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→Uranium One scandal
In 2011, Mikerin allegedly extended the contract for 11 months in the interests of Tenex.
In 2011, Mikerin allegedly extended the contract for 11 months in the interests of Tenex.
Mikerin was arrested on a complaint describing a racketeering scheme that stretched back to 2004 and included [[extortion]], [[fraud]], and money laundering. Money-laundering carries a penalty of up to 20 years’ imprisonment — not only for [[conspiracy]] but for each act of money laundering (at section 1956 of the penal code). But Mikerin was permitted by Rosenstein to plead guilty to an offense charged under the catch-all federal conspiracy provision (section 371) that criminalizes agreements to commit any crime against the United States. Section 371 prescribes a sentence of zero to five years’ imprisonment.
Mikerin was arrested on a complaint describing a racketeering scheme that stretched back to 2004 and included [[extortion]], [[fraud]], and money laundering. Money-laundering carries a penalty of up to 20 years’ imprisonment — not only for [[conspiracy]] but for each act of money laundering (at section 1956 of the penal code). But Mikerin was permitted by Rosenstein to plead guilty to an offense charged under the catch-all federal conspiracy provision (section 371) that criminalizes agreements to commit any crime against the United States. Section 371 prescribes a sentence of zero to five years’ imprisonment. The plea agreement shows that the Obama DOJ’s Fraud Section was then run by Andrew Weissmann.
The Justice Department instructs prosecutors that when Congress has given a federal offense its own conspiracy provision with a heightened punishment (as it has for money laundering, racketeering, narcotics trafficking, and other serious crimes), they may not charge a section 371 conspiracy. Section 371 is for less serious conspiracy cases. Using it for money laundering — which caps the sentence below Congress’s intent for that behavior — subverts federal law and signals to the court that the prosecutor does not regard the offense as major.
Yet, that is exactly what Rosenstein’s office did, in a plea agreement his prosecutors co-signed with attorneys from the Justice Department’s Fraud Section. (See in ''The Hill''’s report, the third document embedded at the bottom, titled “Mikerin Plea Deal.”) No [[RICO]], no extortion, no fraud — and the plea agreement does not to mention any of the extortions in 2009 and 2010, before Committee on Foreign Investment in the US approved Rosatom’s acquisition of Uranium One. Mikerin just plead guilty to a nominal “money laundering” conspiracy charge, insulating him from a longer sentence. Thus, he got a term of only four years’ for a major [[national security]] crime.