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Criminal Law

Fourth Circuit Blog

Case summaries and commentary by a federal defender in the 4th Circuit.
By Jonathan Byrne

Post Frequency: 3.6/day

Last Entry: October 14, 2020 at 11:09:00

Court Affirms Second-Chance Variance

Posted on May 02, 2008
US v. Curry: Curry sold gold coins on eBay. Problem was, he "sold" coins which he never had in his possession. When the deals began to fall apart and jilted buyers complained, the FBI came calling. Curry was charged and convicted by a jury of multiple counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, and unlawful monetary transactions...

Cocaine Purchase for Personal Use Triggers 843(b) Liability

Posted on May 02, 2008
US v. Abuelhawa: A was charged and convicted of using a communication facility to facilitate a crime, the distribution of cocaine, in violation of 21 USC 843(b). The conviction was based on a two groups of phone calls between Abuelhawa and Said, from whom Abuelhawa purchased cocaine...

No Jury Finding on Drug Weight Doesn't Undermine Guilty Verdict

Posted on April 23, 2008
US v. Reid: Reid and his co-defendants were charged with (among other things), conspiracy to distribute more than 50 grams of crack and murder. Reid acted as a sort of middle man, purchasing powder cocaine for conversion into crack as well as amounts of crack that were then sold to street-level dealers...

Double Jeopardy No Bar to Arson, Mail Fraud, and Use of Fire Convictions

Posted on April 16, 2008
US v. Martin: Martin was the owner of an unsuccessful convenience store in Virginia. She was deep in debt, both the creditors and the commonwealth, and failed when she tried to sell the business. Unfortunately, at that point, she told others that she would "torch" the store "if she had the guts" and that "it's not going to be long and I'm not going to have to worry about any of it anyway...

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Civil Arrest Does Not Start Speed Trial Clock

Posted on April 14, 2008
US v. Rodriguez-Amaya: Rodriguez-Amaya was deported in 1998 to El Salvador following a conviction in Virginia for sexual assault. He returned to the United States without permission and was arrested by ICE on May 17, 2005. On June 6, 2005, Rodriguez-Amaya's custody was transferred from ICE to Virginia, which sought to prosecute him for failure to register as a sex offender...

Court Defines "Abuse" in Sex Offnse/Immigration Context

Posted on April 14, 2008
US v. Diaz-Ibarra: Diaz-Ibarra was deported in 1995 following his conviction in Georgia for committing an "immoral or indecent act to or in the presence of a" minor. After returning to the United States without permission, Diaz-Ibarra pleaded guilty to illegal reentry following an aggravated felony...

Supreme Court's Decision in Lopez Applies at Sentencing

Posted on April 11, 2008
US v. Matamoros-Modesta: Matamoros-Modesta pleaded guilty to illegal reentry. At sentencing, it was determined that he had previously been deported following an "aggravated felony" conviction, in Texas, for possession of cocaine. As a result, his offense level doubled and he was sentenced to 37 months in prison...

Failure to Inform Defendant of Possible ACCA Impact Requires Vacation of Guilty Plea

Posted on April 08, 2008
US v. Hairston: Hairston was charged with 31 separate offenses, including 14 felon-in-possession charges and 8 924(c) charges. He entered into a plea agreement by which he pleaded guilty to two of the 924(c) charges, with the other six dismissed, and all the other offenses...

Court Rejects Diminished Capacity Argument, Touches on Crack Guideline Changes

Posted on March 21, 2008
US v. Brewer: Brewer pleaded guilty to distributing crack. Prior to sentencing, it was established that Brewer suffered from serious mental deficits, with a tested IQ as low as 59. At sentencing, he argued for a downward departure under USSG 5K2.13 for diminished capacity...

Aggravated ID Theft Requires Use of Specific Person's Information

Posted on March 12, 2008
US v. Mitchell: Mitchell undertook a scheme in which he bought merchandise with a fake ID using counterfeit checks and later returned the items for cash refunds. The name on the checks and the fake ID was "Marcus Jackson" who had a specific listed address...

Acquittal on Substantive Drug Charges Doesn't Bar Further Prosecution for Drug Conspiracy

Posted on March 12, 2008
US v. Yearwood: Yearwood was originally charged with conspiracy to distribute crack and distribution/aiding and abetting the distribution of crack. At his first trial, he was acquitted on the distribution charge and the jury hung on the conspiracy charge...

No Error Where Distrcict Court Doesn't Know Whether Guidelines Are Still Mandatory

Posted on February 27, 2008
US v. Go: Go was a gopher in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy. For his role in the offense - mostly running errands related to the conspiracy in return for methamphetamine - he was convicted after a jury trial of conspiracy to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine...

Court Affirms Drug & Gun Convictions

Posted on February 13, 2008
US v. Wallace: Wallace was convicted by a jury of several drug and gun offenses and sentenced to 248 months in prison. Wallace's activities came to light after local police were called to an apartment he shared to investigate a domestic disturbance. A maroon van with two men in it was seen leaving the apartment complex and later stopped...

Government Victory in Mann Act Appeals

Posted on February 13, 2008
US v. Singh: Singh and co-defendant Patel were managers of motels in Martinsburg, West Virginia. They became involved in a prostitution ring run by Susan Powell in which prostitutes recruited from West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland would use rooms in Singh and Patel's motels to conduct their business...

