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By Matthew Russell Lee, Scope, @SDNYLIVE

SDNY COURTHOUSE, April 26 – When Robert Espinel who pled guilty in the NYPD gun license scandal appeared for sentencing on April 26, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York courtroom of Judge Edgardo Ramos was full of Espinel supporters, some of whom cried.

Espinel spoke, but much shorted than his co-defendant Paul Dean who received an 18 month sentence from Judge Ramos back in January. Espinel did however mention both Nine Eleven and super storm Sandy.

Judge Ramos praised Espinel for attending his daughters' sports events - something he said he wished he'd made time to do - but called Espinel's betrayal of his position "confounding" before imposing a sentence of a year and a day, followed by two years of supervised release.

Here's from the US Attorney's January press release (for some reason the Office did not publicize Friday's Espinel sentencing) -- "Robert Espinel was a member of the NYPD from 1995 through his retirement in 2016, and was assigned to the License Division from 2011 through 2016.   From at least 2013 through 2016, multiple NYPD officers in the License Division serving under DEAN’s command, including David Villanueva and Richard Ochetal, solicited and accepted bribes from gun license expediters – including Frank Soohoo, Alex Lichtenstein, a/k/a “Shaya,” and co-defendant Gaetano Valastro, a former NYPD detective – in exchange for providing assistance to the expediters’ clients in obtaining gun licenses quickly and often with little to no diligence.  In 2015 DEAN and Espinel decided to retire and go into the expediting business themselves.  In order to ensure the success of their business, DEAN and Espinel planned to bribe Villanueva and Ochetal, who were still in the License Division, to enable their clients to get special treatment.  They also agreed with Valastro to run their expediting and bribery scheme out of Valastro’s gun store.  According to the plan, Valastro would benefit from the scheme because DEAN and Espinel would steer successful applicants to Valastro’s store to buy guns.  They also tried to corner the expediting market by forcing other expediters to work through them.  Specifically, DEAN and Espinel attempted to coerce Frank Soohoo, another gun license expediter, into sharing his expediting clients with them by threatening to use their influence in the License Division to shut down Soohoo’s expediting business if Soohoo refused to work with, and make payments to, DEAN and Espinel. "

 As if in a parallel universe, Roberto Sanchez pled guilty to narcotics offensed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Pennsylvania in 2017 and was to appeared to sentenced, with a mandatory five year minimum.

  Then he disappeared.

  On April 24 he reappeared in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York arraignments courtroom, presided over by this week by retiring Magistrate Judge Henry Pitman. Unlike most here, including Michael Avenatti, he was not asking for a free lawyer. His retained counsel Angelo Antonio Castro III told Judge Pitman that Sanchez is supporting three children in The Bronx and had never, in reality, fled.

  Judge Pitman said that one can as surely flee in a metropolitan area as to Timbuktu, and that in any event, remand to the MCC was mandatory.

 But Sanchez' lawyer simply would not give up, insisted first that the Pennsylvania plea was been based on coersion - Judge Pitman said the warrant was valid on its face - then finally asking that under Rule 20 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure the delayed sentencing now be moved to the SDNY. Chaos ensued.

  Judge Pitman to his credit - we say this in light of yesterday's reporting - did not dismiss this Hail Mary out of hand, saying it was a case of firs impression. The AUSA said there was no consent; Judge Pitman replied that neither Office has been asked. Finally reference was made to "Part I" as an appellate remedy, something about which Inner City Press the only media in the courtroom asked about on the way out. Watch this site, and @SDNYLIVE.

The day before on April 23, two defendants arrested at Newark International Airport for an advance fee scheme, essentially predatory lending, were presented before Judge Pitman. One of them, Omar Young of 107 West Fourth Street, Granton, Wisconsin, was given a free / publicly funded lawyer despite having $215,000 in a business checking account. The other, a Mister Perlman of northern Georgia, has $161,000 in the bank but his counsel, from the white shoe firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, argued that he should be given a free lawyer - and that the whole proceeding should be sealed. But it was held in open court, and Inner City Press was there, albeit the only media present. Why is a corporate law firm like Sullivan & Cromwell representing a predatory lender -- alleged, of course -- and arguing they should be paid, and it should be sealed? Inner City Press aims to have more on this case. For now we note that in the open court proceeding it was said that no hotel can be found in or around New York City for less than $250 to $300 a night, and each defendant was allowed while getting publicly funded counsel to spend $2000 a week while in New York. That's $102,000 a week, deemed reasonable by the court and Sullivan & Cromwell, in a District where many families don't make that in a decade. Inner City Press will have more on this.

   Earlier on April 23, also by Judge Pitman, a defendant accused of selling fake IDs over the Dark Net was told to stop using that platform while given bail on April 23. The defendant, apparently also an Italian citizen and a restaurant consultant, has social media showing his shooting guns and has, according to the government, purchased "SWAT-ing" services (Google it). But Judge Pitman told him not to use the TOR net, while asking rhetorically if they even make phones anymore without the Internet, other than those advertised in the back pages of AARP Magazine. Indeed.

Earlier on April 23 a man was denied bail after naming his Instagram account "Catch Me If You Can."  A Mister Crowder, wearing a "World Sacrifice Tour" t-shirt, was requesting bail. But Judge Pitman asked about the naming of his Instagram account, and the two excuses given, that it was named after a Leo DiCaprio movie ("I've seen it," Judge Pitman said) and that he later changed "if you can" to "if you could," were unavailing. The marshals took him back into the cell block Judge Pitman said to close the door to, less than an hour before affluent opioids distributor Laurence Doud was released on $500,000 bail and walked with his lawyer Mister Gottlieb across Foley Square with Inner City Press asking questions, Periscope video here. We'll have more on this.

Back on April 18 a defendant pled guilty to selling marijuana and having a gun in Manhattan, to a plea agreement specifying 37 to 46 months. Magistrate Judge Moses asked the defendant if he had written his allocation himself. Sporting an ACE bandage on his right wrist, he said Yes. Moments later a Mr. Butler, with neck tattoo, stepping up with a financial affidavit and a lawyer, to be appointed as he is a material witness. So you work construction? Judge Moses asked. The answer was yes, and that it was seasonal - he was not going to work tonight because it was going to pour rain. Judge Moses asked, Is it? And by 6 pm, there was still no rain. But her week was over, and not uninteresting, including disputes with both the Federal Defenders and, less so, with the government. We will continue to cover this.

A defendant accused in New York courts of attempted murder but released because not indicted in six days was denied bail on April 17 by SDNY Magistrate Judge Moses  after a contentious 5 p.m. proceeding with Inner City Press the only media present. The Federal Defender argued that the NY ADA's inability to indict within the six day time frame of NY CPLR 3030 meant there really is no evidence. The Federal Assistant U.S. Attorney said she had called her state counterpart who assured they are investigating. Federal Magistrate Judge Moses said she would not credit anything not actually before the court - but that attempted murder sounds serious. The defendant is being remanded and held, it seems, until a hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Keenan. Inner City Press will cover that as well.

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