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SDNY Courtroom Exclusive, Nov 22 – Alec Dupuis charged with selling deadly fentanyl (resulting in the death of 24 year old Peter Krasniqi on August 11, 2020) and also mushrooms containing psilocin, had his condominium on West 56th Street in Manhattan raided and search in December 2021.

   But he had heard the police were coming and had left. He had a airplane ticket to the UK, of which he is a dual citizen.

The authorities learned of the flight. His mother hired a lawyer and, after a few days, he turned himself in and had been detained since.     

      On November 22, 2022 U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Jed S. Rakoff held his sentencing, after granting Inner City Press' request that Dupuis' heavily redacted sentencing memo be mostly unsealed.

After a letter from Krasniqi's father Mark was read out, and argument, Judge Rakoff imposed a sentencing of ten years. There was loud crying. The Krasniqi family was not present, except for the letter. Thread here and below. More here.

Previously, Judge Rakoff held a bond proceeding. Inner City Press covered it, also below.

On August 12, this was ordered: "A change of plea hearing is set for defendant Dupuis on August 18 at 2pm in Courtroom 14B. (Change of Plea Hearing set for 8/18/2022 at 02:00 PM before Judge Jed S. Rakoff.)." 

Inner City Press went on August 18 and live tweeted it, here and below.

In advance of Dupuis' sentencing, his lawyer put in a memo that was largely redacted. Inner City Press immediately filed opposition, here.

Re: Press application to be heard / to unseal sentencing memo in US v. Dupuis, 21-cr-707-(JSR)

Dear Judge Rakoff:    Inner City Press has been covering the above captioned criminal case and on the evening of November 15 saw the heavily redacted sentencing memorandum put on the public docket. The redaction go far beyond what case law supports. Inner City Press hereby opposes the redactions... This Court has previously granted an e-mailed Inner City Press request to unseal, in US v. Weigand, 20-cr-188 (JSR), see Dkt. No. 250. 

  Defense counsel has redacted much of the Table of Contents, and the entirety of pages 5, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 19, and much of the rest of the pages.

 In my time covering sentencing proceedings in Federal courts, this is the most heavily redacted sentencing submission I've seen, and it does not implicate national security information (as in US v. Joshua Schulte and other cases in SDNY).  

The over-redaction is particularly troubling given that, despite the death caused in this case, the plea agreement is to a drug count, with the assurance given the defendant would not contest certain predictable results in the sentencing. How to know, with the level of redaction? Inner City Press is also challenging the partial redactions of letters of support, and Exhibits D and E in its entirety." Full filing on DocumentCloud here.

  Judge Rakoff on the morning of November 17 ordered: "ORDER as to Alec Dupuis. Defendant Alec Dupuis was previously ordered to submit any materials bearing on sentencing by November 15, 2022. On that date, defense counsel sent a letter to the Court seeking permission to redact certain of the information in the publicly filed version of such materials. See ECF No. 23. Without waiting for the Court to grant or deny that application, defendant filed a redacted version of his sentencing materials on the public record. See ECF No. 22. Later that same day, Matthew Russell Lee from the Inner City Press sent a letter to the Court objecting to the redactions in the defendant's sentencing materials. Having now had an opportunity to compare the redacted and unredacted versions of such materials, the Court finds that most of the redactions are excessive and unnecessary. There may, however, still be some small items that may justifiably be redacted. Accordingly, counsel for the Government and the defendant must call the Court at 4:15 PM today to discuss what, if anything, should remain redacted, following which a new (much less redacted) version of the materials will be filed on the public record. SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge Jed S. Rakoff on 11/17/2022)."

On November 18, defense counsel refiled the sentencing memo onto ECF / PACER, which Inner City Press the same day published for all to see on DocumentCloud, here.

  Initially redacted was material minimizing Dupuis' responsibility, saying he only killed an addict because he was an addict (not all addicts sell deadly drugs), and more.

Here is what happened on November 22, thread:

All rise!

Judge Rakoff: Probation sets the guideline at 324 months and up, but 340 months is the maximum. Govt wants 240 months: defense wants time served or 11 month. I ordered the defense submission unsealed.

Dupuis' lawyer Ilana Haramati: He was high at the time, doing 100s of dollars of drugs a day. That impacts his culpability. He sold to the cooperator in this case. He sold fentanyl and ketamine.

Dupuis' lawyer: He could have taken drugs in the MDC, he could have gotten them. I am asking for time served, with six months of rehab.

 Dupuis' lawyer: His father Andre is here. [Initially secret memo asking for time served says Andre raped his mother Kathy, before whistleblower payout from Barclays Bank]

Dupuis' lawyer: He was evaluated by Doctor Alexander Barday [who testified for Kevin Spacey against Anthony Rapp in recent #MeToo trial ]

Dupuis' lawyer: His mother left him unsupervised-- Judge: She is not before me for sentencing. This resulted in death. Dupuis' lawyer: It's tragic. But she's already served hard time. [11 months]

 Dupuis's lawyer: Retribution is not appropriate under 3553a. Judge: But just punishment is. 

