United States of America v. Zachary James Flaherty

Des Moines, Iowa, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with one count of wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, and separately to one count of criminal contempt, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 401(3)..

Flaherty worked as an insurance producer for 17 years and throughout all 17
years, Flaherty stole money from over 30 victims. Through his fraudulent scheme,
Flaherty stole at least $3.1 million from his victims. Flaherty received checks from
the victims, representing that he would invest the funds. Instead, he would deposit
the checks into his personal account and use the money for his own bills, taxes,
travel, clothing, and other personal uses.

Even after Flaherty was caught and pleaded guilty to wire fraud, he continued
his fraudulent scheme and violated court orders. He submitted false sworn
statements to the court. He violated the district court’s no-contact order by
continuing indirect contact with two victims. He also violated the district court’s
protective order prohibiting him from attempting to sell certain assets that would be
used to repay victims. Due to these post-plea actions, Flaherty began his sentencing
hearing by pleading guilty to criminal contempt.

Following his plea at sentencing, the district court found that the appropriate
Guidelines range was between 168 to 210 months’ imprisonment, plus 6 months’
imprisonment for criminal contempt. This sentencing range included his base wire
fraud offense, which was increased based on the loss amount and the number of
victims. There were also increases because Flaherty received more than $1 million
in gross receipts from financial institutions, knew or should have known that these
were vulnerable victims, abused a position of power, and obstructed justice. Flaherty
objected to these increases, but the court overruled his objections to those
calculations.