Following last fall’s dismissal of four significant felony wire fraud charges against Varnum client Cory Mann, the remaining criminal charges against the Detroit area businessman were dismissed recently after a lengthy hearing in which the Federal Judge determined there was widespread prosecutorial misconduct and grand jury abuse in the U.S. Department of Justice Tax Division investigation and prosecution.
Following extensive analysis and motion practice by Mann’s defense team, a hearing was ordered by the Court. In the hearing for dismissal, the Judge found that the DOJ case before the grand jury “involve[ed] the presentation of false evidence, not just a lack of exculpatory evidence” and that the way the matter was presented to the grand jury was “grossly misleading.”
Varnum has represented Mann since 2020, after he was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a matter involving allegations of illegally obtained police reports and car crash victim solicitation. The Varnum team, led by Eric Nemeth and Will Thompson, secured the dismissal of four felony wire fraud charges in October of 2023 when the DOJ dropped the charges two weeks before trial was scheduled to begin, a rarity in government-led investigations.
The final charges, consisting of alleged tax violations, were dismissed shortly before the matter was again set to go to trial, because of the Defendant’s successful motion to dismiss based on grand jury abuse and prosecutorial misconduct (filed under seal). The Varnum team was able to show that a DOJ attorney, along with an FBI Special Agent, offered false and grossly misleading evidence to a grand jury to obtain a Third Superseding Indictment. At its core, this involved the DOJ presenting summary testimonial evidence through a single FBI Agent that was wildly inconsistent with substantial other evidence in the case and the FBI Agent’s own prior statements under oath.
Obtaining a dismissal of this type is almost unprecedented in any jurisdiction and is an extreme rarity in the 6th Circuit.