By: Sara Kropf Every trial lawyer has a few tried-and-truisms to use in the courtroom. For the admissibility of evidence: That goes to weight, not admissibility. For expert witnesses: The testimony would be helpful to the jury. And for relevance: They opened the door....
When a 20-Month Prison Sentence Goes in the “Win” Column
By: Sara Kropf For the government, sentencing seems to be a science, not an art. Let the probation office calculate the guideline range. Request a sentence within it, usually at the high end. Done. But for defense counsel, sentencing is an art, not a science,. You...
Corporate Kickback Charges That Involve Private Jets, A “Gentleman’s Club” and Marketing for Pharmaceutical Companies
By: Sara Kropf Michael Mitrow, Jr. and his brother Matthew Mitrow were recently charged in a superseding indictment for a corporate kickback scheme in the Southern District of New York. The Brothers Mitrow were executives of an unnamed marketing agency. According to...
Seven Years in Prison for $520,000: Airline Executive Sentenced for Accepting Kickbacks
By: Sara Kropf Ryan International Airlines has had a couple of rough years. The company had once found success flying mail for the U.S. Postal Service and providing military transport for personnel and cargo. But as military spending declined, Ryan found its revenues...
Quick Cases: “Too Many [Health Care Fraud Cases] To Shake A Stick At”
By: Sara Kropf This is the one of my recurring posts that offer quick summaries of similar cases. Think of them as the Kay and Peele version of my blog posts, though not nearly as funny and always safe for work. The Beastie Boys bemoaned that there are “too many...
What is the SEC’s “Cross-Border Working Group”? This Chinese Company’s Executive Is Getting a Tough Lesson
By: Sara Kropf You may not have heard of the SEC’s Cross-Border Working Group but if you are a company with substantial foreign operations that trades in the United States, chances are the Working Group has heard of you. Since it began, the Working Group has led to...
Two New Indictments for Commercial Kickback Cases: Construction and Computers
By: Sara Kropf Two recent cases in Missouri and New York make clear that the Department of Justice continues to investigate and aggressively prosecute not only public corruption cases involving kickbacks but commercial kickback cases as well. The FCPA gets so much...