Where an employee was charged with fraudulently obtaining hydrocodone in 2011 through her position at a solo dental practice, the employee’s history of ordering drugs for the practice since 2002 was admissible to show the employee’s pattern of conduct and ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge G. Steven Agee

A defendant who made furtive actions regarding a firearm, while running from a law enforcement officer, triggered a sentencing enhancement because his conduct could have resulted in injury to him or another person. Background A grand jury indicted Kevin Lee ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge G. Steven Agee

In an issue of first impression, the court held that a defendant who persuaded a jury in a civil False Claims Act case that he did not defraud the government could not use that success as a shield against criminal ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge G. Steven Agee

A defendant who sent gift cards to an undercover agent he believed was a member of ISIS was guilty of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization where his collection of Nazi paraphernalia suggested a predisposition to ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge G. Steven Agee

Defense attorneys who represented a man sentenced to death for kidnapping and murder failed to investigate signs of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome in the case; their admission that they did not provide this potentially mitigating evidence prompts a new trial. Background ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge G. Steven Agee

A man born in El Salvador failed to establish that gangs harassed him on account of his father’s disabilities. At most, the record showed the gangs threatened him because he would not join their ranks. However, flight from gang recruitment ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Immigration Judge G. Steven Agee

The district court properly dismissed a suit brought by nursing homes on behalf of individual residents challenging Medicaid decisions made by Maryland state agencies because the relief they sought was barred by the Eleventh Amendment. Background Several nursing homes, on ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Administrative Judge G. Steven Agee

Because an employer did not abandon its claim that a former employee breached his employment agreement by retaining company property after resignation, the district court erred in dismissing the claim. And because the employer took steps to maintain the secrecy ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Employment Judge G. Steven Agee

The Bankruptcy Code is clear that when a Chapter 13 plan is not confirmed, the trustee must return post-petition payments to the debtor. As a result, the child support division could not levy on funds held by the trustee because ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Bankruptcy Judge G. Steven Agee

After a trip to his native U.K., a lawful permanent resident in the U.S. was denied admission upon his return, based on a seven-year-old conviction for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance. His removal order was ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Administrative Immigration Judge G. Steven Agee