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In Wake of Vincent Esposito Guilty Plea Remaining Defendant Arena Threatens No Stipulations At Trial

By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon

SDNY COURTHOUSE, May 17 – The remaining portion of the racketeering prosecution in which Vincent Esposito on April 10 pled guilty to extorting a union official and a financial adviser, threatens to get ugly, or at least time consuming, in the trial before U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Victor Marrero.

   Defendant Steven Arena, it emerged at a status conference before Judge Marrero on May 10, has rejected a plea offer from the U.S. Attorney's office and now resists agreeing to any stipulations in connection with the trial.

   Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Ravener told Judge Marrero that what was scheduled, even before Esposito pled guilty, to be a two week trial beginning June 17 might now go three weeks or longer. She said that Arena through his lawyer Salvatore Strazzulla was resisting stipulating to the accuracy of bank records and e-mails.

 Judge Marrero called this a radical position, and asked Strazzula to explain the basis since this would require more time not only from the court but also from jurors. Strazzulla replied that the evidence against his client is weak, with Arena not appearing in many of the videos and e-mail chains the government has so far produced as discovery. (In the complaint, Arena is accused with others of threats to "induce a victim into providing annual cash payments... in order for the victim to maintain an official position with a labor union by threatening force and violence.")

 Additional discovery was provided by the government just this week and the trial will be pushed back. But will Arena and the other remaining co-defendant Frank Giovinco, reach a disposition or guilty plea by then? Or will Arena push the boundaries by disputing what have become routine stipulations? More on Patreon, here.

  Judge Marrero instructed Assistant U.S. Attorney Ravener to meet with Arena's lawyer Strazzulla about the stipulations, then to write him a letter is dispute still remain. How far does a defendant have to go in expediting the government's prosecution of him? Perhaps this trial, if there is one, will help illuminate this. The case is USA v. Esposito, et al., 18-cr-00014 (Marrero).

SDNY with
                        CSOs

  Back on April 10 after his guilty plea, Esposito and two apparent family member rebuffed the media at the elevator, then again on Mulberry Street. Inner City Press Periscope video here. The control date is July 10

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