Sentencing/Post Conviction

4397 ABA Journal Sentencing/Post Conviction articles.

Caught in Cocaine Sting Set Up By Client, Ex-Prosecutor Takes Plea, Gets Probation

Corrected: A former prosecutor in Bexar County, Texas, pleaded no contest to a felony drug charge yesterday as his trial for purchasing crack cocaine was about to begin. However, Gammon Guinn, 56, can avoid having the conviction on his record if he successfully completes his sentence of deferred adjudication probation,…

Aug 9, 2011 12:41 PM CDT

Boy, 11, Takes Plea in Mom’s Shooting Death, Asks Judge If He Can Have a Gun Again Later On in Life

Initially charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of his mother, an 11-year-old Illinois boy pleaded guilty yesterday to second-degree murder. The unidentified youth expressed no remorse in yesterday’s juvenile court hearing over the death of Brenda Schaad, 39, reports the Journal Courier. It occurred earlier this month as…

Aug 9, 2011 12:14 PM CDT

Lawyer Admits $47M Ponzi Scheme Based on Fake Rural Improvement Bonds; May Be Ark.‘s Biggest Fraud

An Arkansas lawyer and businessman admitted in federal court yesterday that he orchestrated a $47 million Ponzi scheme involving seven banks by creating fake rural improvement bonds. Such bonds are often used by developers, and Kevin Lewis, 43, obtained bank loans based on the seeming assets referenced by the fake…

Aug 4, 2011 8:42 PM CDT

Teen Ordered to Create Memorial to Toddler Left to Die in Hot Van

A juvenile court judge in Clayton County, Ga., has ordered a teenager to create a memorial to a 2-year-old girl who died at a daycare center after being left in a hot van following a field trip. The teenage girl, whose name was withheld because of her age, also received…

Aug 2, 2011 1:17 PM CDT

Did Casey Anthony Serve 1-Year Probation in Fraud Case While Jailed Awaiting Child-Murder Trial?

Facing a new legal issue following her release after being acquitted of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, Casey Anthony is returning to Orlando, Fla., for another court hearing. The question: Did she already complete her earlier, one-year probation in a check-fraud case while she was being held in jail prior to…

Aug 1, 2011 6:40 PM CDT

Former GC Sentenced to 15 Years for Aiding Life Settlement Fraud; Defense Argued He Was Naïve

The former general counsel of a Houston life settlement company has been sentenced to more than 15 years in prison for aiding a corporate scheme that defrauded investors of $100 million. Even the prosecutor described the defendant, Russell Mackert, as kind and mild-mannered, Corporate Counsel reports. Mackert’s lawyer, Carolyn Grady,…

Jul 29, 2011 3:49 PM CDT

Given Life Term at 22 for Armed Robbery, Man, Now 40, Hoped for 27-to-40 at Resentencing Today

Life means life in Florida, and John Curtis Ivey, sentenced to a life term at age 22 for an armed robbery in which he pistol-whipped the victim, has served 19 years so far. He knows he deserves punishment for his crime. But since no one was killed or permanently injured,…

Jul 29, 2011 12:50 AM CDT

Former PD Regains Law License But Loses Bid to Erase Sex-Offender Status re PD Office Client, 16

A former assistant Los Angeles public defender who was criminally convicted in 1998 of sex offenses concerning a 16-year-old he met when she was a client of the PD’s office, although he himself did not represent the teen, regained his law license in 2008. Chance Xcaliiber Oberstein, now 53, was…

Jul 28, 2011 8:51 PM CDT

Neighbor with Record Pleads Guilty in Slaying of White Supremacist Lawyer, Gets 65 Years

A 23-year-old neighbor has taken a plea deal in the April 2010 slaying of white supremacist lawyer Richard Barrett, 67. Originally charged with capital murder, Vincent McGee pleaded guilty today to manslaughter, arson and burglary, the Associated Press reports. He was sentenced to 65 years in prison in the Rankin…

Jul 28, 2011 6:23 PM CDT

US Citizen Drug Cartel Assassin, 15, Is Convicted in Mexico, Gets 3 Years

A 15-year-old United States citizen who admittedly killed four people by slitting their throats has been convicted in a Mexican court of torturing and beheading four people and kidnapping another three individuals. Convicted of aggravated homicide today in the slayings, Edgar Jimenez Lugo, who is also known as “El Ponchis,”…

Jul 26, 2011 11:04 PM CDT

Harvard Law Grad Can’t Afford $180K, So Restitution Is $50K in 9/11 Chapel Arson

A Harvard Law School graduate who had his Sidley Austin job offer rescinded after he was accused of setting fire to a Sept. 11 memorial chapel in Manhattan had expected to turn to his parents for help in paying tens of thousands of dollars in restitution required as part of…

Jul 26, 2011 5:48 PM CDT

Prosecutor Settles Personal DUI Case for $1.2 Million

A Los Angeles County, Calif., assistant district attorney has agreed to pay $1.2 million to settle a lawsuit against her that stemmed from a car crash involving two women and charges of driving drunk. The settlement was reached the same day as a Los Angeles jury awarded more than $1…

Jul 22, 2011 8:19 PM CDT

Ex-Law Dean at Kaplan Gets 1 Year for Sending Threatening Internet Messages

A former law dean at Kaplan Inc. has been sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison for sending threatening messages concerning the online educational institution and its chief executive officer. Bennie Wilcox, 45, maintained that he did not send the 2007 emails and Internet postings at issue…

Jul 22, 2011 6:41 PM CDT

Prisoner Who Walked Out of NYC Jail by Posing as an Attorney Gets Another 28 Years

A career criminal who strolled out of custody at Manhattan Criminal Court by posing as an attorney in 2009 is paying the price now. Ronald Tackman, 57, has been sentenced to another 28 years, Reuters reports. The state supreme court sentence also punishes him for a string of robberies in…

Jul 21, 2011 9:18 PM CDT

Suspended Lawyer Found Dead After Failing to Appear for Sentencing in Mail-Fraud Case

Updated: Scheduled to be in federal court in East St. Louis for sentencing today at 9 a.m. in a mail fraud case, an Illinois attorney sent his lawyer a fax at 8 a.m. saying he wouldn’t be there. The judge issued a warrant for the arrest of Dennis Nalick, 63,…

Jul 21, 2011 7:02 PM CDT

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