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Federal Jury News

06 Jul 2018

Sinovel Fined for AMSC Trade Secret Theft

File Image (CREDIT: AdobeStock / © JJAVA)

A U.S. judge ordered Sinovel Wind Group Co Ltd, a Chinese wind turbine maker, to pay a $1.5 million fine after the company was convicted and charged for stealing trade secrets from Massachusetts-based AMSC. U.S. District Judge James Peterson in Madison, Wisconsin, also sentenced Sinovel to one year of probation, during which it must pay the unpaid balance of a $57.5 million settlement it reached with AMSC. The U.S. Justice Department said Sinovel has already paid AMSC, formerly known as American Superconductor Inc…

22 Jun 2018

Schlumberger Wins in US Supreme Court on Patent Damages

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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday that companies can recover profits lost because of the unauthorized use of their patented technology abroad in a victory for Schlumberger NV, the world's largest oilfield services provider.The 7-2 decision overturned a lower court's ruling that had enforced limits on applying U.S. patent law overseas and reduced by $93.4 million the damages sum that rival ION Geophysical Corp had to pay for infringing Schlumberger technology that helps find oil and gas beneath the ocean floor.

08 Dec 2016

Ship Engineers Receive Prison Sentences for Pollution Crimes

Cassius Samson, 52, and Rustico Ignacio, 66, both of the Philippines, were sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Malcolm Howard for the Eastern District of North Carolina to serve jail time for obstructing a U.S. Coast Guard inspection that took place in July 2015 aboard the cargo ship Ocean Hope at the Port of Wilmington, North Carolina. Samson was sentenced to a term of 12 months in prison followed by a year of supervised release and Ignacio to a term of nine months followed by a year of supervised release. Ignacio was the chief engineer and Samson the second engineer of the Ocean Hope. In September 2016, both were convicted of conspiracy, violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, obstruction of justice and witness tampering, by a federal jury in Greenville, North Carolina.

11 Nov 2015

DSD Shipping Convicted of Environmental Crimes

A federal jury in Mobile, Alabama, has convicted Det Stavangerske Dampskibsselskab AS (DSD Shipping) and three employees with obstructing justice, violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS), witness tampering and conspiracy, announced Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and U.S. Attorney Kenyen R. Brown of the Southern District of Alabama. DSD Shipping is a Norwegian-based shipping company that operates crude oil tankers, including the M/T Stavanger Blossom. Also convicted at trial were three senior engineering officers, Bo Gao, Xiaobing Chen and Xin Zhong, employed by DSD Shipping to work aboard the vessel. A fourth employee, Daniel Paul Dancu, pleaded guilty in October.

30 Jun 2015

Ex-BP Engineer Deserves New Gulf Spill Trial -US Appeals Court

Photo: NOAA

A former BP Plc engineer deserves a new trial on an obstruction of justice charge related to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans agreed with a lower court judge's decision last June to throw out the defendant Kurt Mix's December 2013 conviction. U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval acted after learning that the jury forewoman admitted to having heard in a courthouse elevator that other BP employees were being prosecuted over the spill…

05 Jun 2015

Jury Weighing Question of Whether BP Exec Lied About 2010 Oil Spill

A U.S. federal jury has begun its deliberations on whether a former BP Plc  executive lied about how much oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico following the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig in April 2010. Prosecutors and a lawyer for defendant David Rainey made their closing arguments to the jury on Friday morning in a case brought by the government over statements Rainey made to agents from the FBI and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) nearly a year after the spill. Rainey, BP's former vice president of exploration in the Gulf, faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison if found guilty of willfully making a fraudulent statement to federal law enforcement agents. The April 20, 2010, explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig led to 11 deaths and the largest U.S.

18 Dec 2014

Bulker Chief Engineer Convicted of Environmental Crimes

A chief engineer from the M/V Trident Navigator was convicted by a federal jury in New Orleans late yesterday after a week-long trial, of knowingly falsifying the vessel’s oil record book in violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS), obstruction of justice and witness tampering, announced the Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Matthaios Fafalios, 64, a resident of Greece…

16 Dec 2014

US Jury Rules in Favor of Apache Corp.

