Sentencing/Post Conviction

Lawyer Gets 6.5 Years, Fined $5.8M for False Diet Drug Claims

A Mississippi attorney has been sentenced by a federal judge to 6.5 years in prison and ordered to pay $5.8 million in restitution for pursuing baseless diet drug litigation on behalf of clients. Robert Arledge, 50, of Vicksburg was convicted in October of seven counts of conspiracy and wire fraud…

Jan 18, 2008 5:21 PM CST

Actress Lindsay Lohan Sentenced to Work in Morgue

Actress Lindsay Lohan’s sentence in a recent misdemeanor drunken driving plea deal isn’t just the 84 minutes in jail she already served late last year. It also includes community service work stints in a morgue and a hospital emergency room, under a court program that seeks to impress drunken drivers…

Jan 18, 2008 4:51 PM CST

Scammed Clients Seek Leniency for Convicted Lawyer

Clients of a disbarred Florida lawyer who pleaded no contest today to stealing some $200,000 from them are reportedly likely to seek leniency for the man they thought was representing their interests rather than his own. That’s not because they sympathize with the crimes, however, but because they will see…

Jan 17, 2008 11:57 PM CST

‘Seriously Misleading’ Affidavit Leads to Longer Sentence for Ex-Brocade CEO

A federal judge said yesterday he lengthened the sentence for the ex-CEO of Brocade Communications because he submitted a misleading affidavit. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer of San Francisco added six months to Gregory Reyes’ sentence for backdating stock options because of the “seriously misleading” declaration, making the total sentence…

Jan 17, 2008 2:08 PM CST

US Pays Hit Man $20K, But Fights Compensation for Victims

Advocates for victims targeted during the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s by organized crime figures in Northeast who were aided by ties to the local FBI are expressing outrage about a $20,000 payment reportedly made by the government to a newly released convicted hit man. And those representing fellow criminals…

Jan 17, 2008 12:05 AM CST

Ex-Brocade CEO Gets 21-Month Sentence for Options Backdating

A federal judge has sentenced the ex-CEO of Brocade Communications to 21 months in prison for backdating stock options. Gregory Reyes cried before receiving the sentence, the Associated Press reports. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer also ordered Reyes to pay a $15 million fine, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub.…

Jan 16, 2008 7:02 PM CST

Acquitted Terror Prosecutor Seeks Legal Bill Reimbursement

A former federal prosecutor who was acquitted last fall on criminal charges that he withheld evidence favorable to four North African suspects in a high-profile 2003 Detroit terrorism trial is now seeking reimbursement of his personal defense costs. Richard Convertino contends that the Justice Department to pursue him in criminal…

Jan 15, 2008 7:39 PM CST

Man, 61, Gets 5 Years for ‘Arborcide’

A Nevada man was sentenced yesterday to up to five years in prison for killing hundreds of trees in a suburban area near Las Vegas. Douglas Hoffman, 61, is a retired construction worker who suffers from heart, hip, back and prostate problems. He reportedly cut down more than 500 trees…

Jan 15, 2008 5:44 PM CST

Judge Turns Down Appeal of Jesse Friedman, Subject of Documentary

A federal judge has ruled against Jesse Friedman, the subject of the documentary Capturing the Friedmans, who was seeking to reverse his guilty plea to child molestation on the basis of new evidence. U.S. District Court Judge Joanna Seybert said Friedman filed his appeal too late, Newsday reports. Friedman pleaded…

Jan 14, 2008 6:51 PM CST

Court Won’t Hear Sentencing Confrontation Case

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to decide whether the Sixth Amendment’s confrontation clause applies during sentencing. Defendant Sherman Lamont Fields had contended the right to confrontation should apply in sentencing hearings when capital punishment is an option, SCOTUSblog reports. The U.S. solicitor general had urged the court to decline…

Jan 14, 2008 4:08 PM CST

Court Finds No 1st Amendment Right to Witness Full Execution

A federal judge in Arkansas has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a group of journalists seeking access to report all stages of the execution process. Noting that state law provides that executions are private rather than public events and that only one federal appeals court has recognized a public right…

Jan 12, 2008 12:46 AM CST

Marion Jones Gets 6 Months; Disgraced Olympian Lied About Steroids Use

Former Olympic champion Marion Jones was sentenced today in federal court in New York to six months in jail for lying in two separate grand jury investigations about her use of the performance-enhancing steroids she now admits she took and her participation in a check-cashing scam run by a fellow…

Jan 11, 2008 5:51 PM CST

Suspended Lawyer Gets 90 Days for Accepting Client Retainers

A suburban Chicago lawyer was sentenced yesterday to a 90-day jail term for accepting client retainer fees at a time when his license to practice law was suspended. Michael Marsh, 61, of Naperville, pleaded guilty to five counts of theft concerning retainers of $3,500 to $5,000 that he accepted from…

Jan 11, 2008 12:38 AM CST

Court Bans Bad Neighbor from Living in His Own Home

A man who reportedly made his next-door neighbors’ daily lives a hellish experience for years is now banned from residing in his own home. After 40-year-old Carl Bridson finishes serving a six-month sentence for harassment, he will only be able to visit his home for brief periods scheduled in advance,…

Jan 10, 2008 5:05 PM CST

After 17 Years, 1st Sexual Predator to Graduate from Wash. Program

For the first time in its 17-year history, a Washington state treatment program for convicted sex offenders deemed to pose a serious risk of repeating their crimes if released is recommending the unconditional discharge of one of its patients. Gary Cherry, 49, could be released as early as next month…

Jan 10, 2008 12:32 AM CST