United States v. Bernard Gross

Bernard Gross appeals the district court’s order granting in part and denying in part his motion to modify the conditions of his supervised release. Two questions are presented: (1) whether a district court has the statutory authority under 18 U.S.C. § 3583 (e) to modify conditions of a defendant’s supervised release based on a claim of illegality; and (2) whether a dis trict court has authority to modify supervised release conditions based on the parties’ stipulation. We hold that the answer to both questions is no.

Gross was convicted, after a jury trial, of three counts of bankruptcy fraud. 18 U.S.C. § 152 (3). His appeal from his conviction and sentence remains pending. The instant appeal is from the district court’s order denying his motion for modification of the terms of supervised release. We have jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 3742 .

As a part of Gross’s sentence, the district court imposed conditions of supervised release which, inter alia, restricted Gross from doing the following without prior approval from the probation officer: transferring assets valued in excess of $100, acquiring an interest in real estate, and engaging in any business involving real…