Justia U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

A native and citizen of the Dominican Republic, the petitioner was admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident in 2007. In 2022, he pleaded guilty in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida to conspiracy to commit money laundering under 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h). The judgment included a forfeiture order stating that at least $3,934,518 was obtained and laundered by the petitioner as a result of his participation in the conspiracy. In 2023, the Department of Homeland Security initiated removal proceedings, alleging that the petitioner was removable as an aggravated felon because his offense involved more than $10,000.An Immigration Judge found the petitioner removable as charged, relying on the conviction records, including the forfeiture order. The petitioner applied for cancellation of removal, but the Immigration Judge concluded he was ineligible due to the aggravated felony conviction. On appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals, the petitioner argued that the forfeiture order did not meet the evidentiary standard required to establish that his conviction was an aggravated felony, as it did not specify the amount directly attributable to his conduct. The Board, applying the circumstance-specific approach endorsed by the Supreme Court in Nijhawan v. Holder, found that the forfeiture order was sufficient to establish that the funds involved exceeded $10,000 and dismissed the appeal.The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed the Board’s decision de novo. The court held that an unrebutted forfeiture order entered solely against an alien, finding a specific amount of laundered funds attributable to the alien’s conduct of conviction, can constitute clear and convincing evidence that the amount of funds required by 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(D) is met. The court denied the petition for review. View "Reyes v. Bondi" on Justia Law

Five individuals were charged in federal court for their roles in a large-scale drug trafficking operation. The scheme involved purchasing marijuana from states where it was legal, such as California and Oregon, and distributing it to twenty-one other states. The operation used drivers to transport marijuana and related products, with cash proceeds handled outside of financial institutions to avoid detection. Law enforcement investigations included surveillance, traffic stops, and searches of residences, warehouses, and storage units, resulting in the seizure of large quantities of marijuana, THC products, cash, and firearms. The lead investigator analyzed cell phone data to estimate the scope of the conspiracy, concluding it involved over 23,000 kilograms of marijuana.The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas indicted the five appellants and ten co-defendants on multiple counts, including conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and other individualized charges. Eight co-defendants pleaded guilty, while the five appellants went to trial. After an eight-day trial, the jury convicted all five of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 1,000 kg or more of marijuana and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Roberts was also convicted of continuing criminal enterprise and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Sentences ranged from 48 to 240 months’ imprisonment, with some counts dismissed or sentences ordered to run concurrently.The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed the convictions and sentences. The court affirmed the convictions for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and promotional money laundering, but vacated the sentences for certain defendants due to errors in the admission of a summary chart used to estimate drug quantities and clerical errors in the judgments and presentence reports. The court remanded for resentencing under the default penalty provision and correction of clerical errors, while affirming other aspects of the convictions and venue determinations. View "United States v. McGuire" on Justia Law

Quintan Cockerell, a marketer for two compounding pharmacies, was convicted for receiving illegal kickbacks as part of a conspiracy to induce physicians to prescribe highly lucrative prescriptions. These pharmacies, including Xpress Compounding, focused on formulating expensive topical creams, resulting in significant reimbursements from federal insurers like TRICARE. Cockerell was involved in recruiting physicians, developing new formulas, and receiving commissions disguised as payments to his then-wife. He also provided financial incentives to physicians, including lavish vacations and investment opportunities, to encourage them to prescribe these creams.The United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas convicted Cockerell of violating the Anti-Kickback Statute, conspiracy, and money laundering. He was sentenced to 29 months of imprisonment, two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $59,879,871 in restitution. Cockerell appealed, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence, alleged misstatements of law by the Government during trial, and the restitution order.The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed the case and found that a reasonable jury could have convicted Cockerell based on the evidence presented. The court held that the Government provided sufficient evidence of Cockerell's involvement in the illegal kickback scheme and his intent to influence physicians. The court also found no reversible error in the Government's statements during closing arguments and upheld the restitution order, noting that Cockerell failed to provide evidence of legitimate services to offset the loss amount. Consequently, the Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment. View "United States v. Cockerell" on Justia Law

