FCPA: Were the Sting Trials Doomed From the Start?
David S. Krakoff & Lauren R. Randell
September 3, 2012
When the jury in the second Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Sting case trial came back with two acquittals, and hung on three other defendants, the impact of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) ambitious FCPA enforcement efforts was apparent. United States v. Goncalves et al., No. 09-335 (D.D.C.). And when the DOJ made the difficult decision to dismiss all charges against the remaining defendants, including three who had previously pleaded guilty, the impact could not be mistaken.
We had a front-row seat to the challenges the government faced in the FCPA Sting trials - we represented a client in the second trial, who obtained a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on the charges against him. We were able to follow the development and plannin gof the FCPA Sting through discovery and the testimony in two trials.