| In SDNY Polanco Takes 87 Month Plea
Deal For Selling Fentanyl to Undercover Asks
What Else Can I Do?
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Exclusive Patreon
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
July 23 – With the
courtroom was
nearly full
for a mere
scheduling
proceeding for
Michael
Avenatti on
July 23, three
stories beneath a
man was
pleading
guilty and
agreeing to 87
months in
prison in an
nearly empty
courtroom.
There were
only Judge Naomi Reice
Buchwald and
her deputy,
one Assistant
US Attorney,
defendant
Polanco, his
interpreter
and his lawyer
- and Inner
City Press.
The allocution
was not as
smooth as it
might have
been.
Asked
to confirm
that he was
pleading guilty,
Mr. Polanco
said, "What
else can I
do?" This took
some
unwinding: you
could go to
trial.
He said
in Spanish, Tengo
que
ir a juico,
which means, I
have to go to
trial. But one
could also
translate it, I
have to be
brought to justice.
He sold
heroin and
fentanyl to an
undercover
agent. And on
November 5 at
the
same 2:30 pm
he will be
sentenced.
Inner City
Press will
stay on this
and other
cases in the
SDNY.
While
many even most
cases in the
Magistrates
Court of the U.S.
District Court
for the
Southern
District of
New York are
sealed or have
no case number
given, on July 23
before
Magistrate
Judge Stewart
D. Aaron,
things were a
bit
clearer.
Two
defendants in
the case case
were
presented, one
after the
other, and
each bailed on
$75,000 bond
with two
co-signers. The
case number,
unlike the
recent USA v.
Perlson plea
before SDNY
Judge Crotty,
was available
on PACER. The
defendants,
Aaron Paul
Hudgins (with
a Federal
Defender) and
Jalen
Dominguez
(with a CJA
who was
briefing what
looked to be
students in
the gallery)
allegedly
ordered cell
phones using
other people's
accounts and
some
counterfeit
IDs, picking
them up in
Tennessee and
Kentucky. Both
have
preliminary
hearings set
for August 22.
Cordial
Judge Aaron
wrapped up the
day's
presentations
before 6 pm,
when another
group of
alleged
conspirators,
this time for
GSE bond
sales, came
down from
Judge
Rakoff's.
We'll have
more on both
cases.
On July
22 more
typically, a
defendant referred
to only as
"Ms. Grandison"
(phonetic) was
released on a
$20,000 bond
on charges of
access devise
fraud and
aggravated
identity
theft. A
request for
more on this
presentment,
including case
number and
spelling of
name, is
pending.
Back on
July 17 in
a case that,
hours after
the defendants
were ordered
released on
bail remained listed
as "sealed,"
Munif Ahmed stands
accused of conspiracy
to distribute
large
quantities of
drugs
from China and
with telling
the now cooperating
witness,
"Don't f*ck
with me."
The
government
argued that
Ahmed is a
risk to flee
to Yemen; his
Criminal
Justice Act
lawyer said
no, blood
clots in his
legs prevent
him from
flying. Then
there was the
matter of
where Mr.
Ahmed lives -
on Anderson
Avenue in the
Bronx with his
uncle or in
the store on
West 168th
Street which
he lists on
his ID. This
was ascribed
to not having
an interpreter
during the
interview with
pre trial
services.
Ahmed
was ordered
released on a
$250,000 bond
with $30,000
in cash or
property. His
co-defendant
who called "Mr
Lazzaro"
before turning
himself in
must put up
$40,000 cash.
He drive Uber;
Inner City
Press predicts
he or Mr.
Lazzaro or his
associate will
move to relax
the conditions
of release to
extend beyond
the Southern
and Eastern
Districts of
New York.
Watch this
site.
On July
15 there was a
more visceral
mystery. Between
two
presentments
and bond
hearings no
fewer than
10 NYC
Emergency
Medical
Services
paramedics
rushed into
the Mag Court
cell block.
Then emerged
with a man on
a gurney,
followed by a
US Marshal
with shackles,
on their way
to "Downtown,"
the NY
Downtown
Hospital at
100 William
Street. Better
there than the
MCC, someone
said.
O
***
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