Recent pronouncements by the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) illustrate an apparent dichotomy in the Department’s prosecutorial priorities. On one hand, Attorney General Eric Holder has announced several initiatives to move toward more equitable sentencing and to curtail the great number of long prison sentences imposed on those convicted of non-violent drug trafficking crimes. One the… Read more »
Reprinted with permission from the September/October 2013 issue of The Champion. Further duplication without permission is prohibited. All rights reserved. Related Information: Do You Accept Insurance? A Practitioner’s Guide to Coverage Issues in White Collar Cases
If securing the dismissal of an indictment is a monumental task, and it is, then successful pursuit of Hyde Amendment petition is surely a Rushmorian achievement. The daunting burden of Hyde Amendment claims was on full display in Monday’s decision by the Third Circuit, affirming the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey’s… Read more »
As the Marcellus Shale boom continues to proliferate across the Mid-Atlantic, those involved with operations and wastewater disposal must remain committed to maintaining and improving compliance efforts. While the specific environmental regulations and enforcement priorities relating to that industry may not be quite settled, there continues to be signs that DOJ remains willing to take… Read more »
Principal Deputy Attorney General Stuart F. Delery, who heads DOJ’s Civil Division, used last Friday’s speech to the Second Annual Consumer Protection Summit at Georgetown University School of Law to review the 2012 accomplishments of the Consumer Protection Working Group. In his remarks, he highlighted the efforts of the Consumer Protection Branch in securing of… Read more »
On Thursday, DOJ announced criminal charges against five individuals relating to the manufacture and distribution of salmonella-tainted peanuts and peanut products by the now defunct Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). The charges against the owner and president of the company, a food broker, and three individuals involved in the operation of the company’s Blakely, Georgia… Read more »
No we don’t bear news of a revival of the 1974 hit by Carl Douglas. Actually, that would be old news. Douglas re-recorded “Kung Fu Fighting” in 1998, and it shot to 8 in the UK, but I digress. More to the point, on Wednesday the Supreme Court, echoing its decision more than 50 years… Read more »
DOJ has announced that Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS) has agreed to pay $35 million in criminal penalties and forfeiture to address its participation in a six-year scheme to prepare and file more than 1 million fraudulently signed and notarized mortgage-related documents. The settlement follows the November 2012 felony guilty plea by Lorraine Brown, the former… Read more »
The two men who played key roles in the perpetuating R. Allen Stanford’s $7 billion ponzi scheme were each sentenced to 20 years in prison on Thursday. Gilbert T. Lopez Jr. had served as chief accounting officer of Stanford Financial Group Company, and Mark J. Kuhrt had been the global controller of Stanford Financial Group Global… Read more »
In the appeal of former Pennsylvania State Senator, Vincent J. Fumo, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ordered Fumo to pay a larger share of the restitution to one of his victims. With its decision, the Court rejected the arguments raised by Fumo in his appeal and only partially granted the… Read more »