Mr. Collins’s claim was based on a 2007 decision by the federal appeals court in Washington involving a search by F.B.I. Following the lead of those two rulings, Judge Broderick found that the Constitution does not provide absolute protection from a criminal inquiry. He concluded that any questioning of Mr. Collins’s current or former staff members about Innate Immunotherapeutics did not involve legislative activity. Mr. Collins could have appealed Judge Broderick’s decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan and then to the Supreme Court. Now that he has pleaded guilty, federal guidelines recommend a sentence of 15 to 21 months because the amount of the losses avoided by Mr. Collins’s son and Mr. Zarsky exceeded $550,000.

Source: New York Times October 07, 2019 20:26 UTC