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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Wire fraud & Bank fraud |
Sentence: |
1 year |
Years Imprisoned: |
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Year Crime: |
2011 |
Year Convicted: |
2015 |
Year Cleared: |
2018 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
New York - Federal Case |
County or Region of Crime: |
New York |
City of Crime: |
New York City |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Anthony Conti and Anthony Allen were codefendants wrongly convicted in November 2015 of wire fraud and bank fraud in the Manhattan federal court in New York City. Allen had been Rabobank’s global head of liquidity and finance, and Anthony Conti had been a senior trader at Rabobank. Allen and Conti had been indicted by a federal grand jury on October 16, 2014 based on allegations they participated in a scheme from 2006 to 2011 to manipulate the U.S. dollar and yen Libor rates to benefit Rabobank’s trading positions. Allen and Conti's indictment and their conviction by a jury were based on the testimony of a witness who revised his initial statement after prosecutors exposed him to compelled statements Allen and Conti had made in 2013 to bank regulators in the United Kingdom. The trial judge denied Allen and Conti's pretrial motion in limine to exclude the witnesses testimony,and their post-trial motion for an acquittal or for a new trial. Allen testified in his own defense. After their convictions following a three week trial that began on October 14, 2015, on March 10, 2016 U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff sentenced Allen to two years in prison and Conti to one year in prison. They were permitted to remain free on bail pending the outcome of their appeal. On July 19, 2017 a three judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court for the Second District unanimously reversed the convictions of Allen and Conti based on insufficient evidence (after exclusion of the inadmissible testimony) and ordered dismissal of their indictment. The Court ruled compelled foreign testimony they had provided to UK bank regulators had been used against them in their U.S. prosecution in violation of their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. The prosecution's key witness before the grand jury and during Allen and Conti's jury trial had initially provided a relatively innocuous statement regarding them to investigators. However, he revised his recollection and molded his story to be much more incriminating for them after the prosecutors showed the witness Allen and Conti's compelled foreign statements. The grand jury relied on the witnesses revised testimony to indict Allen and Conti, and the trial jury relied on it to convict them. The government's motion for a rehearing was denied, and on November 9, 2017 their motion for a hearing in en banc was denied. The Circuit Court's ruling reversing Allen and Conti's convictions and dismissal of their indictment became final on April 6, 2018 which was the deadline for the U.S. Attorney's Office to file a writ of certiorari (appeal) with the U.S. Supreme Court." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Trial judge erroneously admitted testimony based on compelled statements by Allen and Conti. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On July 19, 2017 a three judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court for the Second District unanimously reversed the convictions of Allen and Conti based on insufficient evidence (after exclusion of the inadmissible testimony) and ordered dismissal of their indictment. The Court ruled compelled foreign testimony they had provided to UK bank regulators had been used against them in their U.S. prosecution in violation of their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. The prosecution's key witness before the grand jury and during Allen and Conti's jury trial had initially provided a relatively innocuous statement regarding them to investigators. However, he revised his recollection and molded his story to be much more incriminating for them after the prosecutors showed the witness Allen and Conti's compelled foreign statements. The grand jury relied on the witnesses revised testimony to indict Allen and Conti, and the trial jury relied on it to convict them. The government's motion for a rehearing was denied, and on November 9, 2017 their motion for a hearing in en banc was denied. The Circuit Court's ruling reversing Allen and Conti's convictions and dismissal of their indictment became final on April 6, 2018 which was the deadline for the U.S. Attorney's Office to file a writ of certiorari (appeal) with the U.S. Supreme Court." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"United States of America v. Anthony Allen and Anthony Conti, No. 16?898?cr (Lead) 16?939?cr (con) (2nd Cir., 7-19-2017) (Convictions reversed based on the Fifth Amendent Right against Self-Incrimination was violated by the trial judge erroneously allowing testimony by the prosecution's key witness that was based on the witnesses exposure to compelled statement Allen and Conti had made to bank regulators in the United Kingdom.)" |
Information Location 1: |
www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/d2d2dc3c-37fb-477c-a1e4-15fd613dd92e/10/doc/16-898_opn.pdf#xml=http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/d2d2dc3c-37fb-477c-a1e4-15fd613dd92e/10/hilite/ |
Information Source 2: |
"Second Circuit Sends Shivers Down DOJ's Spine: Compelled Foreign Testimony Invalidates Prosecution, By Robert Anello (Staff) and Kostya Lantsman (associate at Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello PC), Forbes.com, July 20, 2017" |
Information Location 2: |
https://www.forbes.com/sites/insider/2017/07/20/second-circuit-sends-shivers-down-dojs-spine-compelled-foreign-testimony-invalidates-prosecution/#31d123d451f0 |
Information Source 3: |
"DOJ Fails To Appeal 2nd Circ.'s Compelled Testimony Ruling, By Jody Godoy, Law360.com, April 10, 2018" |
Information Location 3: |
https://www.law360.com/whitecollar/articles/1006181/doj-fails-to-appeal-2nd-circ-s-compelled-testimony-ruling?nl_pk=47772215-079e-4c53-bff2-f8ab291d2f3e&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=whitecollar&read_more=1 |
Information Source 4: |
"Ex-Rabobank traders get U.S. prison terms for Libor manipulation, By Nate Raymond, Reuters.com, March 10, 2016" |
Information Location 4: |
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-rabobank-libor/ex-rabobank-traders-get-u-s-prison-terms-for-libor-manipulation-idUKKCN0WD0BE |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org