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By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive Patreon

SDNY COURTHOUSE, July 31 – Octavio Goenaga while in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn on drug charges has been unable to sleep, was temporarily unable to get access to the discovery material against him sent by FedEx to the MDC, and asked to change his lawyer.

 On July 31 before U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Valerie E. Caproni it all came together in a guilty plea, with a request for psychological help still outstanding, and a sentencing in November.  The case is US v. Goenaga, 18-cr-840 (VEC); in Docket #35 Goenaga asked for other CJA lawyer, by name: "Christopher Paul Madiou of 233 Broadway... I was told he is much more experienced with situations like mine."

  Judge Caproni apparently did not make the re-assignment, but did ask Goenaga about his health and the Oxy he referred to in his letter from the MDC: "I was living on my niece's couch, my $300 credit card I had from Capital One was maxed out... I bought pain pills to support my habit."

 Meanwhile lawyer Justin Levine is still in trouble, medical as well as legal. On June 21 he was arraigned for bringing contraband - cigarettes and allegedly marijuana and a scalpel - to one of his incarcerated clients.

  Now made public on July 24, this: "ORDER as to Geraldine Perez. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that no later than August 2, 2019, Mr. Levine must pay a civil sanction to the Clerk of Court of $500. (Signed by Judge Valerie E. Caproni on 7/23/2019)."

 Some backstory: from Metropolitan Hospital Levine e-mailed a photo of his passport with an entry stamp to Colombia on June 22 and an exit on June 27. This is followed in the docket was a "Sealed Document." How did it come to this?

 On July 2 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York courtroom of Judge Valerie Caproni, with Inner City Press the only media present, Levine was given two weeks to explain what Judge Caproni called a lie, or be referred to the SDNY's Disciplinary Committee.

  Levine has been representing Geraldine Perez in a case involving bank fraud which Inner City Press has covered since March, here. Levine's sentencing submission included, incongruously, a single page of a handwritten letter. Judge Caproni issued an order that Levine must refile the letter.

Levine did not respond.

When he did, he claimed that "soon after the sentence I left the country for a previously scheduled vacation. While in South America I had no access to my e-mail. I returned on June 27th, whereupon I learned of this Court's orders."

But Levine had been in New York, and himself charged with a crime, on June 21.

Judge Caproni asked him repeatedly who what he had told her was not affirmatively misleading, or a lie.  Levine dodged as best as he could, saying he could see why it appeared to be misleading.

Finally Judge Caproni gave him a deadline to explain it all in writing and under oath or she will refer him to the SDNY Disciplinary Committee. More on Patreon, here. Will Judge Caproni be convinced by the photo of the passport and the affirmation? In 2016, Levine withdrew as counsel for Xavier Correa who even after getting a 5K letter from the US Attorney's Office was sentenced to 220 months in prison by SDNY Judge Kaplan. After Correa claimed ineffective assistance of counsel Levine asked to withdraw - followed by a series of sealed documents. That case is USA v. Correa, 11-cr-59 (LAK). We'll have more on this.
, into her courtroom arrived four individuals seemingly unconnected from Nunez' Washington Heights crime. After Nunez' family left following the nine year sentence imposed by Judge Caproni, the four went to the front. It was a US Attorney and and FBI agent, a defense lawyer named Levin and the defendant, Jorge Torrealba. He was soft spoken, waiving his right to be indicted but pleading not guilty. To what? Receipt and possession of child pornography. The government, as it turns out, asked for a continuance to review "mitigation materials." His lawyer asked for more time so he could see a new psychologist, since his last one stopped accepting his insurance. When afterward Inner City Press, the only media present for this proceeding, received the case on Pacer it was truly horrific, including a reference to a two year old, on Kik Messenger. This is the same SDNY where an employee of the West Side Market got five years for ordering up child porn, live, from the Dominican Republic. Should coverage of these proceeding be hindered, or limited to those who choose not to cover it?