and Barry Bonds’ Conviction
Last month, an article in the National Law Journal asked a question that has been on the minds of many: “Did Barry Bonds really obstruct justice?” In April a jury convicted baseball legend Barry Bonds on one count of obstruction of justice based on the testimony he provided before a federal grand jury investigating the…
The Disintegration of White-Collar Criminal Bernie Madoff
Apr 27, 2011
The Disintegration of White-Collar Criminal Bernie Madoff
In December 2010, Bernie Madoff contacted the Financial Times to say that he was ready for his second prison interview. It had been two years since news broke of Madoff’s 16-year, $65 billion Ponzi scheme, and just 17 months since he began serving his 150-year sentence. By the time he was interviewed, his oldest son,…
The Recession’s Effect on Federal Prison Sentences
Mar 7, 2011
The Recession’s Effect on Federal Prison Sentences
On March 2, 2011, Jeff Ifrah, founder of Ifrah Law, and Jeffrey Hamlin, an associate in the firm, published the following article in the Los Angeles Daily Journal. Prison inmates in the United States may have reason to thank Wall Street for the 2008 recession. The bloated federal deficit is forcing agencies to tighten their budgets, including…
Amicus Briefs Urge Reduction in Rubashkin Fraud Sentence
Jan 25, 2011
Amicus Briefs Urge Reduction in Rubashkin Fraud Sentence
We first posted about Sholom Rubashkin—the former plant manager at the now-defunct Agriprocessors, Inc. — back in May 2010, when Rubashkin was awaiting sentence for more than 80 counts of fraud in connection with his operation of the kosher slaughterhouse. Since then, Chief U.S. District Judge Linda Reade of the Northern District of Iowa sentenced…
A Tragic Result of the Stevens Case
Jan 3, 2011
A Tragic Result of the Stevens Case
We have discussed the fallout from the Ted Stevens prosecution several times in this blog. See this post, this post, and this post. The Jan. 3, 2011, issue of the New Yorker magazine has a fascinating article about another, very sad result of that case – the September 26, 2010, suicide of Nicholas Marsh, a…
In Federal Sentencing, Age Begins to Matter
Oct 29, 2010
In Federal Sentencing, Age Begins to Matter
On November 1, 2010, a new amendment to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines will go into effect that will allow a judge to consider a defendant’s age far more often than before in handing down a sentence in federal court. We think this change will have a major impact on sentencing in white-collar criminal cases. Defendants…
