Opinion
No. 05 CR 254.
August 24, 2007
MEMORANDUM ORDER
This Court's August 16, 2007 memorandum opinion and order ("Opinion") resolved the issues as to forfeiture that the parties had addressed to this Court, rather than to the criminal jury, for decision. In part the Opinion denied the government's effort to obtain a money forfeiture in addition to the forfeiture of the auto dealerships that were in the RICO enterprise that the jury had found to exist, such denial being occasioned by a failure of proof on the part of the government.
Even in the absence of forfeiture, of course, the potential exists for the imposition of a substantial fine as well as a custodial sentence against each defendant. In that respect each defendant's presentence investigation report ("PSI") — as to Hosseini his PSI lines 752-877, and as to Obaei his PSI lines 766-864 — provides information as to his net worth, but the full understanding necessary for an informed judgment as to the possible imposition of a fine against each defendant requires further information to ascertain how much of that net worth has stemmed from the activity that led to the defendant's conviction in this case.
Accordingly this Court and government counsel should be provided promptly with copies of each defendant's income tax returns for the years 2000 to date. Relatedly, all parties' counsel should come to the sentencing hearing prepared to discuss the questions of the propriety and amount of any fine (and to the extent that any party intends to rely on financial information other than the income tax returns, copies should of course be provided to opposing counsel and this Court in advance of the sentencing date).
Although Count One charges a RICO conspiracy beginning in 1995, it seems to this Court that the lesser time frame specified in the text should be sufficiently informative.