In 2001, Pennsylvania tax attorney Nicholas Panarella, Jr., pled guilty to charges of honest services fraud. Mr. Panarella was alleged to have paid former Pennsylvania State Senator F. Joseph Loeper more than $330,000 as "consulting fees" to take actions which benefitted Mr. Panarella’s tax-collection firm.
However, as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision in U.S. v. Skilling relating to honest services fraud, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania this week ruled that Mr. Panarella’s actions were no longer criminal and that he was entitled to have his conviction reversed by means of a writ of coram nobis (Latin for "the error before us"), according to Philly.com.
Mr. Panarella was disbarred following his 2001 plea. Prior to his conviction, he assisted former Mayor of Philadelphia in recovering $51.9 million in back taxes. Joseph Loeper served 20 months in prison for obstructing a tax investigation.
