In the Courts

In a Matter of First Impression, the First Circuit Holds that Attorneys Who Represented a Convicted Money Launderer Could Not Be Required to Forfeit Their Fees, Paid in Advance of Forfeiture, to the Government

In United States v. Saccoccia, Nos. 01-2160, 01-2170, 01-2393, 2003 WL 22075696 (1st Cir. Sept. 8, 2003), attorneys who represented Stephen A. Saccoccia, a convicted drug dealer and money launderer, appealed a district court order directing that they forfeit some of their fees to the government. The grand jury returned an indictment against Saccoccia in November 1991, charging him with one count of conspiracy under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, 18 U.S.C. ' 1963(d) (RICO), along with several counts of laundering proceeds from an illegal drug trafficking operation. The government sought the forfeiture of all business and personal property directly or indirectly derived from Saccoccia's racketeering activities including almost $137,000,000 in currency, and, in the alternative, sought the surrender of all non-tainted property of equivalent value should Saccoccia's tainted property have become unavailable. The district court promptly enjoined the transfer of the forfeitable property designated in the indictment.