Benvin v. United States District Court (In Re Benvin)

OPINION

We must decide whether a district court improperly interjected itself into plea negotiations and, if it did so, whether mandamus is the appropriate remedy in this case.

I

On August 10, 2011, Marcilin Benvin was charged in a fifty-count indictment alleging wire fraud, mail fraud, aggravated identity theft, money laundering, embezzlement, theft from an employee benefit plan, and false statements and concealment of facts in employee benefit plan records. These charges arose from the government’s investigation into Benvin’s actions as president of Cetus Mortgage, a financial services company…