District Judge Robert Scola on Friday gave Gilberto Suarez, 41, less than the one-year maximum partly because his main role in the 2012 smuggling venture was having Puig driven in a taxi from Mexico City to the Texas border. [read post]

In 2009, as part of the new cooperation between the U.S. and Mexico, Miguel Caro Quintero was turned over to the U.S. for prosecution. [read post]

For short (and short-ish) summaries of recent (and recent-ish) 9th Circuit criminal defense wins in involving cell phone searches, restitution, fraud, appeal waivers, crimes of violence, violent felonies, the Excessive Fines Clause, the Marks Rule, the Fair Sentencing Act, fictitious financial instruments, conspiracy, minor role, supervised release conditions, forcible medication, attempted illegal reentry, home searches, guilty plea colloquys, confrontation, the Assimilative Crimes Act, the Court… [read post]

As the workforce becomes more and more aware of the differences between true independent contractors and employees under the FLSA—the latter entitled to minimum wages and overtime premiums under the FLSA—courts continue to address this factually intensive issue in a variety of industries. [read post]