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Host Gregg N. Sofer welcomes Husch Blackwell’s Jonathan Porter back to the podcast to discuss the sentencing of Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX who was convicted in late 2023 on multiple counts. On March 28, Bankman-Fried received a sentence of 25 years in prison. Our discussion explores the Bankman-Fried sentence in light of recent corporate criminal convictions, as well as the federal sentencing guidelines. Gregg and Jonathan also discuss the statutory framework and human elements at play in sentencing determinations.
Unlike most criminal defendants dealing with federal charges, Bankman-Fried did not reach a plea agreement but rather chose to go to trial. Although he lost at trial, Bankman-Fried did preserve his right to an appeal. Gregg and Jonathan explore how the appeal might unfold, given some of the peculiarities of the trial.
Gregg N. Sofer Biography
Full Biography
Gregg counsels businesses and individuals in connection with a range of criminal, civil and regulatory matters, including government investigations, internal investigations, litigation, export control, sanctions, and regulatory compliance. Prior to entering private practice, Gregg served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas—one of the largest and busiest United States Attorney’s Offices in the country—where he supervised more than 300 employees handling a diverse caseload, including matters involving complex white-collar crime, government contract fraud, national security, cyber-crimes, public corruption, money laundering, export violations, trade secrets, tax, large-scale drug and human trafficking, immigration, child exploitation and violent crime.
Jonathan Porter Biography
Full Biography
As a former federal prosecutor with extensive experience in both criminal and civil matters, Jonathan focuses on white collar criminal defense, federal investigations brought under the False Claims Act, and litigation against the government and whistleblowers, with an emphasis on matters within the healthcare industry. At the Department of Justice, Jonathan earned a reputation as a top white-collar prosecutor and trial lawyer, was a key member of multiple international healthcare fraud takedowns and prosecuted a series of high-profile financial crime cases. He teaches white collar crime as an adjunct professor of law at Mercer University School of Law and hosts the False Claims Act Insights podcast.
Additional Resources
The Justice Insiders, Episode 19, “The Sam Bankman-Fried Trial: Defendants Testifying (Poorly), FOMO, and How to Actually Blame Lawyers,” November 15, 2023
U.S. Department of Justice, “Samuel Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years for His Orchestration of Multiple Fraudulent Schemes,” March 28, 2024
U.S. Sentencing Commission, Guidelines Manual 2023
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Host Gregg N. Sofer welcomes Husch Blackwell’s Erik Dullea to the podcast to explore how human error factors into cybersecurity efforts. Most data breaches trace back to some form of human error, and an approach to cybersecurity that doesn’t address the ‘social attack surface’ is likely to be a failing—and expensive—proposition.
Gregg and Erik note the recent cyber incident involving the Securities and Exchange Commission, which occurred mere months after the agency imposed wide-reaching cybersecurity disclosure rules on the public companies it regulates. Aside from being a major embarrassment for the U.S. government, the incident highlights how difficult it is to account for the vulnerabilities in digital networks created by humans, and Gregg and Erik provide some practical considerations for risk professionals, in-house counsel, human resource professionals, and others in their efforts to improve cybersecurity outcomes.
Gregg N. Sofer Biography
Full Biography
Gregg counsels businesses and individuals in connection with a range of criminal, civil and regulatory matters, including government investigations, internal investigations, litigation, export control, sanctions, and regulatory compliance. Prior to entering private practice, Gregg served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas—one of the largest and busiest United States Attorney’s Offices in the country—where he supervised more than 300 employees handling a diverse caseload, including matters involving complex white-collar crime, government contract fraud, national security, cyber-crimes, public corruption, money laundering, export violations, trade secrets, tax, large-scale drug and human trafficking, immigration, child exploitation and violent crime.
Erik Dullea Biography
Full Biography
Erik is a Denver-based partner at Husch Blackwell and heads up the firm’s cybersecurity practice. A retired U.S. Navy Captain, Erik focuses on compliance requirements related to cybersecurity and data privacy, including statutory, regulatory, and consensus-based standards, with an emphasis on critical infrastructure sectors such as aviation, energy, mining, and the Defense Industrial Base (DIB). He represents defense contractors and subcontractors; companies underpinning electrical, healthcare, transportation, and water systems; and other major organizations facing extortion threats from malicious foreign cyber actors. In 2022 and 2023, Erik bolstered his knowledge of cyber threats by returning to public service in a civilian capacity, working in the National Security Agency’s Office of General Counsel as the acting deputy chief of the cybersecurity practice group.
Additional Resources
The Justice Insiders, Episode 17, “Incidents in the Material World: SEC Adopts New Cybersecurity Rules.” September 11, 2023
Steven R. Barrett, Robert J. Joseph, Andrew Spector, Robert Fritsche and Brian Wetzstein. “SEC Heightens Issuers’ Cybersecurity Disclosure Requirements,” August 15, 2023
Erik Dullea and Andrew Spector. “Twelve Planning Tips to Avoid Complications with the SEC’s Cybersecurity Disclosure Rules,” August 2023 Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. “Statement on Unauthorized Access to the SEC’s @SECGov X.com Account.” January 12, 2024
Shapero, Julia. “SEC, Gensler face bipartisan backlash over X account hack.” The Hill, January 18, 2024.
