Question: I heard you had a case where you were able to convince the district court to deny the government’s request for a two-level enhancement based on laundered funds allegedly derived from drug trafficking. If it was a reported case, could you send me the citation or any other cites you used? I would appreciate it.
Answer: It was not a reported case. You get lucky sometimes and have an amenable (that usually means older) prosecutor who chooses not to fight every battle. That said, I had another case in Miami where we resisted the narcotics proceeds enhancement and the judge ordered a hearing. Because the money in question consisted of neatly stacked 20 dollar bills, the government claimed that if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, it must be a duck. The government lost.
My sense is that if the government doesn’t have real evidence, you have a good chance of winning that war and not being penalized if you lose. To get there though, you might have to plead to the indictment, as I did in both cases. Frankly, I believe in pleading to all the charges in money laundering cases if I do not get a plea offer I am satisfied with, especially in New York where I am more comfortable.
There is no mandatory minimum in money laundering cases, so there is no reason to enter into a plea agreement in a case where the judge can do as he sees fit. In my entire career a client has never been penalized for pleading to all the charges in an indictment. A defendant will get the same sentence whether he pleads to one charge or twenty. In fact, lawyers sometimes take credit for the dismissed charges by acting as if they had something to do with it. But we know that charges are routinely dismissed as part of any plea bargain.