Richard Hall and his partners established a pharmacy business to capitalize on the market for compounded drugs, targeting federal insurers for high reimbursements. They created two pharmacies, Rxpress and Xpress Compounding, to handle private and federal insurance claims, respectively. The business model involved paying marketers commissions to secure prescriptions from physicians, which led to over $59 million in federal healthcare reimbursements. Hall and his partners were indicted for conspiracy to defraud the United States, paying and receiving illegal kickbacks, and money laundering.The United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas tried the case. The jury found Hall guilty on multiple counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and paying illegal kickbacks. The district court sentenced Hall to 52 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered him to pay over $59 million in restitution. Hall's motion for release pending appeal was denied by both the district court and the appellate court.The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed the case. Hall raised four arguments on appeal: improper jury instructions regarding the burden of proof for the safe-harbor defense under the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS), the definition of "employee" in the jury instructions, the exclusion of his proposed jury instruction on kickback recipients, and the imposition of restitution. The Fifth Circuit held that the district court correctly placed the burden of persuasion for the safe-harbor defense on Hall, properly defined "employee" in the jury instructions, and did not err in excluding Hall's proposed instruction on kickback recipients. The court also upheld the restitution order, finding it appropriate based on the total loss to the government. Consequently, the Fifth Circuit affirmed Hall's convictions and the district court's restitution order. View "United States v. Hall" on Justia Law

From 2009 to 2015, Clarence Roland engaged in a scheme to defraud mortgage lenders and title insurance companies by using aliases, fake businesses, and fraudulent documents. He promised homeowners facing foreclosure that he could help them eliminate their mortgages. Instead, he transferred property ownership to his shell entities, created fake mortgages, and sold the properties to unsuspecting buyers. Roland used fraudulent notary stamps and signatures to make these transactions appear legitimate.A jury in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas convicted Roland of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and engaging in monetary transactions over $10,000 derived from unlawful activity. He was sentenced to ten years in prison, ordered to pay restitution of over $3 million, forfeit nearly $2 million, and assessed a $1,000 special assessment.The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed Roland's appeal, where he raised several issues. He argued that the district court erred by admitting evidence of his and his co-conspirator’s prior convictions, limiting his good-faith defense, and denying his request for expert-witness funding. He also claimed that his conduct was not criminal and highlighted a clerical error regarding the special assessment.The Fifth Circuit found no reversible error in the district court's evidentiary rulings, determining that the admission of prior convictions was not plain error and that the limitations on Roland's good-faith defense were either appropriate or harmless. The court also upheld the denial of expert-witness funding, noting Roland's failure to make a formal request. The court agreed with Roland on the clerical error and modified the judgment to remove the $1,000 special assessment. In all other respects, Roland's conviction was affirmed. View "United States v. Roland" on Justia Law

Abdul Fatani was involved in a fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan scheme during the COVID-19 pandemic. The scheme, led by Amir Aqeel, involved submitting false PPP loan applications with fabricated payroll information and supporting documents. Fatani, as a borrower, submitted a fraudulent application for his company, Route 786 USA, Inc., which had no employees or payroll. The loan was approved, and $511,250 was deposited into Route 786’s bank account. Fatani then wrote checks to co-conspirators and created fake payroll checks to make it appear that the funds were used for legitimate expenses.The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas tried Fatani, and a jury found him guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and engaging in a monetary transaction with criminally derived property. Fatani moved for a judgment of acquittal, which the district court denied. The court sentenced him to 36 months in prison for each count, to run concurrently, along with 3 years of supervised release and restitution of $511,250. Fatani appealed the conviction and sentence.The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed the case. The court affirmed the district court’s judgment, finding sufficient evidence to support Fatani’s wire fraud conviction. The court held that the scheme to defraud was not complete until Aqeel, the mastermind, received his share of the proceeds, and the wire transfer in question was part of that scheme. The court also found that Fatani’s 36-month sentence was substantively reasonable, considering the mitigating factors presented. However, the court remanded the case for correction of a clerical error in the written judgment, which incorrectly listed aiding and abetting convictions. View "USA v. Fatani" on Justia Law

Keith Todd Ashley, a licensed financial advisor, was charged and convicted on 17 counts of violating federal law, including mail and wire fraud, Hobbs Act robbery, and bank theft. He operated a Ponzi scheme and allegedly murdered one of his clients to steal funds from the client’s bank account and benefit from the client’s life insurance proceeds. The district court sentenced Ashley to 240 months’ imprisonment for each of 15 counts of wire and mail fraud and imposed life sentences for his convictions of Hobbs Act robbery and bank theft.In the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Ashley was found guilty on all counts presented. He filed motions for continuance and severance, which were denied by the district court. The jury found Ashley guilty on all counts, and the district court sentenced him accordingly. Ashley then appealed, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence for most of his convictions, the reasonableness of his sentence, and the denial of his motions for continuance and severance.The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed the case. The government conceded that there was insufficient evidence to convict Ashley of five counts and that the life-sentence enhancement for his conviction of bank theft did not apply. The Fifth Circuit agreed, affirming some of Ashley’s convictions, vacating others, and remanding the case for resentencing and further proceedings. Specifically, the court affirmed Ashley’s convictions on Counts 1, 3, 14, and 19, vacated his convictions on Counts 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, and 18, and remanded for resentencing. The court also addressed Ashley’s challenges to the procedural and substantive reasonableness of his sentence and the cumulative error doctrine but found no reversible error in those respects. View "United States v. Ashley" on Justia Law

