United States Fourth Circuit

In a prosecution for crimes stemming from the defendant's leadership of a mortgage-fraud conspiracy, the Fourth Circuit holds: 1) the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting victim-impact testimony; 2) any error in admitting hearsay testimony from buyers detailing conversations between the defendant and several tenants was harmless; 3) money laundering convictions on certain counts had to be reversed because they suffered from a merger problem, as the counts charged the payment of the "essential expenses" of the fraud, while as to another count there was no merger problem and sufficient evidence to support conviction; 4) any error in the district court's loss calculation was harmless; and 5) the district court erred when it ordered the defendant to reimburse the government for the services of his court-appointed attorneys.

Appellate Information

• Decided 05/31/2012
• Published 05/31/2012

Judges

• Diaz

Court

• United States Fourth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Arza Feldman, Kurt William Meyers