Jury Trial Waiver Without Court Examination OK'd

Posted on February 05, 2008
US v. Boynes: Boynes was charged with drug and firearm offenses arising from "a cocaine deal that degenerated into a murder." Prior to trial, Boynes requested new counsel, alleging that the relationship with his initially appointed counsel had become "adversarial...

Court Affirms Involuntary Servitude Convictions Against Hearsay, Crawford Challenges

Posted on February 04, 2008
US v. Udeozor: Udeozor: and her (now former) husband helped a 14-year old Nigerian girl emigrate to the United States. They told her family that she would be enrolled in school, but she wasn't. In fact, she became basically an indentured servant, working for the family for five years without payment or any kind of compensation...

In-Store Movement During Roberry Supports Abduction Enhancement

Posted on January 30, 2008
US v. Osborne: Although the court sets out the facts in great detail, the short version is that Osborne robbed a Walgreen's pharmacy in Virginia. He was driven there, and presumably away, by a co-defendant, McCrae, which whom he discussed the robbery beforehand...

Office Experience Can Aid in Production of Reasonable Suspicion

Posted on January 28, 2008
US v. McCoy: McCoy & his girlfriend pulled into the parking lot of a grocery store in Loudon County, Virginia, that was under the surveillance of Loconti, an experienced narcotics officer. Loconti knew that a majority of drug deals in Loudon County took place in those kinds of parking lots...

Exigent Circumstances Don't Save Warrantless Search of Home

Posted on January 28, 2008
US v. Mowatt: Mowatt was at his apartment when police came and knocked on the door. The police were sent there after receiving complaints about loud music and the odor of marijuana. After they knocked, the officers heard someone moving around inside...

Findings Needed to Support 3A1.4 Terrorism Enhancement

Posted on January 24, 2008
US v. Chandia: Chandia was charged with conspiracy and a substantive count of providing material support to terrorists and conspiracy and substantive count of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization. The charges arose from Chandia's ties to a group called Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET), with whom he attended a training camp in Pakistan...

Notice of Variance Must Prompt Parties to Make Arguments

Posted on January 18, 2008
US v. Fancher: Fancher was investigated by police after reports that he had sexually molested a nine-year-old girl. During the investigation, authorities uncovered numerous images of child pornography in Fancher's home. Fancher pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child porn...

Successive Habeas Rule Clarified

Posted on January 10, 2008
US v. Blackstock: Blackstock was convicted in 1993 and filed a request seeking discovery from the Government in 2001. The district court, without notifying Blackstock, treated that filing as a petition under 28 USC 2255, because it mentioned that Blackstock's conviction was no longer valid under Apprendi...

Anonymous Tip Not Sufficiently Corroborated to Support Stop

Posted on January 10, 2008
US v. Reaves: Reaves was stopped in his car on the basis of an anonymous tip that a drug deal had taken place. At the time of the stop, Reaves admitted that he had a gun and was subsequently charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. He moved to suppress the gun, arguing that the tip wasn't sufficiently corroborated to provide a basis for the stop of his car...

Fourth Lays Out Post-Gall Procedures, Upholds Downward Variance

Posted on December 31, 2007
US v. Pauley: Pauley pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child pornography. The unusual facts of the case involve Pauley, a middle school (later high school) teacher, being approached by a female student who asked whether he was interested in paying her for nude pictures she took of herself...

"Custody" Doesn't Turn on Interogator's Assurance That Defendant Is Not In Custody

Posted on December 21, 2007
US v. Colonna: Colonna was convicted by a jury of two counts related to child pornography. The investigation of Colonna began with an FBI agent infiltrating an online file-sharing service dedicated to child porn, which led to the execution of a search warrant at Colonna's home (where he lived with his parents and sister)...

Court Joins Majority in Tax Loss Calculation Circuit Split

Posted on December 19, 2007
US v. Delfino: The Delfinos (husband and wife) ran several computer consulting businesses. The income generated by those businesses, rather than being taken directly by the Delfinos, was put into several trusts. Neither the Delfinos nor the trusts paid taxes on that income...

True Threats Can Extort State University

Posted on December 17, 2007
US v. Bly: Bly was a long-time doctoral student at the University of Virginia. After he was dropped from the program, he began to write letters and Emails to the UVa administration claiming that he had been treated unfairly and that his work had been plagiarized...

Factual Basis Insufficient to Sustain Guitly Plea

Posted on December 17, 2007
US v. Mastrapa: Mastrapa pleaded guilty to being part of a conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. However, Mastrapa had consistently denied that he had any real part in the conspiracy and was nabbed with the meth while helping two strangers (the other co-conspirators) carry some grocery bags into their hotel room...

Court Addresses Prior Convictions in Travel With Intent Case

Posted on December 17, 2007
US v. Kelly: Kelly was a long-haul trucker who routinely hauled loads between North Carolina and the Midwest. He frequently stopped at a truck stop in Charleston, West Virginia, where he became associated with a prostitute named Carder. Over the course of several visits, Carder alleged that Kelly wanted her to procure a young girl with which he could have sex...

Plea Agreement Bars Subsequent Prosecutions

Posted on December 05, 2007
US v. Jordan: Jordan and co-defendant Gordon were convicted by a jury of conspiring to commit multiple drug, firearm, and murder offenses arising from the killing of a drug courier (the defendants "forcibly abducted [the victim], took him to another location, and set him on fire...

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