AUSA Thomas John Wright: Facts matter. He knew he was selling a drug that was not what it pretended to be, to maximize profit. This was amoral.

AUSA: This is inescapably grim. Judge: I agree. Time served is not sufficient. But why 20 years and not 10?

AUSA: He knew. There are warning ads about fentanyl in the subway. Judge: Also deadly reckless driving... You let this defendant plead to a lesser charge

 AUSA: Here we have actual knowledge. Here is the letter from the victim's father: He was murdered by a monster. My wife lost a son and a piece of her heart. She texts him daily. Holidays are meaningless to us now.

Letter from Mark Krasniqi asked judge to imagine it happen to one of his loved ones.

Judge Rakoff: My brother was murdered in cold blood at 43, as he began a brilliant career. So missed by our parents, me and my other brother. But that's only one side of the story

Dupuis' lawyer: They offered a lesser included offense, with no mandatory minimum.

Judge: Probation suggests 8 years.

Dupuis' lawyer: And why not 5 years?

Alec Dupuis: It's a tragedy. The cooperator is the one who didn't tell the, uh, Peter. I was a kid all alone

Alec Dupuis: In MDC I get bullied and taken advantage of. Let me read my letter. I was addicted since 13. During COVID, my roommate left. I needed to do a line to get out of bed. I own part of a restaurant.

Alec Dupuis: Other MDC inmates sell drugs. I want to check into non residential rehab. Thank you.

Judge: These are societal problems the courts are ill-equipped to address. I must find the fair sentence.

 Judge: He knew he was dealing a danger, disguised substance. I sentence him to ten years. [Some crying in court. Ongoing.] AUSA: We propose forfeiture.

Judge: I'm not going to order it.

Dupuis' lawyer: He requests Danbury.

More on Patreon here.

From August 18: Ok- now at guilty plea of Alec Dupuis, charged with selling deadly fentanyl (resulting in the death of 24 year old Peter Krasniqi on August 11, 2020)

Judge Rakoff: You are being offered the lesser included offense of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, in any amount.  Dupuis: Yes.

 Judge: You signed a plea agreement. The guideline is 324 to 405 months -- Dupuis' retained cousel, former Federal Defendet Ser: 20 years is the maximum.

 Judge: You have agreed not to dispute your role in the death by fentanyl, at sentencing. AUSA: Ask if he's a citizen [to disclose possible risks]

Dupuis: I was born in Manhattan. I plead guilty.

 Judge: Sentencing on Nov 22. Adjourned.

Note: there were ten in the gallery, family and friends, one in a Sail Inn shirt.

 Back on February 4, retained defense lawyer Ilana Haramati, who also represented movie producer Dillon Jordan on prostitution charges, argued to Judge Rakoff that a bond could be secured by her client's father, flush with money from a whistleblower case, she said. 

 But the Assistant US Attorney countered that the father had been in Chapter 7 bankruptcy and that the home, in Texas, is highly leveraged. He conceded that the US has an extradition treaty with the UK, but only for crimes on the books in both countries - in the same apparently. 

  Judge Rakoff said, part of Inner City Press' live tweeted thread of the proceeding, that "The extradition issue is serious. The huge penalties we have make foreign courts eager to avoid extradition to our Land of Mass Incarceration."

  The defense lawyer tried, last stab, to say that Mr. Dupuis can execute a waiver of execution. 

   Judge Rakoff replied, I will reduce that as a consideration. But there is a glaring problem. He sold disguised drugs. It reflects an attitude to the law and of civilized behavior; he would be a danger. He cares so little that it led to the death of another. I deny the motion. 

 The final tweet in the thread was "Dupuis puts his hand over his (red) hair, glances back at the gallery. Now he is gone with the US Marshals." But, Inner City Press wrote, that will not be the end of the story.

And it hasn't been. On April 7 Judge Rakoff held an in-person proceeding, and Inner City Press was there. Dupuis through his lawyer Henry Mazurek said there are plea negotiations taking place.
 
  Judge Rakoff said he inferred that from the lack of motions filed. He set a September 6 trial date. Dupuis' family / supports were in the gallery and Judge Rakoff apologized that the courtroom was needed for another, paused proceeding. Inner City Press will continue to cover the cases.

  On Instagram, there is an account of an Alec Dupuis, who is aka-ed in the indictment as "nysgas" with a photo of a definition of gas as high-grade marijuana and quote from lyrics ("Smoking gas in a rental / She giving me mental") by Juicy J.

On March 1, this was docketed: "Minute Entry for proceedings held before Judge Jed S. Rakoff: Telephone Conference as to Alec Dupuis held on 2/28/2022. A telephone conference was held 2-28-2022 without transcription or recording. AUSA Thomas John Wright for the Government and Ilana Haramati for defendant were present. Defendants motion to adjourn the deadline for pretrial motions is granted. The deadline is adjourned to March 28, 2022. The conference set to March 11, 2022 is adjourned to April 7, 2022 at 2pm in Courtroom 14B. (Pretrial Conference set for 4/7/2022 at 02:00 PM."

This case is US v. Dupuis, 21-cr-707 (Rakoff) 

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