23 results for 'cat:"Sentencing" AND cat:"Conspiracy"'.
J. Henderson upholds a “political operative’s” felony convictions related to his $25,000 contribution to the Trump campaign on behalf of a Russian businessman who had actually paid him $100,000 to attend the fundraiser. The conviction is supported by sufficient evidence and he waived any criminal history objection he had during trial against his within-guidelines, 18-month sentence. Affirmed.
Court: DC Circuit, Judge: Henderson, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 23-3028 , Categories: Evidence, sentencing, conspiracy
J. Ripple finds that the lower court properly convicted defendants of conspiracy to distribute illegal drugs. The government is not required to proceed to trial on all charges of the conspiracy named in the indictment, but may elect to proceed on a subset of the allegations in the indictment and prove a conspiracy smaller than the one originally alleged. Further, the court properly sentenced defendants to a substantial, though below-guidelines sentence, including firearms enhancements. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: April 3, 2024, Case #: 22-2060, Categories: Drug Offender, sentencing, conspiracy
J. Sykes finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of running a heroin-distribution ring inside an Indiana prison and sentenced him as a career offender based on two prior convictions for cocaine distribution. The sentencing commission has the authority to interpret the career offender guidelines to include conspiracy under the definition of "controlled substance offense." Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Sykes, Filed On: April 2, 2024, Case #: 22-2014, Categories: sentencing, conspiracy
J. Floyd finds the lower court improperly opted not to lower the defendant's sentence under the First Step Act. The court originally sentenced the defendant in 1996 to two concurrent terms of life imprisonment on a continuing criminal conspiracy count and a federal crack cocaine offense. The defendant is worthy of a time education because he has displayed good conduct, is unlikely to commit crimes, spent half his life in prison and other co-defendants have received sentence reductions. Vacated.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Floyd, Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: 22-6748, Categories: Drug Offender, sentencing, conspiracy
J. Wilson finds that the district court properly sentenced defendant to 60 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release following his guilty plea to conspiracy for stealing and reselling luxury cars. The plea agreement was unambiguous. The record shows that defendant understood that the agreement in which the government promised to recommend a 60-month custodial sentence did not prohibit the government from also recommending supervised release despite the absence of a supervised release provision. Affirmed.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Wilson, Filed On: February 29, 2024, Case #: 22-12826, Categories: sentencing, conspiracy, Plea
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J. McConnell finds the trial court improperly convicted a man for premeditated attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and shooting at an occupied vehicle stemming from a gang-related drive-by shooting. The man argues the court erred by allowing the lead investigator to give an improper opinion testimony, because he was not qualified to testify that the man fired a ghost gun, striking the decedent. The jury likely relied on this prejudicial evidentiary error. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: McConnell, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: D080114, Categories: Murder, sentencing, conspiracy
[Consolidated.] J. Mackey finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of murder, conspiracy and weapon possession in a murder-for-hire scheme to collect on a life insurance policy because circumstantial evidence established defendant agreed to drive codefendant from Delaware to New York, met with the insurance beneficiary before the murder, accompanied defendant to the victim's apartment, and drove him back to Delaware. However, his sentence should be modified by setting weapon counts to run concurrently to murder and conspiracy counts to result in an aggregate term of 25 years to life. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Mackey, Filed On: January 25, 2024, Case #: 110698, Categories: Murder, sentencing, conspiracy
J. Harris finds the lower court improperly calculated its sentencing guidelines range when sentencing the defendant to 80 years in prison. The defendant was involved in a large-scale conspiracy to transport and sell drugs – primarily methamphetamine, but also heroin, cocaine, and crack – across Ohio and West Virginia. Police seized nearly three kilograms of meth from another drug trafficker who bought from the same seller as the defendant and attributed the amount to the defendant when calculating his sentence despite no evidence of the defendant and that drug trafficker being connected. Vacated.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Harris, Filed On: January 5, 2024, Case #: 21-4181, Categories: Drug Offender, sentencing, conspiracy
[Consolidated]. J. Benton finds a lower court properly sentenced two defendants for conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of meth. The co- conspirator defendants argued that their enhanced sentences are unreasonable. However, the government sufficiently showed in court that the first defendant acted as an organizer engaging in criminal activity by transporting 10 pounds of meth, and that the second female defendant sold the drugs to an undercover informant. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Benton, Filed On: December 27, 2023, Case #: 22-3333, Categories: Drug Offender, sentencing, conspiracy
J. Benton finds a lower court properly sentenced a defendant to 290 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute meth and conspiracy to posses with intent to distribute meth. The defendant drug courier argued that an undercover DEA special agent engaged in entrapment by setting up a controlled buy. However, the government sufficiently showed in court that the special agent had not persuaded him into selling the drugs. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Benton, Filed On: December 27, 2023, Case #: 23-1156, Categories: Drug Offender, sentencing, conspiracy