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Host Gregg N. Sofer welcomes Husch Blackwell’s Christopher Budke and Rick Shimon to the podcast to discuss when, why, and how corporate legal departments should turn to external investigators to execute internal investigations.
Not all corporate crises or government inquiries require the expense associated with bringing on external investigators; however, as Gregg, Chris, and Rick note, incomplete or ineffective internal investigations can generate significant legal liability that escalate over time.
The podcast discussion provides practical tips to business and legal department leaders as to how to assess various government requests or demands for information, including the initial scope of the request, the importance of maintaining open channels of communication with the government, and the value of knowing with a high degree of confidence what precisely is being produced pursuant to an investigative request.
Gregg N. Sofer Biography
Full Biography
Gregg counsels businesses and individuals in connection with a range of criminal, civil and regulatory matters, including government investigations, internal investigations, litigation, export control, sanctions, and regulatory compliance. Prior to entering private practice, Gregg served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas—one of the largest and busiest United States Attorney’s Offices in the country—where he supervised more than 300 employees handling a diverse caseload, including matters involving complex white-collar crime, government contract fraud, national security, cyber-crimes, public corruption, money laundering, export violations, trade secrets, tax, large-scale drug and human trafficking, immigration, child exploitation and violent crime.
Christopher Budke Biography
Full Biography
A 30-year veteran of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Chris uses his deep understanding of investigations to assist Husch Blackwell attorneys on a wide range of client representations. His broad base of experience includes complicated multinational, national, and regional criminal investigations with an emphasis in white-collar and financial crime, public corruption, health care fraud, organized crime, money laundering, criminal enterprise investigations and civil rights. Chris is a licensed Certified Fraud Examiner and has passed all parts of the Certified Public Accounting (CPA) examination.
Rick Shimon Biography
Full Biography
With over two decades as a federal agent, Rick has investigated countless criminal, civil and regulatory matters, including violations of export controls, sanctions and regulatory compliance, and has regularly counseled business leaders nationwide concerning U.S. export regulations and internal compliance programs. During his 22 years as a criminal investigator with the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Export Enforcement (OEE), Rick led or supervised dozens of national security-focused investigations involving aircraft, electronics, satellites and other commodities controlled by the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 and International Emergency Economic Powers Act. As a recognized subject matter expert, Rick was regularly asked to conduct training across the nation for agents, lawyers and compliance professionals regarding the complex regulations that govern the export of U.S. goods and technology, as well as the necessary elements of an effective compliance program.
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Host Gregg N. Sofer welcomes Husch Blackwell partner Jonathan Porter to the podcast to discuss the conclusion of one of the most closely watched jury trials in recent memory: the guilty verdict on all counts against Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
Gregg and Jonathan provide a short introduction to the charges against SBF before diving into some of the more interesting elements of the trial and trial strategy, including the use of the advice of counsel defense and the always fraught decision to put a defendant in a criminal trial on the stand to testify. In addition to the many cautionary aspects of the SBF prosecution, the trial also highlighted the role of due diligence and accounting controls in the context of investment fraud, as well as the influence that FOMO—the fear of missing out—exerts on dealmakers and investors alike.
Gregg N. Sofer Biography
Full Biography
Gregg counsels businesses and individuals in connection with a range of criminal, civil and regulatory matters, including government investigations, internal investigations, litigation, export control, sanctions, and regulatory compliance. Prior to entering private practice, Gregg served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas—one of the largest and busiest United States Attorney’s Offices in the country—where he supervised more than 300 employees handling a diverse caseload, including matters involving complex white-collar crime, government contract fraud, national security, cyber-crimes, public corruption, money laundering, export violations, trade secrets, tax, large-scale drug and human trafficking, immigration, child exploitation and violent crime.
Jonathan Porter Biography
Full Biography
As a former federal prosecutor with extensive experience in both criminal and civil matters, Jonathan focuses on white collar criminal defense, federal investigations brought under the False Claims Act, and litigation against the government and whistleblowers, with an emphasis on matters within the healthcare industry. At the Department of Justice, Jonathan earned a reputation as a top white-collar prosecutor and trial lawyer, was a key member of multiple international healthcare fraud takedowns, and prosecuted a series of high-profile financial crime cases. He teaches white collar crime as an adjunct professor of law at Mercer University School of Law.
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Host Gregg N. Sofer welcomes back to the podcast Richard Epstein, Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law at NYU School of Law, to discuss the U.S. Supreme Court’s consideration of Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy, a case that has the potential to vastly alter the way the SEC initiates and adjudicates enforcement proceedings, as well as its ability to choose its own in-house venue for those proceedings.
Gregg N. Sofer Biography
Full Biography
Gregg counsels businesses and individuals in connection with a range of criminal, civil and regulatory matters, including government investigations, internal investigations, litigation, export control, sanctions, and regulatory compliance. Prior to entering private practice, Gregg served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas—one of the largest and busiest United States Attorney’s Offices in the country—where he supervised more than 300 employees handling a diverse caseload, including matters involving complex white-collar crime, government contract fraud, national security, cyber-crimes, public corruption, money laundering, export violations, trade secrets, tax, large-scale drug and human trafficking, immigration, child exploitation and violent crime.
