U.S. v. Velez, 586 F.3d 875 (11th Cir. 2009)
On an issue of first impression for the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, the Court held that the plain language of 18 U.S.C.A. § 1957(a) (f) (1) exempts monetary transactions derived from criminal proceeds and used to secure legal representation. In this case, the defendant, an accused Colombian drug leader, paid his legal defense fees with alleged laundered money. The government then indicted the defendant and his two attorneys on one count of money laundering charges. The District Court dismissed Count One, finding that 1957 (f)(1) clearly excludes from its scope, “any transaction necessary to preserve a person’s right to representation as guaranteed by the sixth amendment to the Constitution.” The Government argued that the exemption was nullified by Caplin & Drysdale, Chartered v. United States,491 U.S. 617, 626 (1989). The Appellate Court disagreed finding that Caplin & Drysdale addressed criminal proceeds with respect to the civil forfeiture statute, 21 U.S.C. § 853 and therefore had no bearing on 18 U.S.C. §1957 and one’s representation guaranteed by the sixth amendment.
Posts Tagged ‘laundered proceeds’
Sixth Amendment guarantee of representation allows defendant to pay legal fees with alleged illegal proceeds.
Monday, January 11th, 2010