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3d Circuit reverses probationary sentences in fraud case

By Candace Hom, Melinda Ghilardi, Nancy Rimmer, Sarah Gannett, Renee Pietropaolo and Tieffa Harper

In United States v. Ali, (3d Cir. Nov. 27, 2007), the Third Circuit reversed probationary sentences in a fraud case, in which defendants Faridah Ali and Lakiha Spicer obtained federal money allocated to a community college to fund an adult education program. The Third Circuit held that the district court erred in its initial Guidelines calculation, that it relied on inappropriate factors for the downward departures, and that the resulting sentences were unreasonable, and thus vacated the sentences and remanded for resentencing.The Third Circuit determined that the district court erred under step one of the sentencing process, the Guidelines calculation, because it rejected a preponderance standard for the loss calculation in favor of a reasonable doubt standard in Ali?s case and, further, failed to specify an estimate of the loss amount...continue to full post

Full post as published by Third Circuit Blog on December 06, 2007 (boomark / email).