United States First Circuit

In this consolidated appeal, conviction and sentence of defendants for multiple bankruptcy-related crimes designed to conceal assets from creditors is affirmed, where: 1) the evidence was sufficient to support conviction; 2) the evidence of defendant Astrid's conduct in her own bankruptcy was highly probative on the question of whether she was an informed and willing participant in defendant Edgardo's concealment endeavors, and outweighed the danger of unfair prejudice; 3) the court's middle-of-the-road valuation of Edgardo's listed property was pragmatic and fair; 4) the district court met its obligation to weigh competing sentencing considerations and did not commit procedural error; and 5) the imposition of a term of imprisonment twice as long for Edgardo as for Astrid was substantively reasonable since the primary blame could be placed on Edgardo, given that he financially gained from the concealment, and that he had earned a JD and was thus learned about the law.

Appellate Information

• Decided 11/05/2014
• Published 11/05/2014

Judges

• Lipez

Court

• United States First Circuit

Counsel