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1 1 (October 8, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govbbhl0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional _______ ~Research Service !frmrng the leg slative debate since 1914 Obstruction of Justice As a Sidecar October 8, 2019 Introduction The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (Second Circuit) recently vacated the sentence of an Air Force veteran convicted of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and of obstruction ofjustice. The Second Circuit concluded that the district court judge had not sufficiently explained his sentencing rationale and sent the case back for resentencing. A concurring member of the panel expressed concern over the expanded use of obstruction ofjustice charges. Background Pugh served in the U.S. Air Force. After his discharge, he worked as an aircraft mechanic in the Middle East. He gradually became enamored of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). Intent on joining ISIS, he flew to Istanbul from Cairo, hoping to make his way to the Syrian border. Turkish officials, however, denied him entry and put him on a return flight to Egypt. Egyptian authorities detained him and discovered that he had attempted to destroy several of his electronic devices. Egyptian officials turned the devices over to U.S. authorities and deported Pugh to the United States. A day after he arrived, federal officers arrested him at his father's home in New Jersey. Soon thereafter, a federal grand jury indicted Pugh for attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization and for obstructing justice. A trial jury convicted him on both charges, and the court sentenced him to prison for 35 years, the maximum statutory sentence for each offense - 15 years for attempting to provide material support and 20 years for obstruction. On appeal, Pugh challenged the sufficiency of the evidence to convict him, the introduction in evidence of a draft letter to his wife, and his sentence. Second Circuit The Second Circuit affirmed Pugh's conviction, found no error in admission of the letter, but vacated his sentence and returned the case to the lower court for resentencing. Pugh's marital communication challenge is somewhat unusual. Pugh speaks only English. His wife speaks no English. They communicate verbally and in writing through third parties, including family, friends, and possibly Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB10349 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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