Seventh Circuit – Page 8 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Seventh Circuit Affirms Money-Laundering, Conspiracy Convictions of Car Dealers for Cash Sales to Drug Traffickers

Post author:Michael M. O'Hear
Post published:May 7, 2012
Post category:Criminal Law & Process Federal Criminal Law & Process Public Race & Law Religion & Law Seventh Circuit

Amir Hosseini and Hossein Obaei, who operated three Chicago-area automobile dealerships, sold many luxury cars to drug dealers over a ten-year period. Hosseini and Obaei were apparently popular with this market segment because of their willingness to take large cash payments in small bills. Eventually, federal prosecutors caught up with them, and, following a five-week trial, they were convicted by a jury on 97 counts of conspiracy, money laundering, mail fraud, illegal transaction structuring, bank fraud, and aiding and abetting a drug conspiracy. The Seventh Circuit has now affirmed these convictions and the 15- and 20-year sentences that went along with them.

Had it been properly preserved, the most substantial legal issue on appeal would have been the question left open by United States v. Santos, 553 U.S. 507 (2008): whether, in a traditional money-laundering prosecution, the government must prove that the allegedly laundered proceeds are net profits, as opposed to gross receipts, of the underlying crime. (See my blog post about Santos here). However, since the Santos issue was raised for the first time on appeal, the court used plain-error review and found that the defendants could not satisfy the standard given the “unsettled state of the law.” (2)

Hosseini and Obaei also raised an interesting voir dire issue.

New Criminal Law Blogs

Post author:Michael M. O'Hear
Post published:May 1, 2012
Post category:Computer Law Criminal Law & Process Federal Criminal Law & Process Seventh Circuit

Criminal law aficionados might want to check out two new blogs with Marquette connections. First, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Updates tracks new decisions by the Seventh Circuit in criminal cases. The authors are Amelia Bizzaro ’03, Tony Cotton ’05, Chris Donovan ’05, Josh Uller ’05, and your truly.

Second, Cybercrime Review explores “new technology, recent legal developments, and interesting arguments at the intersection of computers and the law.” The authors are a current Marquette student, Justin Webb, and Jeffrey Brown, a student at the University of Mississippi School of Law. In addition to being law students, both Justin and Jeffrey have impressive professional credentials in the IT field. Justin’s comment on GPS tracking and the Fourth Amendment appeared in the most recent issue of the Marquette Law Review.

SCOTUS to Decide on Padilla Retroactivity

Post author:Michael M. O'Hear
Post published:April 30, 2012
Post category:Criminal Law & Process Federal Criminal Law & Process Public Seventh Circuit U.S. Supreme Court

Earlier today, the Supreme Court granted cert. in Chaidez v. United States, 655 F.3d 684 (7th Cir. 2011). Chaidez held that the Court’s decision in Padilla v. Kentucky, 130 S. Ct. 1473 (2010), would not be applied retroactively to defendants whose convictions were already final when Padilla came out. In Padilla, the Court held that a lawyer performs below minimal constitutional standards when he or she fails to advise a client of the deportation risks of a guilty plea. Now, the Court itself will have an opportunity to determine whether its decision should have retroactive effect.

The majority and dissenting judges in Chaidez all agreed that the case turned on whether Padilla announced a new rule of criminal procedure, within the meaning of Teague v. Lane, 489 U.S. 288 (1989). With only a couple of execeptions not relevant here, Teague prohibits retroactivity for new rules. So, the question in Chaidez seems to boil down to whether Padilla announced a new rule or merely applied the basic ineffective assistance test of Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984).