Richard Epstein Biography
Richard A. Epstein is the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law, New York University Law School, a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago, and the Peter and Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution.
Professor Epstein has published work on a broad range of constitutional, economic, historical, and philosophical subjects. He has taught administrative law, antitrust law, communications law, constitutional law, corporation criminal law, employment discrimination law, environmental law, food and drug law, health law, labor law, Roman law, real estate development and finance, and individual and corporate taxation.
Epstein’s most recent book publication is The Dubious Morality of Modern Administrative Law (2020). Other works include The Classical Liberal Constitution: The Uncertain Quest for Limited Government (2014); Design for Liberty: Private Property, Public Administration, and the Rule of Law (2011); The Case against the Employee Free Choice Act (2009); Supreme Neglect: How to Revive the Constitutional Protection for Private Property (2008); How the Progressives Rewrote the Constitution (2006); Overdose (2006); and Free Markets under Siege: Cartels, Politics, and Social Welfare (2005).
He received a BA degree in philosophy summa cum laude from Columbia in 1964; a BA degree in law with first-class honors from Oxford University in 1966; and an LLB degree cum laude, from the Yale Law School in 1968. Upon graduation he joined the faculty at the University of Southern California, where he taught until 1972. In 1972, he visited the University of Chicago and became a regular member of the faculty the following year.
He has been a senior fellow at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics since 1984 and was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1985. In 2011, Epstein was a recipient of the Bradley Prize for outstanding achievement. In 2005, the College of William & Mary School of Law awarded him the Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Prize.
Additional Resources
Jarkesy v. Securities and Exchange Commission, No. 20-61007 (5th Cir. May 18, 2022).
SCOTUSblog, Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy
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Host Gregg N. Sofer welcomes Husch Blackwell partner Erik Dullea to the podcast where we discuss risk management, strategy, governance, and incident disclosure in the context of the Security and Exchange Commission’s recently adopted cybersecurity rules. Adopted on a 3-to-2 party-line vote, the new rules introduce significant new compliance burdens for U.S. businesses, including the disclosure (on Form 8-K Item 1.05) of material cybersecurity incidents—describing their nature, scope, timing, and impact on the financial condition and results of operations—to be filed within four business days of a materiality determination. There is also a new requirement to describe processes for assessing and managing material cybersecurity risks, board oversight, and management expertise in handling such risks.
We will explore the practical matter of how businesses can approach these regulations as well as larger issues pertaining to national security and critical infrastructure.
Gregg N. Sofer Biography
Full Biography
Gregg counsels businesses and individuals in connection with a range of criminal, civil and regulatory matters, including government investigations, internal investigations, litigation, export control, sanctions, and regulatory compliance. Prior to entering private practice, Gregg served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas—one of the largest and busiest United States Attorney’s Offices in the country—where he supervised more than 300 employees handling a diverse caseload, including matters involving complex white-collar crime, government contract fraud, national security, cyber-crimes, public corruption, money laundering, export violations, trade secrets, tax, large-scale drug and human trafficking, immigration, child exploitation and violent crime.
Erik Dullea Biography
Full Biography
Erik is a Denver-based partner at Husch Blackwell who heads up the firm’s cybersecurity practice. Erik left Husch Blackwell in 2022 to take a position at the National Security Agency in its Office of General Counsel, serving as the acting deputy associate general counsel for the NSA’s cybersecurity practice group. He returned to the firm during the summer of 2023. A former officer in the U.S. Navy, Erik focuses on compliance requirements related to cybersecurity and data privacy, including statutory, regulatory, and consensus-based standards, with an emphasis on critical infrastructure sectors such as mining, energy, and aviation and the Defense Industrial Base (DIB). He represents defense contractors and subcontractors; companies underpinning electrical, wastewater, transportation, and smart city systems; and other major organizations facing extortion threats from malicious foreign cyber actors.
Additional Resources
Steven R. Barrett, Robert J. Joseph, Andrew Spector, Robert Fritsche and Brian Wetzstein. “SEC Heightens Issuers’ Cybersecurity Disclosure Requirements,” August 15, 2023
Erik Dullea and Andrew Spector. “Twelve Planning Tips to Avoid Complications with the SEC’s Cybersecurity Disclosure Rules,” August 2023 Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
Securities and Exchange Commission. “SEC Adopts Rules on Cybersecurity Risk Management, Strategy, Governance, and Incident Disclosure by Public Companies,” July 26, 2023
Hester M. Peirce. “Harming Investors and Helping Hackers: Statement on Cybersecurity Risk Management, Strategy, Governance, and Incident Disclosure,” July 26, 2023
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Host Gregg N. Sofer welcomes Husch Blackwell partner Cormac Connor to the program to discuss the First Circuit’s reversals of the criminal convictions previously handed down in connection with two parents’ involvement in the so-called Varsity Blues scandal. Operation Varsity Blues was a joint investigation led by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts into a web of bribery and fraud directed toward college admissions. The investigation was huge, spanning multiple states and involving dozens of individuals, including college coaches, testing administrators, and of course, parents, some of whom were high-profile celebrities and business executives.
