From Louisiana’s The Advocate comes news that Michael Procell, an employee of the Louisiana State Department of Transportation and Development, was acquitted on charges of bribery by a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Louisiana last Wednesday. Procell had been charged with allegedly accepting a bribe of $800 in 2008… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Acquittal
Subscribe to Acquittal RSS FeedNew York Physician Acquitted in $279 Million Insurance Fraud Case
Posted in AcquittalLast year, authorities arrested Dr. Billy Geris of Staten Island, New York, as well as dozens of other persons and nine other physicians, who the government alleged were involved in “medical fraud mills,” in which persons involved in automobile accidents were given allegedly medically unnecessary treatments in order to defraud insurance companies. The doctors were… Continue Reading
Former BDO Seidman CEO Denis Field Acquitted in Multi-Billion Dollar Tax Shelter Fraud Prosecution
Posted in AcquittalDenis Field, former CEO of BDO Seidman was acquitted last Thursday on all seven counts against him by a jury for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, in the case of U.S. v. Daugerdas, 09-cr-00581 (S.D.N.Y. 2009), as reported at accountingtoday.com. The jury also returned a guilty verdict against co-defendant attorney… Continue Reading
Shipping Defendants Acquitted in Prosecution for Alleged Illegal Discharge of Pollution
Posted in AcquittalAngelex Ltd., Kassian Maritime Navigation Agency, Ltd., and shipmaster Antonis G. Pappadakis were acquitted on Monday in the case of United States v. Kassian Maritime Navigation Agency, Ltd., et al., Criminal No. 2:13-cr-70, in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on sixteen (16) counts for allegedly illegally discharging bilge water from one of the defendants’… Continue Reading
Wife of Convicted U.K. Terrorist Acquitted, Thought Husband Was Using Jihad as Excuse Not to Get Back Together
Posted in Acquittal, TerrorismAs the U.S. is recovering from the shock of last week’s bombings of the Boston Marathon, yesterday, Salma Kabal was acquitted in the Woolwich Crown Court in Southeast London, United Kingdom, on charges that she withheld information from police concerning a terror plot involving her estranged husband, Ashik Ali. Ali, along with Irfan Nasser and… Continue Reading
9th Circuit Reverses CA City Treasurer’s “Honest Services Fraud” Convictions
Posted in Acquittal, FraudOn Monday, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Albert Robles, former Treasurer for South Gate, California, acquitted on three charges for “honest services fraud,” 18 U.S.C. 1346, which Mr. Robles had been convicted on in 2006. The Court also reversed the honest services conviction of Robles’ business associate, George Garrido. The reversals were… Continue Reading
Acquitted Hutaree Militia Members File Suit Against FBI, FBI Agents and State Officers
Posted in Acquittal, Governmental Misconduct, Searches & SeizuresAs set forth in the Chicago Sun-Times, Thomas Piatek, Michael Meeks, and others who, as we noted, were acquitted a year ago in the prosecution of the “Hutaree” militia for conspiring to commit acts of terrorism, filed suit last month against the FBI, FBI agents and Michigan State police officers. The plaintiffs’ suit alleges that… Continue Reading
Former Yankees Pitcher and 7-Time Cy Young Award Winner Roger Clemens Acquitted on All Counts in Federal Perjury/Obstruction Prosecution
Posted in AcquittalThe Federal criminal story of the week is the acquittal of former New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on two counts of perjury, three counts of making false statements and one count of obstructing Congress. The charges against Clemens arose from his testimony before Congress… Continue Reading
Judgment of Acquittal and Dismissal of Charges Against Seven Members of Hutaree Militia
Posted in Acquittal, indictmentLast week, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan granted a judgment of acquittal in favor of seven members of the Hutaree militia, dismissing all charges against the defendants following the conclusion of the government’s case against them at trial, as reported by the Detroit Free Press. Tina Stone; David Stone, Jr.;… Continue Reading
Florida Construction Firm and VP Acquitted on Federal Bribery Charges Due to “Botched” Indictment
Posted in AcquittalM.M. Parrish Construction Co., a Gainesville, Florida-based construction company and its Vice President Lloyd Whann were acquitted on bribery charges on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, as reported by The Gainesville Sun. M.M. Parrish and Mr. Whann were alleged to have bribed Bob Williams, a former Assistant Superintendent of… Continue Reading
Judicial Lottery Outcome Determinative in Criminal Cases?
