Justia U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

Articles Posted in Criminal Law
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The defendant, Guy Cuomo, was convicted of multiple offenses, including conspiracy to commit computer fraud, accessing a protected computer without authorization, aggravated identity theft, misuse of a social security number, and conspiracy to misuse social security numbers. Cuomo, along with his co-defendant, operated companies that engaged in skip tracing, which involved obtaining debtors' place of employment (POE) information by impersonating them and initiating fraudulent unemployment insurance applications using their personal information.The United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, following a jury trial, found Cuomo guilty on all counts. The court sentenced him to 45 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release. Cuomo appealed, arguing that his conduct did not violate the relevant statutes, the jury instructions were deficient, and the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions.The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reviewed the case. The court found that the evidence was sufficient to support the jury's findings that Cuomo accessed a computer without authorization and obtained information for financial gain. The court also upheld the jury instructions, stating they were not erroneous. Additionally, the court found no merit in Cuomo's arguments regarding the misuse of social security numbers and aggravated identity theft, noting that the evidence supported the convictions.The appellate court affirmed the district court's judgment, concluding that Cuomo's contentions were without merit and that the district court did not err in its findings or sentencing. View "USA v. Cuomo" on Justia Law

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John Bradley pleaded guilty in 2013 to possessing a firearm as a felon and was sentenced to three years in prison followed by three years of supervised release. In 2023, the Probation Office reported that Bradley violated his supervised release by using marijuana, committing assault and strangulation, and leaving the judicial district without permission. Judge Sullivan, who had presided over Bradley's initial conviction and was later elevated to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, was designated to oversee the revocation proceedings.The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, with Judge Sullivan presiding by designation, found Bradley had violated the terms of his supervised release. The court determined by a preponderance of the evidence that Bradley had used marijuana, left the judicial district without permission, and committed assault and strangulation. Consequently, the court sentenced Bradley to 18 months in prison followed by 18 months of supervised release. Bradley appealed, challenging the constitutionality of Judge Sullivan's designation and the lack of a jury trial in the revocation proceedings.The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reviewed the case. The court held that the statute authorizing Chief Judge Livingston to designate Judge Sullivan, 28 U.S.C. § 291(b), was constitutional and that the Designation Orders conformed to the statute. The court also held that Bradley was not entitled to a jury trial during his revocation proceedings, as the proceedings did not resemble punishment for a new offense. The Second Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court, upholding the revocation of Bradley's supervised release and his subsequent sentence. View "United States v. Bradley" on Justia Law

Posted in: Criminal Law
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Randy Torres, Walston Owen, and Charles Ventura were involved in a street gang known as the Rollin’ 30s Crips. Following a jury trial, they were convicted of various offenses, including racketeering conspiracy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). Owen and Ventura were also convicted of additional firearms and assault offenses. Torres and Owen received sentences of 475 months’ imprisonment, while Ventura was sentenced to 288 months.The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York oversaw the trial. The defendants raised several arguments on appeal, including insufficient evidence to support their convictions, errors in jury instructions, improper admission of co-conspirator statements, and issues related to jury impartiality. They also challenged the district court’s refusal to grant a downward departure in Ventura’s sentencing.The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reviewed the case. The court found that there was sufficient evidence to support the convictions, including the special sentencing factors related to the murders of Victor Chaffa and Nestor Suazo. The court also held that the district court did not err in its jury instructions or in its handling of the juror impartiality issues. Additionally, the court found no abuse of discretion in the admission of co-conspirator statements.The Second Circuit dismissed Ventura’s claim regarding the district court’s refusal to grant a downward departure for lack of jurisdiction and affirmed the judgments of the district court in all other respects. The court concluded that the defendants’ arguments were without merit and upheld their convictions and sentences. View "United States v. Torres" on Justia Law