Of all the parents charged, only two chose to fight the government at trial and through to appeal, and their position was vindicated by the First Circuit. We will explore the strategy pursued by the government and how it unraveled before the appellate court, as well as some the finer points of conspiracy law featured in the case.
Gregg N. Sofer Biography
Full Biography
Gregg counsels businesses and individuals in connection with a range of criminal, civil and regulatory matters, including government investigations, internal investigations, litigation, export control, sanctions, trade secrets and regulatory compliance. Prior to entering private practice, Gregg served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas—one of the largest and busiest United States Attorney’s Offices in the country—where he supervised more than 300 employees handling a diverse caseload, including matters involving complex white-collar crime, contract fraud, national security, cyber-crimes, public corruption, money laundering, export violations, trade secrets, tax, large-scale drug and human trafficking, immigration, child exploitation and violent crime.
Cormac Connor Biography
Full Biography
A partner with Husch Blackwell based in Washington, D.C., Cormac has two decades of experience with high-stakes litigation and investigations, both as a prosecutor and as defense counsel. He has advised dozens of clients facing criminal and civil investigations involving all manner of federal criminal investigations, False Claims Act allegations, antitrust allegations, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act claims. Cormac regularly assists clients with responses to formal and informal investigative inquiries, including Grand Jury subpoenas, Office of Inspector General subpoenas, civil investigative demands, and 28 U.S.C. § 1782 subpoenas. Between his stints in private practice, Cormac was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for nearly four years in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, serving as lead prosecutor in 24 criminal trials, investigating hundreds of criminal cases, managing Grand Jury investigations, and coordinating investigative activities by law enforcement personnel.
Additional Resources
Connor, Cormac. “‘Varsity Blues’ Reversal Demonstrates Limitations of Conspiracy Allegations.” May 19, 2023.
U.S. v. Wilson, case number 22-1138, and U.S. v. Abdelaziz, case number 22-1129, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U.S. 750 (1946).
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Host Gregg N. Sofer welcomes back to the podcast Husch Blackwell partner Cortney Morgan to explore how the ongoing conflict in Ukraine has impacted U.S. international trade law. Cortney last joined the podcast in March 2022, and will update listeners on how U.S. policy responses have evolved over the course of the past year and how those policies have affected U.S. businesses, both on the import and export side.
Gregg N. Sofer Biography
Gregg counsels businesses and individuals in connection with a range of criminal, civil and regulatory matters, including government investigations, internal investigations, litigation, export control, sanctions, trade secrets and regulatory compliance. Prior to entering private practice, Gregg served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas—one of the largest and busiest United States Attorney’s Offices in the country—where he supervised more than 300 employees handling a diverse caseload, including matters involving complex white-collar crime, contract fraud, national security, cyber-crimes, public corruption, money laundering, export violations, trade secrets, tax, large-scale drug and human trafficking, immigration, child exploitation and violent crime.
Cortney Morgan Biography
Based in Washington, D.C. office of Husch Blackwell, Cortney focuses her law practice on the production, sourcing, and movement of goods, services, and technology across international borders. She advises foreign and domestic companies on all aspects of international trade, including regulatory compliance, supply chain efficiencies, investigations, and enforcement. She leads the firm’s International Trade and Supply Chain practice and is a member of the firm's Governance and Nominating Committee.
Additional Resources
Check out our International Trade and Supply Chain team’s blog, International Trade Insights, that features regular updates on the latest changes in trade and supply chain law, regulation, and best practices, as well as insights related to compliance, international agreements, and other trade-related topics. The blog also features a content library dedicated to the sanctions resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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Host Gregg N. Sofer is joined by Husch Blackwell senior associate Rebecca Furdek to discuss the recently concluded Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement action concerning McDonald’s and its former CEO Stephen Easterbrook. In November 2019 McDonald’s fired Easterbrook “without cause,” entitling Easterbrook to a large package of compensation. Later, after a second internal investigation uncovered additional indiscretions and falsehoods, McDonald’s sued Easterbrook to claw back $100 million-plus in compensation.
Enter the SEC: it commenced its own investigation, culminating in an order finding that Easterbrook violated the anti-fraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and that McDonald’s violated Section 14(a) of the Exchange Act and Exchange Act Rule 14a-3 because it “failed to disclose that the company exercised discretion in treating Easterbrook’s termination as without cause in conjunction with the execution of a separation agreement valued at more than $40 million.”
The order breaks new ground for the SEC in its claims that McDonald’s use of discretion regarding Easterbrook’s termination was a “material element of CEO compensation,” as Mark Cave, Associate Director of the Division of Enforcement later termed it. Gregg and Rebecca discuss the implications of the SEC order, as well as the substance of the strident dissent entered by two of the Commission’s commissioners.
