Cayva Chandra pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of student loan fraud. She had submitted forged letters of recommendation and forged transcripts to several institutions of higher learning including Cornell University. Cornell caught and expelled her, but she was able to fraudlently enroll at Indiana Univeristy-Purdue University at Indianapolis. She then completed her bachelor’s degree
Opening Statement of Attorney General Jeff Sessions Before the Senate Judiciary Committee Washington, DC Wednesday, October 18, 2017 Chairman Grassley, Ranking Member Feinstein, distinguished Members of the Committee–my former colleagues–thank you for this opportunity. It is the honor of a lifetime to serve as the Attorney General of the United States.You can be sure that
U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew today sentenced Maurice Lewis (22, Tampa) to 5 years and 1 month in federal prison for conspiracy to commit credit card fraud and aggravated identity theft. He pleaded guilty to the charges on July 10, 2017. According to court documents and statements made in open court, from at least
An Air Force base employee was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment on Monday, Oct. 16, 2017, after pleading guilty to attempted online enticement of a minor. According to U.S. Sentencing Commission data, from 2006-2016 there were 466 individuals sentenced under 2G1.1 in Criminal History Category I who pleaded guilty. The average sentence was 23
A Texas attorney was convicted by a jury of engaging in an international money laundering conspiracy. He was sentenced Monday, October 16, 2017 to 25 years imprisonment. His female business partner was sentenced to a record 40 years. According to U.S. Sentencing Commission data, between 2006 and 2016 there were 3,215 defendants convicted by trial
Section 3553(a)(6) of Title 18 of the U.S. Code provides that judges must consider “the need to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities among defendants with similar records who have been found guilty of similar conduct” when imposing sentence. It is important for counsel to be aware that establishing unwarranted disparity among similarly situated defendants is not
The American Bar Association’s “Criminal Justice Standards for the Defense Function” (4th ed.) strongly suggest that failure to research and cite favorable sentencing statistics may constitute ineffective assistance of counsel. In the seminal case of Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984), the U.S. Supreme Court observed that “prevailing norms of practice as reflected in the
On April 15, 2016, following last year’s important amendments to relevant conduct, mitigating role, and fraud guidelines, the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted to continue to make fundamental fixes to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines (USSG) that have long been in need of repair. These fixes became final on November 1, 2016 During this amendment cycle, with
Law360, New York (March 3, 2017, 12:31 PM EST) — As of this writing, the confirmation hearings for Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court nominee to fill the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s vacancy, are set to begin on March 20, 2017. This article reviews a key opinion authored by Judge Gorsuch as
Now in their 30th year, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines (Guidelines) have been used to sentence well over 1.5 million defendants nationwide since Nov. 1, 1987, when they first went into effect. (See U.S. Sentencing Comm’n, 1996-2015 Sourcebooks on Federal Sentencing Statistics, Tbl. 10; U.S. Sentencing Comm’n, Quarterly Data Report (4th Quarter Release), Tbl. 1 (Sept.