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Andrew Davis was convicted of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Davis trafficked large quantities of marijuana in Bridgeport, Connecticut, using a method involving shipping marijuana from California via FedEx. Upon his arrest, he was found with over 136 pounds of marijuana, numerous handguns, and approximately $412,000 in cash. A co-conspirator cooperated with the government, leading to Davis's conviction.The United States District Court for the District of Connecticut sentenced Davis to 295 months’ imprisonment. Davis appealed, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction for conspiracy to commit money laundering. He also raised ten additional arguments in pro se supplemental briefs, including claims of ineffective assistance of counsel and challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence for his other convictions.The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reviewed the case. The court concluded that the evidence at trial was sufficient to support Davis’s conviction for conspiracy to commit money laundering. The court found that the government provided ample circumstantial evidence linking the cash used in financial transactions to Davis's drug trafficking operations. The court also determined that Davis's pro se arguments either lacked merit, were forfeited, or were premature. Consequently, the Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment. View "United States v. Davis" on Justia Law

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The case involves Ryan M. Maher, who was convicted in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York for receiving and possessing child pornography. Maher uploaded a digital file to his Google email account, which Google identified as containing child pornography based on a hash value match to a previously identified image. Google reported this to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which forwarded the report to the New York State Police. Without obtaining a warrant, a police investigator opened and visually examined the file, confirming it contained child pornography.The district court denied Maher's motion to suppress the evidence obtained from the warrantless search, relying on the "private search" doctrine. The court held that Google's hash match search was sufficient to justify the police's warrantless visual examination of the file. Alternatively, the court ruled that the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule applied because the police reasonably believed no warrant was required.The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reviewed the case. The court agreed with Maher that the district court erred in applying the private search doctrine. The court held that Google's hash match did not justify the police's warrantless visual examination of the file, as it exceeded the scope of Google's search. However, the court affirmed the conviction based on the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule. The court concluded that at the time of the search, the police had a reasonable basis to believe that no warrant was required, given the existing legal precedents.Thus, the Second Circuit affirmed Maher's conviction, holding that while the warrantless search violated the Fourth Amendment, the good faith exception applied, preventing the suppression of the evidence. View "U.S. v. Maher" on Justia Law

Posted in: Criminal Law
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State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company and State Farm Fire and Casualty Insurance Company (collectively, “State Farm”) provide automobile insurance in New York and are required to reimburse individuals injured in automobile accidents for necessary health expenses under New York’s No-Fault Act. State Farm alleges that several health care providers and related entities engaged in a scheme to fraudulently obtain No-Fault benefits by providing unnecessary treatments and services, and then pursued baseless arbitrations and state-court proceedings to seek reimbursement for unpaid bills.The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York granted State Farm’s motion for a preliminary injunction in part, enjoining the defendants from proceeding with pending arbitrations and from initiating new arbitrations and state-court proceedings, but denied an injunction of the pending state-court proceedings. The district court found that State Farm demonstrated irreparable harm due to the fragmented nature of the proceedings, which obscured the alleged fraud, and the risk of inconsistent judgments and preclusive effects.The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reviewed the case and affirmed the district court’s decision to grant the preliminary injunction in part. The appellate court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in finding that State Farm demonstrated irreparable harm, serious questions going to the merits, a balance of hardships tipping in its favor, and that the injunction was in the public interest. The court also concluded that the Federal Arbitration Act did not bar the injunction of the arbitrations because the arbitrations would prevent State Farm from effectively vindicating its RICO claims.Additionally, the appellate court reversed the district court’s decision not to enjoin the pending state-court proceedings, finding that the Anti-Injunction Act’s “expressly-authorized” exception applied. The court determined that the state-court proceedings were part of a pattern of baseless, repetitive claims that furthered the alleged RICO violation, and that enjoining these proceedings was necessary to give RICO its intended scope. The case was remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. View "State Farm Mutual v. Tri-Borough" on Justia Law