Apache Corp was not in breach of contract in a lawsuit brought by Houston-based oil and gas producer W&T Offshore Inc in 2011, a federal jury found on Monday, according to a court filing. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas has accepted the jury verdict and W&T can file any post-verdict motions by Jan. W&T filed a claim against Apache in 2011, accusing the energy company of breaking the terms of a processing contract and inaccurately recording how much processed oil W&T was owed. Apache on Monday also filed a $31.5 million counter lawsuit, accusing W&T Offshore of breaching the parties' joint operating agreement by refusing to pay its 49 percent share of plugging and abandonment costs for three offshore wells in the Gulf of Mexico.

13 May 2014

Life Sentence for Killer of Coast Guard Officer

A Mexican man convicted in the 2012 killing of a U.S. Coast Guard officer, the first on-duty death since 1927, was sentenced on Monday to life in federal prison without the possibility of parole, a newspaper reported. A federal jury had convicted 42-year-old Jose Meija-Leyva, of Ensenada, of second-degree murder, among other charges, in the death of Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne III, the U.S. Attorney's office said in February. "The defendant had a choice to simply flee and attempt to evade capture, but chose to aggressively attempt to disable the Coast Guard small boat before making his getaway," prosecutors argued, according to the Los Angeles Times newspaper.

03 Mar 2014

Smugglers Found Guilty in Death of Coastguardsmen

The U.S. Coast Guard released Friday the Final Action Memorandum of an administrative investigation into the death of Senior Chief Terrell Horne, III during a law enforcement mission on December 2, 2012. Senior Chief Horne was killed when the Coast Guard Cutter Halibut’s small boat was rammed by a fleeing panga-type vessel suspected of conducting illicit smuggling near Santa Cruz, Calif. According to the Final Action Memorandum, Senior Chief Horne’s death was caused by the deliberate actions of the panga operator. The memorandum also states that all Coast Guard units and crews involved in this incident properly followed all applicable policies, tactics, techniques and procedures.

19 Dec 2013

Former BP Engineer Convicted for Obstruction of Justice

Kurt Mix (Photo: Jonathan Bachman/AP)

Kurt Mix, a former engineer for BP plc, was convicted today of intentionally destroying evidence requested by federal criminal authorities investigating the April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon disaster. Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Anderson of the FBI’s New Orleans Division made the announcement after the verdict was announced by U.S. District Judge Stanwood R. Duval Jr. Mix, 52…

19 Nov 2013

Somali Pirates Sentenced for the Murder of Four Americans

Somali nationals Ahmed Muse Salad, a/k/a “Afmagalo,” 27, Abukar Osman Beyle, 33, and Shani Nurani Shiekh Abrar, 31, who were previously found guilty of piracy, murder within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, violence against maritime navigation, conspiracy to commit violence against maritime navigation resulting in death, kidnapping resulting in death, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, hostage taking resulting in death, conspiracy to commit hostage taking resulting in death and multiple firearms offenses, were sentenced this week. Salad, Beyle and Abrar were all sentenced to 21 life sentences, 19 consecutive life sentences and two concurrent life sentences…

22 Aug 2013

Former Navy Sailor Convicted of Attempted Espionage

Robert Patrick Hoffman, II, 40, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, has been convicted by a federal jury of attempting to provide classified information to individuals whom he believed to be representatives of the Russian Federation. Hoffman faces a maximum penalty of life in prison when he is sentenced on December 2, 2013. He was indicted on May 8, 2013, in a one-count superseding indictment charging him with attempted espionage. According to court records and the evidence at trial, Hoffman is a U.S. citizen born in Buffalo, New York, who served for 20 years in the U.S. Navy until his retirement on November 1, 2011. While serving in the navy…

07 Aug 2013

Life in Prison for Somali Pirates who Murdered Four Americans

Somali nationals Ahmed Muse Salad, a/k/a “Afmagalo,” 25, Abukar Osman Beyle, 20, and Shani Nurani Shiekh Abrar, 29, who were previously found guilty by jury of all 26 counts charged to include piracy, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, hostage taking resulting in death, kidnapping resulting in death and multiple firearms offenses, were sentenced today by a federal jury. The three defendants were sentenced to life-in-prison for their roles in the February 22, 2011 murder of four Americans aboard the sailing vessel Quest.