Gregg N. Sofer Biography
Gregg counsels businesses and individuals in connection with a range of criminal, civil and regulatory matters, including government investigations, internal investigations, litigation, export control, sanctions, trade secrets and regulatory compliance. Prior to entering private practice, Gregg served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas—one of the largest and busiest United States Attorney’s Offices in the country—where he supervised more than 300 employees handling a diverse caseload, including matters involving complex white-collar crime, contract fraud, national security, cyber crimes, public corruption, money laundering, export violations, trade secrets, tax, large-scale drug and human trafficking, immigration, child exploitation and violent crime.
Rebecca Furdek Biography
A senior associate in Husch Blackwell’s Milwaukee office, Rebecca is a member of the firm’s White Collar, Internal Investigations & Compliance team and regularly helps clients navigate today’s regulatory and government enforcement landscape. Before joining Husch, Rebecca served as Counsel to the Solicitor at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), where she gained firsthand insight into federal agency rulemaking and administrative enforcement. Prior to her government service, Rebecca worked as an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of a global law firm, focusing on litigation and government enforcement, and began her legal career as a judicial law clerk at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. During law school, she served as a law clerk with the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.
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Host Gregg N. Sofer is joined by Salvador Hernandez, former senior FBI official and private-sector compliance officer and current senior compliance and ethics advisor at Husch Blackwell, to discuss the recent U.S. Department of Justice settlement involving Danske Bank A/S. The settlement resolved a DOJ investigation concerning instances of bank fraud that allowed Danske Bank to move billions of dollars through the U.S. financial system from high-risk accounts for non-resident customers of the bank’s Estonia-based branch. Danske Bank also settled charges brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a parallel proceeding for violations of U.S. securities laws.
As part of the settlement, Danske Bank pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and agreed to forfeit $2.06 billion. In a notable development, the settlement also involved a first-of-its-kind provision whereby Danske Bank agreed to “implement evaluation criteria related to compliance in its executive review and bonus system so that each Bank executive is evaluated on what the executive has done to ensure that the executive’s business or department is in compliance with the Compliance Programs and applicable laws and regulations.”
Our discussion will explore how the Danske Bank settlement breaks new ground by targeting executive compensation in the context of compliance program failures.
Gregg N. Sofer Biography
Gregg counsels businesses and individuals in connection with a range of criminal, civil and regulatory matters, including government investigations, internal investigations, litigation, export control, sanctions, trade secrets and regulatory compliance. Prior to entering private practice, Gregg served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas—one of the largest and busiest United States Attorney’s Offices in the country—where he supervised more than 300 employees handling a diverse caseload, including matters involving complex white-collar crime, contract fraud, national security, cyber crimes, public corruption, money laundering, export violations, trade secrets, tax, large-scale drug and human trafficking, immigration, child exploitation and violent crime.
Salvador Hernandez Biography
Sal collaborates closely with attorney teams and clients to strategize at all stages of investigative and compliance program work. He has experience building compliance structures for clients and is equally adept at program review, risk assessment, crisis response and mitigation.
Prior to coming to Husch Blackwell, Sal spent 25 years at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, where he rose through the ranks, via numerous assignments, from Special Agent to executive-level positions at FBI Headquarters in Washington, DC, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, and the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. At FBI Headquarters, as Deputy Assistant Director in the Criminal Investigative Division, he had oversight responsibility for the FBI’s Financial Crimes and Public Corruption Programs. In Los Angeles, he held the title of Assistant Director and served as the office’s chief executive, with responsibility for the work of more than 1,300 FBI employees charged with carrying out the FBI’s criminal, counterterrorism and national foreign-intelligence responsibilities in Southern California. Sal followed his FBI career with a career in the private sector where, first as Security Director, and then as Vice President of Compliance and Ethics, he expanded the security and investigations programs and established and led the legal and regulatory compliance efforts at Enterprise Holdings, Inc., the world’s largest vehicle rental, leasing, and sales company.
Additional Resources
U.S. Department of Justice, press release, “Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco Delivers Remarks on Corporate Criminal Enforcement,” September 15, 2022
U.S. Department of Justice, press release, “Danske Bank Pleads Guilty to Fraud on U.S. Banks in Multi-Billion Dollar Scheme to Access the U.S. Financial System,” December 13, 2022
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, press release, “SEC Charges Danske Bank with Fraud for Misleading Investors about Its Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Failures in Estonia,” December 13, 2022
Wall Street Journal, “Danske Bank to Pay $2 Billion to Resolve Estonia Money-Laundering Probes,” December 13, 2022
Reuters, “Danske Bank pleads guilty to resolve long-running Estonia money-laundering probe,” December 13, 2022
Danske Bank, Company Announcement No. 18/2022, “Danske Bank reaches coordinated resolutions with the US and Danish authorities regarding the Estonia matter,” December 13, 2022
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Host Gregg N. Sofer is joined by Jay Town, former U.S. Attorney and current Vice President and General Counsel at Gray Analytics, and Husch Blackwell partner Jeff Jensen to discuss the recent criminal prosecution of former Uber Chief Security Officer Joe Sullivan. They explore some of the fascinating tactics employed by the government and discuss the implications of the prosecution on the future of cybersecurity regulatory compliance. The discussion ends with some practical considerations for corporate officers and risk professionals responding to cybersecurity incidents and covers how to develop meaningful compliance programs in light of the government’s escalating vigilance across multiple state and federal agencies.
