As we are fond of repeating, everyone who was involved, even on the fringes, in the Scott Rothstein Ponzi scheme, ends up paying the price. Christina Kitterman, an RRA lawyer who pretended to be a Florida Bar staff attorney, in order to mislead hedge fund officers about bogus Bar complaints, is currently serving a five-year sentence for her crimes. She has taken an appeal to the Eleventh Circuit, essentially from the sentence imposed, which her attorney has characterized as "the product of procedural error in determining loss, and is substantively unreasonable."
Does she have a point ? The hedge fund officer that she spoke to on the telephone did not invest any additional sums, and the fund was already under a contractual obligation. While there was no actual loss, the Court assigned an intended loss of $120,000, which resulted in the 60-month sentence. Kitterman asserts that the District Court's intended loss was speculative, and not supported by the evidence.
The Appellant is also asserting that there was Rule 404(b) evidence of other crimes improperly admitted, involving her alcohol and drug abuse, illegal campaign contributions made on behalf of Rothstein, and alleged association with Mafia figures. Kitterman claims that she was ignorant of the Ponzi scheme, and was as much a victim as the investors.
Oral argument was recently heard; we shall update you on the decision when it is handed down.
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United States vs. Kitterman, Case No.: 14-12387 (11th Cir.).
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