⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Second Circuit hears Griffin's challenge to a two-point-four-million-dollar restitution order. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe a town employee for access to a Cortlandt dumping facility, and to a separate wire-fraud conspiracy involving sham bids for public work. He received a two-year prison term and was ordered to pay for damage to town property and neighboring wetlands owned by the Westchester Land Trust. Restitution compensates victims for losses from a crime; it is separate from a fine or prison term. The argument concerns whether Griffin can challenge that payment while keeping his guilty plea and the benefits of his plea agreement. His agreement includes an appeal waiver: a promise not to challenge certain matters in a higher court. His lawyer will contend that ineffective legal assistance in agreeing to the amount allows this challenge to proceed. The government will defend the waiver and the sentencing court's reliance on the agreement and other evidence. You will hear about a stipulation, meaning a fact or figure the parties agreed to accept. Such an agreement can support a sentence, but the judge must consider the record as a whole. A Fatico hearing takes evidence on disputed sentencing facts. Here, the parties disagree whether the written agreement and existing record were sufficient without another hearing. Griffin also requests a Jacobson remand: a limited return to the district court for more findings or a supplemented record, after which the appeal can return without a new notice of appeal. He will seek further review of restitution without undoing his guilty plea. The government will resist what it sees as keeping the favorable parts of the deal while discarding an agreed restriction.

United States v. Glenn Griffin (No. 25-664) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, argued October 21, 2026.