Firm Obtains Order Extinguishing Client’s $5M Restitution Obligation
This month, partners Brian Spears and Leslie Cahill obtained an Order from the U.S. District Court eliminating client David Miller’s obligation to pay over $5 million in criminal restitution pursuant to the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act (MVRA).
Mr. Miller was convicted in 2013 of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, and of substantive wire fraud, in connection with Mr. Miller’s fraudulent trade in Apple stock, which caused his former employer to sustain over $5 million in trading losses. After Mr. Miller accepted responsibility for his offense, his former employer – the victim in his criminal case – was able to recoup over $7.6 million in compensatory damages arising from its losses from the fraudulent trade – in part with the assistance of Mr. Miller, who cooperated in an arbitration brought against his unindicted co-conspirator after sentencing.
With the assistance of Spears Manning & Martini, Mr. Miller moved, over the government’s objection, for an order eliminating his outstanding restitution obligation under the MVRA, which authorizes a federal district court to reduce a restitution order by an amount that a victim later recovers as compensatory damages for the “same loss.” While the government argued that the civil settlements received by Mr. Miller’s former employer did not constitute recovery for the same loss under the statute, the district court disagreed. The court noted that the fact that Mr. Miller did not participate in these civil proceedings himself did not bar a reduction of his restitution order under the MVRA, which prohibits “double recovery” for a victim in his employer’s shoes. The court further found that upholding the restitution order and assigning payments to the Crime Victims Fund of the Treasury “would be unnecessarily punitive in light of the other conditions of Mr. Miller’s sentence.”
This decision follows over a decade of financial hardship for Mr. Miller, who has devoted significant effort to rebuilding his life in the aftermath of his conviction. The case is United States v. Miller, Case No. 3:13-cr-00075-RNC in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut.