| Guilty
Verdict after Sealed Trial of Man Charged
With 5 Kilos of Coke from Colombia
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
August 4 – Three men
were charged with a conspiracy
to distribute five kilos of
cocaine, and import the drugs
from Colombia to Puerto Rico.
One was Vincente Estevez.
On
January 20, 2022 U.S. District
Court for the Southern
District of New York Judge
John G. Koeltl held a status
conference. Inner City Press
covered it.
Judge
Koeltl set a hearing on
motions for May 20, and the
trial for July 25, to avoid a
time in August he will be out.
On July 27, Inner
City Press went to cover the
trial. At defense table was
Estevez and two defense
counsel.
Quickly there
were a sidebar, then it was
announced that the courtroom
would be closed, but audio
made available - ironically in
the same courtroom where the
partially sealed trial of Josh
Schulte was recently held. It
went like this:
Witness works for
DEA Caribbean. He's from
Colombia. He is undercover in
drug trafficking and money
laundering cases.
AUSA: Do you
surreptitiously record
conversations?
Agent Pedro
Gonzalez: Yes. I infiltrate.
In this case we 1st heard from
Cartagena, Colombia. We had 3
undercovers on the team.
AUSA: Gov
Exhibit 103. (Neither Inner
City Press nor any other
member of the media or public
can see)
Now with witness
off the stand, and jury gone,
still the lawyers' argument is
shifted to the "robing room"
and the courtroom locked.
On July 28, Agent
Gonzalez' testimony continued,
with dramatic readings and an
explanation of proof of life.
Inner City Press live tweeted,
here:
OK - Back on Drug
Enforcement Administration
criminal case with sealed
courtroom
AUSA is on
direct examination of DEA
agent Pedro Gonzalez, playing
undercover videos showing - to
jury but not Press or public -
UC2 seated at right, they
play-act transcript:
AUSA: You said,
You have to be vetted, buddy.
What did you mean?
Gonzalez: That
they won't let you into the
lab without checking you out.
This lab was making 7000 kilos
of cocaine.
AUSA: When you
said "Italian league," what
did you mean? Gonzalez: Major
cartel. Camejo had contacts in
Spain, too. AUSA: 508t, page
13.
AUSA: How
were they going to see if all
the money was paid? Agent
Gonzalez: They were going to
weight it.
AUSA: 508t, page
27. You read UC1 and UC2, I'll
do Camejo. UC2: I'm giving it
to you for 22, bro. I'm
dropping my pants.
UC1: It's 33 here
Camejo: Not so
much
Camejo:
We're talking about me having
5 or 6 million dollars put
together. I want 300. UC2: Get
the money and we'll get it for
you. AUSA: What's the topic
here?
Agent Gonzalez:
Pricing and how many
kilos.
AUSA: What is
this photo?
Agent Gonzalez:
It's a proof of life, to show
that we had the (sham)
cocaine, we took a photo with
El Heraldo newspaper from
Cartajena, Colombia, on Sept
21, 2020. And here's a video
of the cocaine. AUSA: 602a.
[yet more video we can't see]
On August 1, the
cooperating witness on the
stand in prison yellow
identified photos of Camejo,
Ingrid and others. Camejo, he
said he met which selling
Quaker State lubricants.
On August 4 this:
"the jury returned a guilty
verdict today against VICENTE
ESTEVES, a/k/a “El Bori,” on
one count of conspiracy to
traffic cocaine, as charged in
a Superseding
Indictment. ESTEVES is
scheduled to be sentenced on
November 17, 2022, by U.S.
District Judge John G. Koeltl,
who presided over the
eight-day trial.
ESTEVES, 49, was convicted on
one count of conspiring to
distribute and possess with
intent to distribute at least
five kilograms of cocaine,
which carries a mandatory
minimum prison term of ten
years and a maximum prison
term of life."
And, "Sentencing
set for 11/17/2022 at 04:30 PM
before Judge John G. Koeltl."
The case is US v.
Camejo et al., 20-cr-686
(Koeltl)
***
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