Gregg N. Sofer Biography
Gregg counsels businesses and individuals in connection with a range of criminal, civil and regulatory matters, including government investigations, internal investigations, litigation, export control, sanctions, trade secrets and regulatory compliance. Prior to entering private practice, Gregg served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas—one of the largest and busiest United States Attorney’s Offices in the country—where he supervised more than 300 employees handling a diverse caseload, including matters involving complex white-collar crime, contract fraud, national security, cyber crimes, public corruption, money laundering, export violations, trade secrets, tax, large-scale drug and human trafficking, immigration, child exploitation and violent crime. To read more about Gregg, check out his bio on the Husch Blackwell website.
Jeff Jensen Biography
Jeff is one of the few attorneys in the country with the distinction of serving as a special agent for the FBI, a federal prosecutor, a lawyer in private practice with a large law firm, and U.S. Attorney. To read more about Jeff, check out his bio on the Husch Blackwell website.
Jay Town Biography
Jay E. Town is the Vice President and General Counsel at Gray Analytics, an aerospace and military defense contractor company located in Huntsville, Alabama. Jay plays a large role in leading executive management efforts around supply chain security, cybersecurity, ransomware attack solutions, internal investigations, decree and governance monitoring, digital forensics, and business development. He also provides legal advice and execution related to myriad facets of all Gray Analytics’ service platforms.
Prior to his current position, Jay served as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, where he oversaw the largest increase in federal prosecutions in the history of his district. He also served in the Marine Corps for 12 years, where he was a judge advocate and attained the rank of Major prior to his honorable discharge in 2008.
Jay was also an accomplished prosecutor in the Madison County District Attorney’s Office from 2005, when he moved to Huntsville, until his confirmation as U.S. Attorney. He left the District Attorney’s Office as a senior prosecutor handling a full catalogue of crimes, including capital murder, murder, robbery and burglary.
Check out more on Jay’s career by visiting his Wikipedia biography page.
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Host Gregg N. Sofer is joined by two special guests: a former federal prosecutor and a person sentenced to federal prison as a result of one of his mortgage fraud investigations. Today’s episode, the last in a three-part series, continues our interview that provides a rare, one-of-a-kind look into both sides of a white collar prosecution. This unique, dual-perspective interview follows the timeline of the case, gathering insight from the government's point of view as well as the perspectives of one of the investigation’s targets.
In this final installment, we explore the aftermath of the investigation and how the experience impacted the target’s life and that of her family, as well her post-incarceration career as a speaker, coach and consultant on professional ethics and building corporate cultures that embrace integrity, authenticity and accountability.
Joe Capone Biography
Joe is an accomplished trial lawyer and former federal prosecutor who spent over two decades working at various posts at Main Justice and in two U.S. Attorney’s Offices, and an additional eight years at the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Office of Inspector General. After a brief stint as Assistant Chief Counsel at the Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, Joe retired at the end of 2019. During his career, Joe handled nearly every type of federal crime—from criminal antitrust conspiracies to guns, drugs, robberies, wildlife and fisheries, corruption, money laundering, and all types of fraud.
Joe has taught trial advocacy to attorneys in government and private practice, coached trial competition teams at Georgetown, Tulane, and Loyola Law Schools, and has taught at FBI- and State Department-sponsored training conferences on money laundering and public corruption in Brazil and Moldova.
Rashmi Airan Biography
A graduate of Columbia Law School, Rashmi is a “recovering lawyer and investment banker” who was prosecuted for mortgage fraud and served six months in federal prison. Since her release, Rashmi has dedicated herself to using her life experience to provide ethical insights to others, mining her vast legal, business, and community expertise to tell a powerful story of healing, humility, redemption and transformation. Currently, Rashmi is a corporate and motivational speaker who frequently addresses a variety of organizations in connection with accountability, leadership, decision-making and professional ethics.
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Host Gregg N. Sofer is joined by two special guests: a former federal prosecutor and a person sentenced to federal prison as a result of one of his mortgage fraud investigations. Today’s episode, the second in a three-part series, continues our interview that provides a rare, one-of-a-kind look into both sides of a white collar prosecution. This unique, dual-perspective interview follows the timeline of the case, gathering insight from the government's point of view as well as the perspectives of one of the investigation’s targets.
In this second installment, we take a look at the indictment and the events that transpired leading to a guilty plea and incarceration.
Joe Capone Biography
Joe is an accomplished trial lawyer and former federal prosecutor who spent over two decades working at various posts at Main Justice and in two U.S. Attorney’s Offices, and an additional eight years at the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Office of Inspector General. After a brief stint as Assistant Chief Counsel at the Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, Joe retired at the end of 2019. During his career, Joe handled nearly every type of federal crime—from criminal antitrust conspiracies to guns, drugs, robberies, wildlife and fisheries, corruption, money laundering, and all types of fraud.
Joe has taught trial advocacy to attorneys in government and private practice, coached trial competition teams at Georgetown, Tulane, and Loyola Law Schools, and has taught at FBI- and State Department-sponsored training conferences on money laundering and public corruption in Brazil and Moldova.
