Justia Criminal Law Opinion Summaries

Defendant appealed his sentences and convictions for one count of securities fraud, one count of wire fraud, and two counts of money laundering. Defendant's convictions stemmed from his operation of a $35 million Ponzi scheme called Black Diamond Capital Solutions. The court affirmed defendant's two fraud convictions but reversed his two money-laundering convictions because the transactions prosecuted as money laundering constituted essential expenses of his underlying fraudulent scheme. Accordingly, the court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings. View "United States v. Simmons" on Justia Law

Respondent appealed the district court's civil commitment of him as a sexually dangerous person under 18 U.S.C. 4248. The court concluded that respondent, as a D.C. offender, was in the custody of the BOP of purposes of section 4248 certification as a sexually dangerous person. The court also concluded that respondent waived the argument that section 4248(d) required his release to the District of Columbia. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "United States v. Savage" on Justia Law

Defendant was convicted of conspiracy to traffic in more than 50 grams of crack cocaine and was sentenced to the statutory minimum of 120 months' imprisonment. On appeal, defendant challenged the district court's denial of his motion to modify his sentence under the Fair Sentencing Act (FSA), 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(2). The court affirmed the judgment, concluding that the statutory minimum sentences in the FSA did not apply to a defendant sentenced before the Act's effective date. The court rejected defendant's argument that a section 3582(c)(2) proceeding conducted after the effective date of the FSA provided a vehicle by which to apply the reduced minimum sentences in the FSA to him. View "United States v. Black" on Justia Law

Defendant was convicted of possession of a firearm after being previously convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). Defendant was sentenced to 268 months' imprisonment after the district court concluded that defendant qualified as an armed career criminal under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. 924(e). Because the maximum possible prison sentence that defendant faced for his prior state convictions exceeded on year, and because that potential punishment was far from hypothetical, the court held that defendant's prior state convictions qualified as predicate felonies for sentencing under the ACCA. Therefore, the district court did not err in sentencing defendant as an armed career criminal. The court also concluded that the district court did not err in denying defendant's motion to vacate his conviction and dismiss the indictment where defendant had the requisite predicate felony for his section 922(g)(1) conviction. Finally, the court concluded that defendant's contention that his prior appellate counsel was ineffective by failing to challenge his conviction on the basis that he lacked a predicate felony was moot. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "United States v. Kerr" on Justia Law

Defendant pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). On appeal, defendant challenged the district court's denial of his motion to suppress evidence. Surrounded by police officers, defendant watched as every individual in a bus shelter next to him was handled by the police. Soon thereafter, defendant was confronted by a police officer who immediately sought to verify whether defendant was carrying anything illegal before waving him forward. The court concluded, given these facts, that defendant merely obeyed the police officer's orders without giving valid consent to a search. Accordingly, the court reversed the judgment of the district court. View "United States v. Robertson" on Justia Law

Defendant was convicted of illegal reentry after being previously removed in violation of 8 U.S.C. 1326. On appeal, defendant challenged his sentence of 46 months imprisonment. The court vacated the sentence and remanded for resentencing, concluding that the district court erroneously applied the modified categorical approach to defendant's prior conviction for assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature - an indivisible common law crime. View "United States v. Montes-Flores" on Justia Law

Defendant, convicted of possession with intent to distribute oxycodone, appealed the district court's denial of his motion to suppress the drugs seized during a traffic stop, as well as his sentence. The district court did not clearly err in denying the motion to suppress when the district court concluded that the arresting officer's testimony was credible and that he had probable cause to believe the driver had committed a traffic violation by not having an operational brake light. Finally, the court concluded that defendant's sentence was procedurally reasonable where the district court concluded that the seizure of cash from defendant occurring two weeks before his arrest arose from relevant conduct to the offense of conviction and where the district court did not err in failing to impose an individualized sentence. Accordingly, the court affirmed the conviction and sentence. View "United States v. McGee" on Justia Law

Defendants appealed their convictions related to their participation in a conspiracy to traffic in khat, a plant containing the controlled substance cathinone. The court concluded that the district court did not err in instructing the jury on scienter; the district court did not abuse its discretion by giving a willful blindness instruction; the evidence was sufficient to convict defendants of conspiring to traffic in the controlled substance of cathinone; the court affirmed the district court's two procedural rulings at issue; and because the court concluded that Count 2 adequately informed defendants of the money laundering charges against them and provided sufficient detail to enable them to plead an acquittal or conviction in bar of future prosecution for the same offense, the court rejected defendants' challenge. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "United States v. Ali" on Justia Law

Defendant appealed from his sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm, arguing that the district court erred in sentencing him as an armed career criminal based on violent felonies he committed. Defendant relied on Miller v. Alabama, which held that the Eighth Amendment forbids a sentencing scheme that mandated life in prison without possibility of parole for juvenile offenders. The court found Miller inapplicable in this instance where defendant's sentence punished him for an offense he committed at the age of thirty-three. Accordingly, the court affirmed the sentence. View "United States v. Hunter" on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed suit against officers under 42 U.S.C. 1983, as well as state law claims, after plaintiff was shot by the officers. Plaintiff, after hearing sounds of unknown persons outside his home, opened the front door carrying a shotgun and was shot by the officers. The court concluded that it had jurisdiction under the collateral order doctrine. The district court did not err in denying the officers qualified immunity from plaintiff's excessive force claims under section 1983 where a reasonable officer would not have had probable cause to feel threatened by plaintiff's actions and the constitutional right at issue - the right to be free from deadly force when posing no threat - was clearly established at the time the officers shot plaintiff. Accordingly, the court affirmed the district court's judgment as to the section 1983 claims. The court also affirmed the district court's denial of public officers' immunity with respect to plaintiff's state law tort claims. View "Cooper, Sr. v. Sheehan" on Justia Law