Florida Defense Lawyer Wins Appeal Undoing Extortion Conviction

A Florida defense lawyer found guilty of extorting $60,000 from a client whom he was representing in a criminal matter won an Eleventh Circuit ruling Friday overturning his conviction.

There was no evidence that Marion O’Steen “committed extortion through fear of financial harm,” the appellate panel said, reversing his Hobbs Act conviction.

There was also insufficient evidence to sustain O’Steen’s conviction for failing to make a required financial report, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit said.

The government failed to show that O’Steen knew he was required to report the receipt of more than $10,000 to the ...