Appellate court
On August 16, 2010, Keenan sentenced Mahmoud Reza Banki to 30 months in prison. This sentence was overturned on October 24, 2011, at which time the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in favor of Banki reversing the sanctions charges against him. Appellate court ruled that Judge John F. Keenan had erred at trial; in denying Banki's defense request to instruct the jury on the law that specifically exempts family money as an exception to the sanctions law, permitting such transfers without the need for a license. The final appellate court brief stated: "Banki's conviction [on the sanctions charges] cannot stand".