The Honeycutt brothers run an operation selling iodine to methamphetamine dealers.\u00a0 One brother makes $269,000 in total profits.\u00a0 The other brother gets paid a weekly salary, but otherwise takes home nothing.\u00a0 They are both charged in a drug conspiracy.\u00a0 The first brother reaches a plea deal with the government, and as a result gets to keep most of the money he made.\u00a0 The second brother loses at trial.\u00a0 At his sentencing, the trial court orders the second brother to forfeit (i.e. give back to the government) an amount equal to the total $269,000 in profits \u2013 even though he never saw a dime.<\/p>\n
Should an individual co-conspirator be financially on the hook for everyone\u2019s profits?\u00a0 This important question of criminal law has split the lower appellate circuits and is finally before the United States Supreme Court in the strange-but-true case of Honeycutt v. United States<\/em>, described above.\u00a0 Oral arguments were heard on March 29, 2017.\u00a0 If the Supreme Court sides with the government, individuals who are minor participants in drug, RICO and white collar conspiracies may face forfeiture orders of thousands or millions of dollars.<\/p>\n To date, the majority of the appellate courts have adopted the government\u2019s theory of conspiracy forfeiture.\u00a0 Yet the Supreme Court Justices\u2019 questions on March 29 highlight the potential problems with this approach.\u00a0 Justice Sotomayor pointed out, for example, that the government\u2019s rule could enable a drug kingpin to keep the proceeds of his crime while his co-conspirators pay, which runs afoul of the purpose of the forfeiture laws.<\/p>\n White collar attorneys and their clients would do well to keep an eye on Honeycutt<\/em>.\u00a0 A defense win could signal a sweeping \u2013 and positive \u2013 change in criminal forfeiture law, while taking away one of the government\u2019s strongest bargaining chips used to pressure conspiracy defendants into an untimely plea deal.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Honeycutt brothers run an operation selling iodine to methamphetamine dealers.\u00a0 One brother makes $269,000 in total profits.\u00a0 The other brother gets paid a weekly salary, but otherwise takes home nothing.\u00a0 They are both charged in a drug conspiracy.\u00a0 The first brother reaches a plea deal with the government, and as a result gets to … <\/p>\n