Rashmi Airan Biography
A graduate of Columbia Law School, Rashmi is a “recovering lawyer and investment banker” who was prosecuted for mortgage fraud and served six months in federal prison. Since her release, Rashmi has dedicated herself to using her life experience to provide ethical insights to others, mining her vast legal, business, and community expertise to tell a powerful story of healing, humility, redemption and transformation. Currently, Rashmi is a corporate and motivational speaker who frequently addresses a variety of organizations in connection with accountability, leadership, decision-making and professional ethics.
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Host Gregg N. Sofer is joined by two special guests: a former federal prosecutor and a person sentenced to federal prison as a result of one of his mortgage fraud investigations. Today’s episode kicks off a three-part series titled “Crime & Punishment” that provides a rare, one-of-a-kind look into both sides of a white collar prosecution. This unique, dual-perspective interview follows the timeline of the case, gathering insight from the government's point of view as well as the perspectives of one of the investigation’s targets.
In this first installment, we cover the early stages of the investigation and surface issues related to how investigations and/or prosecutions unfold, as well as red flags that can signal to both prosecutor and prosecuted that something is amiss.
Joe Capone Biography
Joe is an accomplished trial lawyer and former federal prosecutor who spent over two decades working at various posts at Main Justice and in two U.S. Attorney’s Offices, and an additional eight years at the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Office of Inspector General. After a brief stint as Assistant Chief Counsel at the Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, Joe retired at the end of 2019. During his career, Joe handled nearly every type of federal crime—from criminal antitrust conspiracies to guns, drugs, robberies, wildlife and fisheries, corruption, money laundering, and all types of fraud.
Joe has taught trial advocacy to attorneys in government and private practice, coached trial competition teams at Georgetown, Tulane, and Loyola Law Schools, and has taught at FBI- and State Department-sponsored training conferences on money laundering and public corruption in Brazil and Moldova.
Rashmi Airan Biography
A graduate of Columbia Law School, Rashmi is a “recovering lawyer and investment banker” who was prosecuted for mortgage fraud and served six months in federal prison. Since her release, Rashmi has dedicated herself to using her life experience to provide ethical insights to others, mining her vast legal, business, and community expertise to tell a powerful story of healing, humility, redemption and transformation. Currently, Rashmi is a corporate and motivational speaker who frequently addresses a variety of organizations in connection with accountability, leadership, decision-making and professional ethics.
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Host Gregg Sofer is joined by Jeff Jensen and Patrick Coffey, attorneys in Husch Blackwell’s White Collar, Internal Investigations & Compliance group, to discuss U.S. v. Chierchio et al., a federal criminal case involving the ‘Lottery Lawyer,’ a lawyer who styled himself as the lawyer of choice for winners of large lottery prizes but who has been charged with multiple crimes in connection with his legal representation and handling of client funds. We discuss the many layers of fraud alleged in the case, as well as the need to pay attention to certain red flags that are frequently present in the fraud context, especially when transacting business with unfamiliar people and organizations—something that is far more common today as companies scramble to overcome supply-chain disruptions.
Jeff Jensen Biography
Jeff is one of the few attorneys in the country with the distinction of serving as a special agent for the FBI, a federal prosecutor, a lawyer in private practice with a large law firm, and U.S. Attorney. To read more about Jeff, check out his bio on the Husch Blackwell website.
Patrick Coffey Biography
Pat has more than 30 years of experience successfully representing corporations, executives and officers in civil and criminal investigations and enforcement matters, including the defense of False Claims Act cases and qui tam whistleblower actions. To read more about Pat, check out his bio on the Husch Blackwell website.
Links of Interest
U.S. Department of Justice, “‘Lottery Lawyer’ and Three Co-Conspirators Indicted in $107 Million Scheme to Defraud Lottery-Winning Clients,” August 18, 2020
U.S. Sentencing Commission, 2021 Guidelines Manual
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In this episode of The Justice Insiders, we welcome Richard A. Epstein, Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law at NYU School of Law. Host Gregg Sofer and co-host Steve Renau explore with Professor Epstein the implications stemming from the recent Fifth Circuit decision in Jarkesy v. SEC, as well as possible future developments with respect to administrative law and regulatory compliance.
Richard Epstein Biography
Richard A. Epstein is the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law, New York University Law School, a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago, and the Peter and Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution.
Professor Epstein researches and has published work on a broad range of constitutional, economic, historical, and philosophical subjects. He has taught administrative law, antitrust law, communications law, constitutional law, corporation criminal law, employment discrimination law, environmental law, food and drug law, health law, labor law, Roman law, real estate development and finance, and individual and corporate taxation.
Epstein’s most recent book publication is The Dubious Morality of Modern Administrative Law (2020). Other works include The Classical Liberal Constitution: The Uncertain Quest for Limited Government (2014); Design for Liberty: Private Property, Public Administration, and the Rule of Law (2011); The Case against the Employee Free Choice Act (Hoover Institution Press, 2009); Supreme Neglect: How to Revive the Constitutional Protection for Private Property (2008); How the Progressives Rewrote the Constitution (2006); Overdose (2006); and Free Markets under Siege: Cartels, Politics, and Social Welfare (Hoover Institution Press, 2005).
