United States v. Richard T. Mariano

Defendant was convicted on both bribery and conflict of interest theories. The convictions were affirmed on direct appeal. The defendant filed a § 2255 petition pre-Skilling and the government responded post-Skilling. The government has argued that the Skilling issue was clear enough to require counsel to raise it pre-Skilling, but not so clear as to render counsel constitutionally ineffective for failing to do so. Mariano has decided not to pursue the § 2255 further.