In February 2026 Charles Hunter Hobson (who served in a variety of roles at Corsa Coal from 2013 to 2018) was found guilty by a jury for various Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and related offenses in connection with an Egyptian bribery scheme.
With a motion for a judgement of acquittal pending, in September 2026 (through new counsel) Hobson filed a motion to dismiss based on the court’s supervisory powers.
In a rather cavalier response, the DOJ sort of responded to the motion, but also stated that if “the Court wishes to resolve the substance of Defendant’s claims, the government respectfully requests 60 days to respond more fully.” (See here).
In an interesting development, Hobson recently filed a motion to continue sentencing revealing “new sentencing-related information disclosed by the government.” As discussed in this post, an individual related to Frederick Cushmore through marriage (Cushmore is a former Corsa executive who pleaded guilty in connection with the same alleged bribery scheme and testified for the DOJ at Hobson’s trial) contacted the DOJ with information relevant to Cushmore. As stated in the FBI 302 “[The individual] believed Cushmore continued to be involved in illegal activity similar to the conduct at Corsa Coal that led to Cushmore’s guilty plea.” Another FBI 302 documenting a September 15, 2026 of Cushmore stated: “Since leaving Corsa, Cushmore had not paid any bribes to any government officials, nor had he made any promises or offers of bribes to any government officials either directly or indirectly through an agent.”
As stated in the motion to continue sentencing “Hobson must investigate the allegation before he responds to it. The allegation bears on Cushmore’s credibility and on Hobson’s relative culpability, both of which the Court will consider at sentencing in the event the Court does not dismiss the case, grant a new trial, or acquit Hobson.”
Yesterday, Judge Robert Colville (W.D. Pa.) issued two orders.
In the first, Judge Colville said he was not going to “provide guidance as to how the parties should proceed with respect to briefing on the Motions pending at this time.”
Judge Colville stated: “To the extent that the Government believes that the filing of a more substantive response to Defendants Motion is warranted, it may do so by November 23, 2026. Whether or not a more substantive response is filed, the Defendant may file a reply as to its Motion by December 14, 2026.”
In the second order, Judge Colville granted Hobson’s motion to continue sentencing. The sentencing, previously set for October 28, 2026, has been reset to February 17, 2027.
