• Major Victory in Sentencing CaseIn January of 2010, the Fourth Circuit decided United States v. Mark Lynn, ____ F.3d ____, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 1927 (Jan. 28, 2010), requiring the trial judge to clearly articulate how the 18 U.S.C. §3553(a) factors were applied in fashioning the sentence. The court, referencing Gall v. United States, stated that "a district court’s explanation of its sentence need not be lengthy, but the court must offer some ’individualized assessment’ justifying the sentence imposed and rejection of arguments for a higher or lower sentence based on §3553." Mr. Lynn, who was represented by other counsel at trial, had been convicted and sentenced to prison for 33 years. Mr. English handled his appeal and obtained the Fourth Circuit decision which vacated Mr. Lynn’s sentence. The court’s decision relied in part upon another case Mr. English had argued.
• Tenth Circuit Rules on Meaning of "Proceeds" in 18 U.S.C. §981(a)(2)In United States v. Nacchio, 573 F.3d 1062 (10th Cir. 2009), the court of appeals correctly construed the CAFRA’s definition of the key word "proceeds" in 18 U.S.C. §981(a)(2). This is the first circuit decision to interpret §981(a)(2)’s language. The issue arose in the long–running appeal of Joseph Nacchio, the former CEO of Qwest Communications Int’l, from his conviction on 19 counts of insider trading. The district court ordered Nacchio to forfeit $52 million. However, the court of appeals agreed with Nacchio that the district court erred in not allowing Nacchio a deduction for the "direct costs" incurred by him in his insider trading activity.

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