In United States v. Sterkaj, the Second Circuit (Cabranes, Raggi, and Nathan) vacated a sentence imposed on Klaudio Sterkaj because it represented an impermissible upward variance under United States v. Stratton, 820 F.2d 562...more
In United States v. Lawrence, the Second Circuit (Park, Menashi, and Kahn) affirmed the within-Guidelines sentence of Andrew Lawrence, who pleaded guilty to six counts of distributing and possessing with intent to distribute...more
In United States v. Aiello, the Second Circuit (Raggi, Chin, Sullivan) remanded the cases of Steven Aiello, Joseph Gerardi, Louis Ciminelli, and Alain Kaloyeros (collectively, the “defendant-appellants”) for retrial on their...more
In United States v. Lewis, the Second Circuit (per curiam) affirmed the judgment of conviction of Chanette Lewis, who had pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. The...more
In United States v. Lajeunesse, the Second Circuit (Leval, Chin, Lee) vacated the conviction of a criminal defendant denied an opportunity to personally address the court during his sentencing hearing....more
In United States v. Hunt, the Second Circuit (Walker, Parker, and Bianco) affirmed the conviction and sentence of Brendan Hunt, who in the wake of the 2020 presidential election threatened prominent elected officials on...more
In Padilla v. Kentucky, 559 U.S. 356 (2010), the Supreme Court held that attorneys must advise their noncitizen clients of the risk of deportation arising from criminal conviction, and that the failure to do so violates the...more
In United States v. Richardson, the Second Circuit (Walker, Chin, Menashi) concluded that the defendant’s sentence was both procedurally and substantively reasonable and, therefore, affirmed. Richardson pleaded guilty to...more
On March 5, 2020, the Second Circuit (Katzmann, Kearse, Bianco) issued a brief per curiam opinion in United States v. Alcius, et al., affirming the defendant’s 20-year sentence on sex trafficking related charges. ...more
In United States v. Ojeda, the Second Circuit (Cabranes, Raggi, Korman, by designation) affirmed a 2018 judgment issued in the Southern District of New York ordering a mandatory minimum sentence under the Armed Career...more
In United States v. Pilcher, the Second Circuit (Leval, Cabranes, Sack) (per curiam) considered whether a habeas petitioner could proceed anonymously—in this instance holding that he could not (as the case’s caption makes...more
In United States v. Karim Smith, the Second Circuit (Wesley, Chin, Sullivan) overturned its prior precedent and held that district courts need not complete a written ‘statement of reasons’ (“SOR”) form when sentencing a...more
In United States v. Pugh, No. 17-1889 (2d Cir. Dec. 10, 2019, as amended) (Calabresi, Droney, Underhill, by designation), the Second Circuit affirmed a defendant’s convictions for attempting to provide material support to a...more
On December 6, 2019, the Second Circuit (Calabresi, Pooler, Park) issued a published per curiam decision in United States v. Kosic (Nunez), concerning the defendant-appellant’s motion for in forma pauperis (“IFP”) status in...more
On November 14, 2019, the Second Circuit (Newman, Pooler, Cote) issued a decision in United States v. Van Der End, affirming the conviction of a defendant who pled guilty to drug trafficking conspiracy and activity, in...more
On November 13, 2019, the Second Circuit (Hall, Lynch, Gardephe) issued a decision in United States v. Balde, vacating the defendant’s guilty plea for unlawful possession of a firearm by an alien who is in the United States...more
On November 7, 2019, the Second Circuit (Calabresi, Livingston, Lohier) issued a per curiam decision in United States v. Brome, holding that the Government generally must demonstrate the existence of procedures reasonably...more
On November 4, 2019, the Second Circuit (Kearse, Wesley, Chin) issued a decision in United States v. Murphy, vacating a defendant’s guilty plea for traveling interstate for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct...more
In United States v. Moran, the Second Circuit (Calabresi, Cabranes, Chin) affirmed the sentence of Lamont Moran, who was convicted of conspiracy to distribute heroin. ...more
In United States v. Arrington, 17-4092-cr (October 18, 2019) (Lynch, Lohier, Judge Brian M. Cogan of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, sitting by designation), the Second Circuit vacated...more
On Friday, the Second Circuit (Livingston, Carney, Sullivan) reinstated the conviction of a former Nomura Securities International, Inc. (“Nomura”) bond trader, Michael Gramins, in United States v. Gramins, No. 18-2007-cr,...more
In United States v. Brown (Newman, Hall, and Chin), the Second Circuit addressed two related questions. First, the Circuit held that Dean v. United States, 137 S. Ct. 1170 (2017), abrogated prior circuit precedent in United...more
On September 3, 2019, a divided panel issued a decision in United States v. Wallace (Winter, Pooler, Abrams, by designation) affirming the district court’s denial of Wallace’s suppression motion as well as Wallace’s 15-year...more
In United States v. Barrett, No. 14-2541 (2d Cir. Aug. 30, 2019) (Winter, Raggi, Droney), the Second Circuit vacated a defendant’s conviction for using a firearm in connection with a “crime of violence” under 18 U.S.C. §...more
In United States v. Ryan, 17-3919-cr (Jacobs, Lohier, Carney), the Second Circuit affirmed a four-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(b)(6)(B) for using a firearm in connection with another felony offense. Appellant...more