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In 2008, Charles Anthony Giovinco pleaded guilty to enticement of a minor and possession of child pornography. He received concurrent sentences of 235 months for enticement and 120 months for possession. The First Step Act of 2018 (FSA) allows eligible prisoners to earn time credits for participating in certain programs, but excludes those serving sentences for specific offenses, including possession of child pornography.Giovinco argued that he should be eligible for FSA time credits after completing the sentence for the ineligible offense. The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) denied his request, stating that his entire term of imprisonment must be considered as a single, aggregated sentence, making him ineligible for FSA time credits. Giovinco filed a habeas petition, which the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut denied, deferring to the BOP's interpretation.The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reviewed the case. The court held that under 18 U.S.C. § 3584(c), multiple terms of imprisonment must be treated as a single, aggregate term for administrative purposes, including the administration of FSA time credits. Therefore, a prisoner serving any part of an aggregated sentence for an ineligible offense is not eligible to earn FSA time credits. The court affirmed the district court's judgment, agreeing that the BOP correctly aggregated Giovinco's sentences and determined his ineligibility for FSA time credits. View "Giovinco v. Pullen" on Justia Law

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In December 2019, the defendant and a co-conspirator robbed a woman in a Bronx hotel room, taking $4,000 in cash, credit cards, cell phones, and a watch. The victim, a prostitute, had earned the cash through her business. The defendant was convicted of Hobbs Act Robbery and Conspiracy to Commit Hobbs Act Robbery after a jury trial.The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York sentenced the defendant to two concurrent 96-month terms of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release. The court also imposed a two-level enhancement for obstruction of justice, based on the defendant's alleged false testimony about his drug use at a suppression hearing.The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reviewed the case. The defendant challenged the sufficiency of the evidence regarding the interstate commerce element of the Hobbs Act offenses and the obstruction of justice enhancement. The appellate court affirmed the convictions, finding sufficient evidence that the robbery affected interstate commerce by depleting the victim's business assets. However, the court vacated the obstruction of justice enhancement, noting that the district court did not make a sufficient finding that the defendant's false testimony was willful. The case was remanded for further proceedings to determine whether the defendant acted with willful intent to provide false testimony. View "United States v. Orelien" on Justia Law

Posted in: Criminal Law
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Defendant-Appellant Varian Lefebvre pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl and possession of a firearm after a prior felony conviction. The case began when Vermont State Police responded to a 911 call reporting an assault at a Holiday Inn in Rutland, Vermont. Officers located Lefebvre at the hotel and transported him to the nearby Vermont State Police barracks for identification by the purported victims, where he was then arrested. Lefebvre argued that all physical evidence seized from his backpack after his arrest should have been suppressed, claiming that his seizure ripened into a de facto arrest unsupported by probable cause when he was transported to the police barracks.The United States District Court for the District of Vermont denied Lefebvre’s motion to suppress the physical evidence. The court found that the seizure did not rise to the level of a de facto arrest and was supported by probable cause. Lefebvre entered a conditional guilty plea, preserving his right to appeal the suppression ruling.The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reviewed the case and affirmed the district court’s judgment. The appellate court held that Lefebvre’s seizure did not become a de facto arrest when he was transported to the police barracks because the transportation was a reasonable and non-dilatory investigative step given the unique circumstances. The court also found that even if the transportation did rise to the level of an arrest, it was supported by probable cause based on the totality of the circumstances, including the 911 call, witness descriptions, and Lefebvre’s behavior. The judgment of the district court was affirmed. View "United States of America v. Lefebvre" on Justia Law

Posted in: Criminal Law
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In this case, the defendant was involved in a scheme to defraud the City of West Haven, Connecticut, of COVID-19 relief funds. The defendant, along with co-conspirators, submitted fraudulent invoices for equipment and services that were never provided. The City paid over $400,000 based on these false invoices. The defendant was the only one among his co-defendants to go to trial, while the others pled guilty.The United States District Court for the District of Connecticut convicted the defendant of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The court sentenced him to 96 months in prison, which was above the recommended guidelines range. The defendant appealed, challenging the sentence as substantively unreasonable, the sufficiency of the evidence, and the district court’s evidentiary rulings.The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reviewed the case. The court found that the district court had provided a detailed explanation for the above-guidelines sentence, emphasizing the severity of the crime, the defendant’s financial gains, and the need for deterrence. The court also noted that the defendant did not receive a trial penalty, as the district court had explicitly stated that the sentence was not influenced by the defendant’s decision to go to trial. The court further found that the evidentiary rulings were not erroneous and that the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to support the conviction.The Second Circuit concluded that none of the defendant’s challenges had merit and affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "United States v. Trasacco" on Justia Law