Judge tracker
Judge Denise Jefferson Casper's record in serious criminal cases
About the judge
Chief U.S. District Judge, District of Massachusetts, presiding over United States v. Farwell
Denise Jefferson Casper is chief judge of the federal court in Massachusetts. She presided over the trial of former Stoughton officer Matthew Farwell, whom a jury convicted on Nov. 10, 2026, and she set his sentencing for Feb. 3, 2027. President Obama nominated her in 2010. A former federal and state prosecutor, she presided over the 2013 Whitey Bulger trial. Federal judges serve for life.
Nominated by the president, confirmed by the Senate; on the bench since 2010
Photo: U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
Bench Watch Brief · What the data shows
Bench Watch logs decisions by Chief U.S. District Judge Denise Jefferson Casper in serious criminal cases, from court records and news reports. It isn't a complete record. It includes her rulings in the Matthew Farwell trial and past sentences, including Whitey Bulger's.
19 entries · select a column to sort
| Source | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | United States v. Farwell | Venue | Denied a second request to move the trial out of Massachusetts | Defense asked to move it | SourceCase file | |
| 2026 | United States v. Farwell | Expert testimony | Allowed two experts who say the victim was strangled to testify | SourceCase file | ||
| 2026 | United States v. Farwell | Dismissal | Denied the motion to dismiss the superseding indictment | Defense asked to dismiss | SourceCase file | |
| 2025 | United States v. Jermall Anderson | Sentence: seven counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, plus coercion and enticement and interstate transportation for prostitution (guilty plea) | 15 years and 5 years of supervised release | Source | ||
| 2024 | United States v. Misael Fabian Medina | Sentence: attempted sex trafficking of a child, in an undercover sting with no real child (jury trial) | 15 years | Source | ||
| 2024 | United States v. Gustavo Kinrys | Sentence: $19 million health care fraud and obstruction (jury trial) | 99 months and 3 years of supervised release | Source | ||
| 2024 | United States v. Xiaolei Wu | Sentence: cyberstalking and threats against a person who posted pro-democracy fliers (jury trial) | 9 months and 3 years of supervised release | Prosecution: 33 months and 3 years of supervised release; defense: time served | Below the prosecution's request, above the defense's | Source |
| 2023 | United States v. Ernesto Herrera | Sentence: coercion and enticement of a minor online (guilty plea) | 12 years and 5 years of supervised release | Source | ||
| 2023 | United States v. Patrick Plummer | Sentence: travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, in an undercover sting, and related counts (guilty plea) | 13 years and 5 years of supervised release | Source | ||
| 2023 | United States v. Randall Crater | Sentence: “My Big Coin” cryptocurrency fraud of more than $7.5 million (jury trial) | 100 months, 3 years of supervised release and $7.67 million forfeiture | Source | ||
| 2022 | United States v. Vincent Caruso | Sentence: leading a violent fentanyl-pill trafficking organization, with firearms and robbery-conspiracy counts (guilty plea) | 250 months and 5 years of supervised release | Source | ||
| 2022 | United States v. Paul Weddington | Sentence: receipt of child sexual abuse material (guilty plea) | 12 years and 5 years of supervised release | Source | ||
| 2022 | United States v. Arismendy Gil-Padilla | Sentence: trafficking 16 guns, ammunition and drugs (guilty plea) | 11 years and 6 years of supervised release | Source | ||
| 2021 | United States v. Ramon Martinez | Sentence: felon in possession of a firearm (guilty plea) | 40 months and 3 years of supervised release | Source | ||
| 2021 | United States v. Sean Gleason | Sentence: receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material | 68 months and 5 years of supervised release | Source | ||
| 2021 | United States v. Shuren Qin | Sentence: illegal exports to a Chinese military university, and related fraud and smuggling counts (guilty plea) | 2 years, 2 years of supervised release and a $20,000 fine | Source | ||
| 2021 | An Essex County resident (name withheld to protect a child) | Sentence: sexual exploitation of children, and distribution and possession of child sexual abuse material (guilty plea, August 2020) | 30 years and 5 years of supervised release | Source | ||
| 2016 | United States v. Jaquan Casanova | Sentence: witness tampering by attempted murder, and lying to a federal agent (jury trial) | 28 years and 5 years of supervised release | Source | ||
| 2013 | United States v. James "Whitey" Bulger | Sentence (racketeering, including 11 murders) | Two consecutive life terms plus 5 years | Prosecution: what she imposed | Matched the prosecution's request | Source |
How we built this
This tracker counts Judge Casper's sentences and key rulings in serious criminal cases, meaning homicide, sex crimes and other violent felonies, and major federal crimes, plus rulings in cases Bench Watch follows. The goal is to cover the judge's whole time on the bench, so we log the most recent five years first, then work back, and the “Covers” line shows the years logged so far. Each row links to its source, whether a court record, an appeals opinion, an official release or a news report.
This is not a complete record. Federal sentencing data isn't published by judge. Several sentences in U.S. Attorney's Office releases aren't included yet because those pages couldn't be checked. Bench Watch adds decisions as it confirms them.
We leave “What each side asked” blank when the source didn't report it. “Compared with the options” sets the decision against what the law allowed, the sentencing guidelines and any joint recommendation, as reported in the source. We don't name victims. When naming a defendant would identify a child victim, we withhold the name.