31 Jan 2013

DOJ: Former Liner President Guilty in Price-Fixing Conspiracy

Former Executive Convicted for Role in Price-Fixing Conspiracy Involving Coastal Freight Services Between the Continental United States and Puerto Rico. Following a two-week trial, a federal jury in Puerto Rico today convicted a former executive of a Florida-based coastal water freight transportation company for his participation in a conspiracy to fix rates and surcharges for water transportation of freight between the continental United States and Puerto Rico, the Department of Justice announced. Frank Peake, the former president of Sea Star Line LLC, was found guilty today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico…

29 May 2012

Ship Surveyor Guilty in Ship Safety Case

Miami Man Convicted for Obstruction of Justice and False Statements for Certifying Ships Safe for Sea. A federal jury in Miami yesterday convicted a Miami-based ship surveyor for lying to the Coast Guard and for falsely certifying the safety of ships at sea, announced Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division at the Department of Justice; Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Rear Admiral William D. Baumgartner, Commander, 7th Coast Guard District; and Jonathan Sall, Special Agent in Charge, U.S.

30 Nov 2010

Somalis Convicted of Piracy against USS Nicholas

A federal jury in Norfolk, Va., has convicted five men from Somalia of engaging in piracy and related offenses in their attack on the USS Nicholas, marking what is believed to be the first piracy trial conviction in the United States since 1820. Neil H. MacBride, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Janice K. Fedarcyk, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's New York Field Office; Alex J. Turner, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Norfolk Field Office; and Mark Russ, Special Agent in Charge of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) in Norfolk, made the announcement after the verdict was accepted by United States District Judge Mark S. Davis. "Today marks the first jury conviction of piracy in more than 190 years," said U.S. Attorney MacBride.

11 May 2004

Merchant Mariner Sentenced

Joseph A. Boevink (51) of Panama City, Fla., was sentenced by United States District Judge Thomas S. Zilly in Seattle to two months in custody, followed by up to 60 days in a halfway house, and two years of supervised release, for falsely claiming that he had never been convicted of a criminal offense on an application for Merchant Mariner license submitted to the U.S. Coast Guard in Seattle in January 2001. The U.S. Coast Guard is required under federal law to issue such licenses, called Merchant Mariner Documents, to individuals employed on large merchant vessels. One of the purposes of the license is to ensure that the U.S. Coast Guard knows who has access to, and is traveling on, merchant vessels that operate within United States waters.

20 Feb 2007

Transocean Reaches Agreement on Patent Infringement Lawsuit

Transocean Inc. announced that it has reached an agreement in its dispute with contract driller GlobalSantaFe over patent infringement of Transocean's offshore dual activity drilling technology. The agreement follows an amended final judgment entered last month by a federal district court against GlobalSantaFe. The judgment awarded damages to Transocean and permanently enjoined GlobalSantaFe from further infringement of the Transocean dual activity patents. On January 19, 2007, Judge Sim Lake of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas entered an amended final judgment against GlobalSantaFe following a jury verdict in Transocean's favor. In August 2006, a federal jury found in favor of Transocean after a trial of approximately two weeks before Judge Lake.

24 Mar 2003

Captain Convicted of Dumping Asbestos

A Federal Jury found Ronald Cook, a Canadian citizen, guilty of illegally dumping trash bags full of asbestos into the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere. He had been hired to lead a crew performing demolition on an old ferry boat, the Muskegan Clipper, as it sailed from San Diego, California, through the Panama Canal to Mobile, Alabama. The ship was eventually to be transformed into a riverboat gambling casino. In order to save time and costs, the crew bagged up the demolition debris, including plastic garbage bags full of asbestos, and threw it overboard into the Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and Carribean Sea at the direction of Cook. Dissenting crew members photographed the others as they threw the asbestos and trash into the sea.