He received a BA degree in philosophy summa cum laude from Columbia in 1964; a BA degree in law with first-class honors from Oxford University in 1966; and an LLB degree cum laude, from the Yale Law School in 1968. Upon graduation he joined the faculty at the University of Southern California, where he taught until 1972. In 1972, he visited the University of Chicago and became a regular member of the faculty the following year.
He has been a senior fellow at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics since 1984 and was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1985. In 2011, Epstein was a recipient of the Bradley Prize for outstanding achievement. In 2005, the College of William & Mary School of Law awarded him the Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Prize.
Links of Interest
Jarkesy v. Securities and Exchange Commission, No. 20-61007 (5th Cir. May 18, 2022).
Epstein, Richard A. The Dubious Morality of Modern Administrative Law. Rowman & Littlefield. 2020.
Diedrich, Joseph S. “Judicial Deference to Municipal Interpretation,” 49 Fordham Urb. L.J. 807 (2022).
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In part two of our series about cooperation and the Department of Justice’s use of its coercive and persuasive powers to conscript an army for DOJ’s corporate enforcement efforts, host Gregg Sofer is joined by Rudy Rivera, Chief International Counsel for a Fortune 500 company, and Husch Blackwell’s Sal Hernandez. We discuss the Department’s evolving stance on corporate compliance, issues related to the sometimes vexing decision regarding voluntary disclosure and how prosecutors and law enforcement agents view self-disclosures.
Guest biographies
Rodolfo Rivera
Rodolfo Rivera is Chief International Counsel for a Fortune 500 company with $8.4 billion in revenue and 21,000 employees. He serves as a legal advisor to senior-and-executive management on international M&A, litigation and FCPA, while also working with stakeholders on a variety of levels domestically and globally. He has also been the lead in establishing the company’s international operations and has managed several of the international subsidiaries. He currently manages a global multimillion dollar claims portfolio as well as oversees all company immigration matters.
He is a Board Member of the Association of Corporate Counsel as well as a member of the executive committee. The ACC has more than 45,000 members throughout the world.
He is a frequent speaker on topics such as negotiation, ethics and compliance, motivation, goal setting, Diversity and Inclusion, and managing a business. He has completed 4 TEDX talks:
From Public Assistance to a Fortune 500 Company
Diversity and Inclusion is Good for the Bottom Line
The Beauty of Learning a Second Language
The Value of Mentorship
He was named to the GC Power List: US: Latin America Specialists for 2019.
Salvador Hernandez
As a former senior executive with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and compliance and ethics officer for a global transportation provider, Sal is uniquely suited to help clients address government investigations, regulatory risk, and compliance program development and assessment.
Sal began his career inside government with 25 years at the FBI, where he rose through the ranks, via numerous assignments, from Special Agent to executive-level positions at FBI Headquarters in Washington, DC, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, and the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. At FBI Headquarters, as Deputy Assistant Director in the Criminal Investigative Division, he had oversight responsibility for the FBI’s Financial Crimes and Public Corruption Programs. In Los Angeles, he held the title of Assistant Director and served as the office’s chief executive, with responsibility for the work of more than 1,300 FBI employees charged with carrying out the FBI’s criminal, counterterrorism and national foreign-intelligence responsibilities in Southern California. Sal followed his FBI career with a career in the private sector where, first as Security Director, and then as Vice President of Compliance and Ethics, he expanded the security and investigations programs and established and led the legal and regulatory compliance efforts at Enterprise Holdings, Inc., the world’s largest vehicle rental, leasing and sales company.
Sal is uniquely suited to collaborate closely with attorney teams and clients to strategize at all stages of investigative and compliance-program work. He has experience building compliance structures for clients and is equally adept at program review, risk assessment, crisis response and mitigation.
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In this episode, former U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr joins hosts Gregg N. Sofer and Tim Garrison to discuss his two tenures leading the Department of Justice. Among other topics, Mr. Barr provides his insight on the difficulties of introducing change to an organization as large as DOJ, increased enforcement in the area of corporate crime, and national security issues related to China’s attempts to steal the intellectual property of American private businesses and public institutions.
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In the first of a multi-episode series, Husch Blackwell’s Tim Garrison and Gregg N. Sofer discuss the Department of Justice’s efforts to enlist corporations, their executives and even their attorneys into DOJ’s enforcement priorities. They will discuss what “cooperation” means, how the government secures cooperation, and how cooperation impacts investigations and cases as they make their way through the federal courts.
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Hosts Gregg N. Sofer and Scott Glabe are joined by Husch Blackwell colleague Sal Hernandez, former senior FBI official and private-sector compliance officer, as they discuss the upcoming trial of two individuals and a corporate defendant for criminal offenses related to corruption, kickbacks and bribes in the notorious FIFA scandal. This episode covers the government’s use of RICO, cooperator testimony, severance issues, what goes into making decisions about whether to plead guilty or go to trial and the importance of maintaining an effective compliance program.
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