Posted in Acquittal, Courts and JudiciaryA piece on OpEdNews yesterday asks the question why Milton McGregor and the other defendants in the Victoryland gambling prosecution were found not guilty while former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman and former CEO Richard Scrushy were convicted in the HealthSouth prosecution several years ago? The piece submits that the difference in outcomes may be due… Continue Reading
Broward County, FL, Physician Acquitted on Kickback Charges
Posted in Acquittal, Health Care FraudYesterday, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida returned not guilty verdicts against 78 year-old Francisco H. Gonzalez, M.D., on charges that Dr. Gonzalez allegedly took thousands in kickbacks from two Miami-area home healthcare agencies, ABC Home Health Care and Florida Home Health Providers (FHHP), according to the Miami Herald. Also… Continue Reading
Defendants Acquitted in Second Alabama Gambling/Bribery Case
Posted in AcquittalA jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama acquitted Alabama State Senators Larry Means, Jim Pruett and Harri Anne Smith; Milton McGregor, the owner of VictoryLand casino, outside of Montgomery; Tom Coker, a lobbyist for the casino industry; and Jay Walker, a spokesman for Country Crossing Casino, on all counts,… Continue Reading
Execs of Medical Laser Manufacturer Acquitted on Most Counts
Posted in Acquittal, FraudAs reported by the Colorado Springs Gazette, former Chief Executive Officer John Schulte of Spectranetics Corp., a manufacturer of medical lasers, was convicted in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado yesterday on one count of lying to federal investigators but was acquitted on 11 counts of conspiring to defraud the Federal government. Trung Pham,… Continue Reading
Four Executives Acquitted in Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fraud Case
Posted in AcquittalAs reported in the Miami Herald, four former executives for Vanguard Fire and Casualty Co. were acquitted yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida in Tallahassee on charges that they allegedly defrauded the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund of $20 million. The charges arose from the 2004 hurricane season, one of the… Continue Reading
Alabama Pharmacy Owners Acquitted In $29 Million Scheme to Defraud Medicaid
Posted in AcquittalFrom al.com–the owners of a pharmacy in Loxley, Alabama, near Mobile, were found not guilty yesterday following a jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama. Tony Eric Mosley and James Goins, owners of Hemophilia Infusion Manager, were charged with other defendants for allegedly scheming to defraud Alabama Medicaid out… Continue Reading
From the Rough to the Fairway – Life After 2 Federal Criminal Trials
Posted in Acquittal, High Profile Cases, indictmentAs I watched the waves break over the 18th fairway at Pebble Beach this weekend, I noticed a familiar name playing in the last group yesterday with Charlie Wi: Frank Quattrone. Could that really be, I wondered, the Frank Quattrone who was indicted in 2003 and tried twice before he was convicted in 2004? That… Continue Reading
Chinese-American Former Motorola Employee Acquitted on Espionage Charge
Posted in Acquittal, indictment, Noteworthy CasesImage source: World Military Forum On February 28, 2007, Hanjuan Jin, a Chinese-American and engineer for Motorola, attempted to board a one-way flight for Beijing, China, at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. She was stopped by Federal agents before she could board the flight and found to be carrying a computer and other electronic storage devices… Continue Reading
Florida Attorney and Police Officers Acquitted of Federal Mortgage Fraud Charges
Posted in Acquittal, FraudProsecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida have dropped charges of mortgage fraud against Plantation, Florida, attorney Steven Stoll and police officer Dennis Guarancino, according to the Miami Herald. Stoll and Guarancino were charged in relation to a $16.5 million dollar loan fraud scheme by Guarancino’s brother, Joseph Guarancino, also… Continue Reading
Los Angeles Doctor Acquitted on Charges of Conspiracy and Falsification of Records Relating to 2003 Liver Transplant
Posted in AcquittalAccording to the Los Angeles Times, Dr. Richard R. Lopez, Jr., head of the liver transplant program at St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles, was acquitted by a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on Friday, on charges conspiracy, concealment of material fact and falsification of records. The… Continue Reading
California Businessman Acquitted on Tax Charges; Did Not Review or Authorize Tax Filings Due to Kidnapping of Son
Posted in Acquittal, FraudEarlier this month, as reported in the Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch, a Federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California acquitted Howard H. Berger, a business consultant, on four criminal tax charges. The charges stemmed from Mr. Berger’s alleged filing of 2006 personal and partnership tax returns allegedly claiming a… Continue Reading
Alabama Legislators and Casino Employees to Be Re-Tried
Posted in Acquittal, Noteworthy CasesThe U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama has postponed the retrial of eight defendants on corruption charges relating to the gambling industry and various State legislators and employees, originally scheduled to commence on October 3, until January 9, 2012, according to Forbes.com. The charges stemmed from an FBI investigation into alleged… Continue Reading
New York Attorney Salvatore J. Piemonte Acquitted on Federal Charges of Allegedly Aiding and Abetting Drug Dealers
Posted in AcquittalSalvatore J. Piemonte, a former prosecutor for the Onondage County District Attorney’s Office in Syracuse, New York, for seven years, and former a local judge, was indicted last November in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York for allegedly aiding and abetting the sale of marijuana, according to Syracuse.com. The government charged… Continue Reading
Diamond Store Owner Arthur Hiaeve Acquitted on Federal Money Laundering Charges on Venue Grounds
Posted in Acquittal, Forfeiture, VenueArthur "Avi" Hiaeve, owner of the Manhattan diamond store, Hiaeve & Co., was acquitted last Wednesday on money laundering charges in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. According to Reuters, Senior District Judge Allyne Ross granted Mr. Hiaeve’s motion for judgment of acquittal on the seven counts of laundering drug… Continue Reading