Samir Cabrera

I wish my former client good luck on his motion.  I'm glad Samir and I convinced the jury that they should not convict him of "scheme to defraud of money" because that is his key to being a free man. This is the recent article from the News-Press:

Judge weighs merits of new Cabrera trial

Samir Cabrera will spend more time in limbo as he waits for a federal judge to determine whether he can be retried on charges of wire fraud and money laundering.

U.S. District Judge John Steele listened for about 90 minutes Friday as attorneys argued whether a new trial would be double jeopardy or whether the jury's verdict form was ambiguous and leaves open possibility for a new trial. Steele said he would provide a decision as soon as he can.

Cabrera refused to answer questions after the hearing and sat attentively listening to arguments.

Cabrera was convicted in January 2009 of six counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering after he orchestrated two failed Fiddlesticks Boulevard land deals in 2006 that cost investors $2.8 million. Cabrera sold parcels of land from one company he controlled to another he controlled, for personal profit.

His wire fraud convictions rested on the theory he defrauded investors of his honest services, a vague law that has been challenged in recent years. Last June, the U.S. Supreme Court decided honest services fraud would apply only to people who took bribes or kickbacks and federal prosecutors conceded Cabrera's convictions couldn't stand. So, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in March vacated Cabrera's convictions.

He's been out of custody and working in Miami for months.

On Friday, the government asked Steele - whom the appellate court instructed to review the case -to allow prosecutors to retry Cabrera on the theory he defrauded investors of money. On the verdict form, Cabrera's jury marked he was guilty of the wire fraud for defrauding investors of honest services, but they left blank the spot for defrauding investors of money.

The defense believes that is the equivalent of an acquittal; the government believes no one knows what it means.

Steele on Friday asked questions of Assistant U.S. Attorney Judy Hunt after she argued the judge's instruction to jurors was inadequate and the verdict form didn't allow jurors to voice whether they were deadlocked or found Cabrera not guilty of defrauding investors of money.