[Consolidated.] J. Powers finds that the lower court properly declined to vacate the decision to sentence defendant as a second felony offender on separate convictions for robbery, conspiracy, resisting arrest, and possessing stolen property. Previously, defendant had been convicted in North Carolina of felony larceny, an equivalent felony under New York law. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Powers, Filed On: December 7, 2023, Case #: 113104, Categories: Robbery, sentencing, conspiracy
J. Mann finds that the lower court properly issued a restitution order against defendant stemming from his conspiracy to commit murder and firearm possession convictions following a home robbery that resulted in the death of one person. Sentencing courts have broad discretion in their ability to order that a defendant must pay restitution to the victims or families of the victims in a case such as this, and the lower court's decision to issue such an order against defendant was not a violation of that discretion. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Mann, Filed On: November 13, 2023, Case #: 84536-5-I, Categories: Firearms, sentencing, conspiracy
J. Yegan finds the county court properly denied defendant’s second petition for resentencing. Defendant was convicted for murder and conspiracy to commit murder, with both convictions involving the same victim. The conspiracy conviction shows that, as a matter of law, the target offense is murder. This holding is the law of the case, conclusively establishing that defendant is not entitled to resentencing. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Yegan, Filed On: October 30, 2023, Case #: B324567, Categories: Murder, sentencing, conspiracy
J. Sykes finds that the lower court improperly sentenced defendant to 108 months in prison for robbery and conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery. The general federal conspiracy statute caps any term of imprisonment at 60 months, which defendant's sentence far exceeds. Vacated.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Sykes, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 21-2296, Categories: Robbery, sentencing, conspiracy
J. Rogers finds the trial court properly denied defendant's motion for a three-level sentencing guideline reduction because the reduction - granted in cases where members of the conspiracy do not complete all the acts necessary to achieve their goal - is applicable only when a criminal offense is not covered by a specific guideline. Therefore, because defendant's convictions were expressly covered by the conspiracy to commit murder sentencing guidelines, he was properly denied the reduction. Affirmed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Rogers, Filed On: August 28, 2023, Case #: 21-4106, Categories: Murder, sentencing, conspiracy
J. Gregory finds the lower court properly denied the defendant's motion to dismiss his life sentence for hiring a friend to kill his mistress's husband. The defendant argues that recent Supreme Court decisions mean his predicate offenses, aiding and abetting carjacking resulting in death and murder with a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, no longer qualify as crimes of violence. Aiding and abetting a carjacking resulting in death remains a crime of violence under either the law's force or elements clause. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Gregory, Filed On: August 10, 2023, Case #: 21-7171, Categories: Murder, sentencing, conspiracy
[Consolidated.] J. Pan denies petitions filed by bin Laden’s personal assistant to vacate his conspiracy conviction or remand to the military commission for resentencing. The evidence supports his conviction and he fails to show there was an abuse of discretion during sentencing.
Court: DC Circuit, Judge: Pan, Filed On: July 25, 2023, Case #: 22-1097 , Categories: sentencing, conspiracy, Terrorism
Per curiam, the Fifth Circuit finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute meth. Defendant sold drugs on several occasions to undercover DEA and DPS agents, eventually being accountable for over 281 grams of meth. He waived his Miranda rights and identified his supplier who admitted he received some of his product from a Mexican source. All evidence supports conviction and the district court properly found that the offense involved drugs imported from Mexico, correctly applying an importation enhancement. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: July 13, 2023, Case #: 22-10855, Categories: Drug Offender, sentencing, conspiracy
J. Stras finds a lower court properly enhanced a defendant's prison sentence for directing a third party to use violence against a co- conspirator who sold his drugs on the outside, and then kept some of the profits. The defendant, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of meth, argued that the lower court erred in enhancing his prison term. However, the government sufficiently presented evidence in court that the defendant directed drug deals from prison, which included his co-conspirator depositing money in another inmate's prison account, and then directed a third party to shake down the co-conspirator after he failed to make good his drug debts. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Stras, Filed On: June 28, 2023, Case #: 21-3763, Categories: Drug Offender, sentencing, conspiracy
J. Loken finds a lower court properly sentenced a defendant to 120 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. The defendant argued that the lower court erred in enhancing his sentence. However, the government sufficiently showed in court that the defendant has a prior conviction for a drug felony. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Loken, Filed On: June 16, 2023, Case #: 22-1447, Categories: Drug Offender, sentencing, conspiracy
J. Loken finds a lower court properly convicted a defendant for conspiracy to distribute heroin and 50 to 500 grams of meth. The defendant argued that his 120 month prison sentence and four years of supervised release is unreasonable, and that the lower court erred in varying upward. However, the government sufficiently showed in court that the defendant conspired with two other associates to send and accept meth via U.S. postal service's priority mail. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Loken, Filed On: June 15, 2023, Case #: 20-2002, Categories: Drug Offender, sentencing, conspiracy