Singh v. AG — immigration — reversal — Scirica

The Third Circuit today held that a Pa. conviction for possession of counterfeit drugs with intent to deliver is not an aggravated felony that would make the person convicted ineligible for discretionary relief from removal. The court held that the BIA erred by not applying the modified categorical approach. The court granted the petition for review and remanded.

Joining Scirica were Ambro and Jordan. Arguing counsel were Craig Shagin for the petitioner and Elizabeth Chapman for the government.

US v. Free — criminal sentencing — reversal — Fuentes

Here’s one you don’t see every day. A guy with plenty of money to pay his debts filed for bankruptcy and hid hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of assets, except he still had enough assets to pay his creditors in full. Not for nothing does the Third Circuit describe this as “bizarre.” The asset-hiding led to criminal convictions for bankruptcy fraud and a two-year sentence.

The issue in today’s appeal was how to calculate the loss amount for sentencing purposes, given that the creditors lost nothing. The district court used the amount the defendant concealed and the amount of debt he sought to discharge in bankruptcy. The Third Circuit reversed for resentencing, ruling that the loss amount is the amount the creditors lost or the amount the defendant intended to gain. The court noted that the resentencing court still could impose the same sentence, even without any loss enhancement, through an upward departure for lying and disrespect to the court. The court rejected as “too clever by half” his argument that the absence of loss rendered the evidence legally insufficient.

Joining Fuentes were Shwartz and Restrepo. Arguing counsel were Martin Dietz for the defendant and Laura Irwin for the government.