| Catfisher Eric Bland
Sentenced To 18 Years In SDNY Where Sharer of
11 Year Old Free on Bond in Freehold
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Exclusive Patreon
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
June 25 – Eric Bland was
sentenced to 18 years in
prison on June 25 on charges
of catfishing and worse. U.S.
District Court
for the
Southern
District of
New York Judge
Deborah A.
Batts said
that after the
18 years Bland
must register
as a sex
offender. His
Federal
Defender
sought to
preserve an
issue for
appeal. "Make
your record,"
Judge Batts
said. But the
record in this
case is
gruesome. It's
at US v.
Bland,
17-cr-573
(DAB).
In the
same courthouse on the same
day there was an appearance,
not in detention, of a thirty
year old man accused by the
government of distributing
pornographic images of infants
and bragging that he was
grooming an 11 year old boy.
He was freed on bond to his
mother's house in Freehold,
New Jersey. Now he wants more
freedom, including access to a
computer.
On June 25
Pivnick and his mother
appeared before SDNY
Judge P. Kevin
Castel, to
whom the case
has been
assigned.
Pivnick's
lawyer asked
that he be
allowed to use
a computer
again,
allegedly to
pay his
student loans.
Judge Castel
asked why he
can't pay with
a paper check
and a stamp.
There was no
answer.
Pivnick's
mother has run
out of
vacation and
sick days for
her job as a
U.S. Customs
broker for the
government.
His lawyer
wants to
remove the
requirement
that she
accompany him
on his trips
to Brooklyn to
the therapist,
and be
replaced by
lifelong
friend Matthew
Kelly, M.D..
The case was
kicked until
September.
Inner City
Press will
continue to
cover this.
Back on
June 5 in the SDNY
Magistrates Court
with Inner
City Press the
only media
present,
Pivnick was
led out of the
cell block to
to the office
on the side of
the
Magistrates
Court.
Pivnick on
June 5 emerged
with a piece
of paper, and
a smile. The
docket,
however, showed
nothing.
See also Patreon and June 25 Patreon.
On May 30
Bryan Pivnick
was brought in
foot shackles
before SDNY Magistrate
Judge James L.
Cott after 6
pm. Assistant
US Attorney
Thomas Wright,
who later
confirmed the
spelling of Pivnick's
name to Inner
City Press,
argued for detention.
He
described
Telegram
messages on February
10, 2019 in which
Pivnick said
he was "getting
close to the
11 y/o bro"
of his
boyfriend. The
same 11
year old was
found in
Pivnick's
apartment when
he was
arrested.
Now on May 31,
with requests
to various
authorities unanswered,
there is this
from the now
public
complaint: Bryan
Pivnick is also
known as
"magnapraeda." FBI Agent
Matthew
Deragon swore,
before Judge
Cott agreed to
free Pivnick,
that he had
found on
Pivnick's cell
phone images
of penetrated
infants in
diapers, also
a male child
one to
three years
old.
The full
quote alluded
to on May
30: "I'm
trying to get
close to a
buddy's 11yo
bro [devil
emoji]." He then
told another
now
incarcerated
"User-2" that
"I'd love to
share." They confirm Pivnick
lived in Manhattan
- see Patreon.
Pivnick's
Federal
Defenders lawyer
Philip
Weinstein
protested that
the 11
year old is
the son of
Pivnick's
boyfriend and
that the
photos were
not naked -
they were at a
museum. "The SPY
museum,"
Pivnick audibly
said.
Pivnick's
mother
and
step-father
were in the
gallery. When
Pivnick was
brought in his
mother cried
and left
courtroom.
Later she
spoke up to
tell Judge
Cott that her
home in
New Jersey has
"Raid
security"
which can film
whomever
approaches it.
Judge Cott said he
would take a
recess
to decide. But
before that
happened, none
other
than the mother of
the 11 year
told, a Ms. Chapman,
spoke up from
the gallery.
She said that
while she
will never
again allow
her son to see
Pivnick, they
had shared a
dog together,
that she had
paid for.
She objected
to AUSA Wright
saying Pivnick
doesn't have
steady work,
noting that he
works 11 hours
a day on a
musical, albeit
not for money.
While Cott and
his Deputy Mr.
Tan never read
out the index
number
of the case,
online
research by
Inner City Press found
a Bryan
Pivnick who is
described
in Marymount
Manhattan
Magazine in
2010-11: "Early
this spring
semester,
Bryan Pivnick
’11 brought
the beginnings
of a song to
class. He
wasn’t sure
where he was
going with it,
but wanted to
get some
feedback to
help guide
him. Students
reacted with
confusion to
his phrasing
and were
unsatisfied
with his rhyme
schemes. In a
previous
class,
Pivnick, a
theatre arts
major, had
received
favorable
responses from
the class when
he shared a
song from a
separate
project, a
developing
musical in
which he had
provided the
class with
clear
characters and
context for
the direction
those songs
were taking."
Bryan
Pivnick also registered
with GoDaddy a
website named
TheDramatistsLab.org.
It is not
live. An
address on the
Upper
West Side is
also listed
but no longer
seems
relevant for
this format. (But
see Patreon,
here.)
Cott emerged
and said that,
unlike a
homeless man
less than an
hour later
whom he
remanded to
the MCC for
online threats
to DC Mayor
Muriel Bowser, of
whom Pre Trial
Services noted
"ties to
Nigeria," Pivnick
could be
freed. His
mother will
put up her home
and agree to
have her
computer and
other
electronics
password
protected.
Pivnick is not
to see the
boyfriend,
who is now a witness.
In the back of
the Mag
Court, Ms.
Chapman was discussing
what was on
Pivnick's
phone. Then the
homeless man
was remanded,
his bond
application
denied.
The
next hearing
for Pivnick is
in
September.
Inner City
Press and @SDNYLIVE will be there.
***
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