UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. SONG GUO ZHENG - Articles

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. SONG GUO ZHENG

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Mar 10, 2022

Court: 6th Circuit Court (Published Opinions)

Attorneys 1: ON BRIEF: Steven S. Nolder, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellant.

Attorneys 2: ON BRIEF: Alexis J. Zouhary, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, Cincinnati, Ohio, for Appellee.

Judge(s): BATCHELDER, NALBANDIAN, and READLER, Circuit Judges

Court Appealed: Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio at Columbus

NALBANDIAN, Circuit Judge. Song Guo Zheng lied on several applications for National Institute of Health (NIH) funding while employed at some of the country’s largest universities. Zheng pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining this federal funding, but on appeal argues that his trial counsel was ineffective by not seeking a downward variance at sentencing given his immigration status. Generally, however, we decline to review ineffective-assistance claims for the first time on direct appeal because the record is inadequate to establish any error.

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