Sekhar Rao was involved in a scheme to defraud TRICARE, a federal health benefit plan, by ordering medically unnecessary toxicology and DNA cancer screening tests. These tests were billed to TRICARE through a shell company, ADAR Group, LLC, which set up fraudulent testing sites. Rao, a physician, was hired to sign off on these tests without reviewing patient medical information or meeting the patients. He was paid per test ordered. The scheme involved using a signature stamp of Rao’s signature to sign requisition forms, which Rao allegedly knew about and consented to.In the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Rao was acquitted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud but was convicted of two counts of substantive health care fraud related to specific fraudulent claims submitted to TRICARE. The district court sentenced him to 48 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, and calculated the loss amount under the United States Sentencing Guidelines based on the intended loss.The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed the case. Rao raised three issues on appeal: the sufficiency of the evidence for his convictions, the exclusion of testimony regarding statements made to him by the scheme’s leader about legal vetting, and the calculation of the loss amount under the Sentencing Guidelines. The Fifth Circuit found no reversible error in the district court’s decisions. The court held that there was sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to conclude that Rao caused the submission of the fraudulent claims and that he knew about and authorized the use of his signature stamp. The court also held that the district court did not plainly err in excluding the testimony about legal vetting and did not err in calculating the intended loss amount. The Fifth Circuit affirmed Rao’s convictions and sentence. View "United States v. Rao" on Justia Law

Joseph Anthony Borino, as part of a plea agreement, pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony (wire fraud) on July 8, 2021. He was sentenced to one year and one day of imprisonment on November 1, 2022. On March 30, 2023, the district court ordered restitution of $21,223,036.37 under the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act (MVRA), to be paid jointly and severally with Denis Joachim, Borino’s employer and co-conspirator.The district court proceedings began with the indictment of Denis and Donna Joachim in August 2018, followed by Borino’s separate indictment in November 2019. Borino was charged with conspiracy to defraud the IRS, making false statements, and wire fraud. He later pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony in June 2021. The district court adopted the Pre-Sentence Investigation Report (PSR) which attributed the entire loss of $25,543,340.78 to Borino, and scheduled a separate restitution hearing. At the restitution hearing, the court calculated the restitution amount based on the fees paid by the victims during the period of Borino’s offense, minus the claims paid by TTFG.The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed Borino’s appeal, where he challenged the restitution order on three grounds: the applicability of the MVRA to his offense, the proof of actual pecuniary loss to the victims, and the causation of the losses. The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s order, holding that the MVRA applied to Borino’s misprision offense because it involved concealment of wire fraud, a crime committed by fraud or deceit. The court found that the government had sufficiently proven the victims’ actual losses and that Borino’s continuous concealment of the fraud directly and proximately caused the victims’ losses. The court concluded that the district court did not err in ordering restitution of $21,223,036.37. View "United States v. Borino" on Justia Law

The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants marketed fraudulent franchise opportunities to foreign nationals seeking to invest in the United States to obtain residency visas. The complaint included claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and state-law claims for fraud, breach of contract, and malpractice. The plaintiffs claimed that the defendants misrepresented the nature of the investment opportunities, leading the plaintiffs to believe they were purchasing franchises that would qualify them for E-2 or EB-5 visas. Instead, they received licenses that did not meet visa requirements, resulting in financial losses and visa application issues.The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas dismissed the case for failure to state a claim. The court found that the plaintiffs did not adequately allege a cognizable enterprise under RICO and failed to meet the heightened pleading standards for fraud under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b). The district court also denied the plaintiffs leave to amend their complaint, citing undue delay and the plaintiffs' failure to provide a proposed amended complaint or additional facts that would cure the deficiencies.The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed the case and affirmed the district court's decision. The appellate court agreed that the plaintiffs failed to plead a RICO enterprise, as the complaint did not provide sufficient factual detail to support the existence of an association-in-fact enterprise. The court also upheld the dismissal of the fraud and fraudulent inducement claims, finding that the plaintiffs did not meet the particularity requirements of Rule 9(b). Additionally, the court found no abuse of discretion in the district court's denial of leave to amend the complaint and the dismissal of claims against certain defendants for failure to effect timely service of process. View "Crosswell v. Rodriguez" on Justia Law