The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines play an enormous role in federal sentencing. While courts are not required to follow the guidelines, the guidelines remain the starting point for determining a defendant’s ultimate sentence. For that reason, amendments to the guidelines are equally significant.
Recently, the United States Sentencing Commission — the body
At last week’s sentencing of Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, the government recommended a 36-month prison sentence. Despite the serious nature of Zhao’s crimes – failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program, which enabled users to engage in transactions linked to narcotics, terrorist financing and child sex abuse, among others – the court imposed a
On April 17, 2024, the seven-member panel of the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted to adopt an amendment prohibiting judges from using acquitted conduct in applying the federal sentencing guidelines. Previously, and consistent with the decision in United States. v. Watts, 519 U.S. 148, 157 (1997) (per curiam) (holding that “a jury’s verdict of acquittal
On April 15, the U.S. Department of Justice released The Criminal Division’s Pilot Program on Voluntary Self-Disclosures for Individuals (the “Pilot”) designed to encourage individuals to report certain types of criminal activity in return for protection from prosecution. The Pilot follows the DOJ’s previously announced plan to create a new initiative expanding the existing whistleblower
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced this week to 25 years in prison for his role in an $10 billion cryptocurrency fraud, dodging the 40- to 50-year sentence requested by the government and the 110-year sentence recommended under the sentencing guidelines.
The 32-year-old former billionaire — who was convicted in November of defrauding customers and
When the Corporate Transparency Act took effect earlier this month, most commentary rightly focused on the obligations it imposed and the measures necessary to comply with its terms. As part of that analysis, commentators routinely noted the act contains criminal provisions providing for fines and imprisonment. From a defense perspective, the creation of new crimes
As we near the Thanksgiving holiday, we wanted to take a moment to thank you — our readers. Eye on Enforcement has been a fun project for the Bradley’s Government Enforcement and Investigations team. But the ultimate goal of any blog is to be read, and we’re grateful to have so many devoted readers. And
The United States Sentencing Commission recently adopted amendments to its Guidelines Manual, and they include some noteworthy changes. The proposed amendments were submitted to Congress on April 27, 2023. Absent Congressional action to the contrary, they will become effective on November 1, 2023.
Of note, the proposed amendments include the addition of Section 4C1.1 –
Recently, the Supreme Court of the United States tossed the convictions of two defendants found guilty of public corruption charges during former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s term. The opinions, Ciminelli v. United States and Percoco v. United States, continue the Court’s recent trend of narrowing the government’s ability to prosecute defendants under outlier
Recently, the Supreme Court of the United States tossed the convictions of two defendants found guilty of public corruption charges during former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s term. The opinions, Ciminelli v. United States and Percoco v. United States, continue the Court’s recent trend of narrowing the government’s ability to prosecute defendants under outlier