SDNY Seeks To Seal Evidence
of Cooperation of Bronx Cabbie Lizardo
Despite Trial Testimony
By Matthew
Russell Lee, More on Patreon
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
May 15 – A taxi driver who
pled guilty to involvement in
a narcotics conspiracy in the
Bronx was sentenced on May 15
to time served,
Then he had the
entire sentencing proceedings
purportedly sealed, to conceal
his role as a cooperating
witness.
But the
sentencing took place in open
court, before U.S.
District Court
for the
Southern
District of
New York Judge
Naomi
Reice Buchwald.
And the
cabbie, Roberto
Lizardo,
testified at
trial on
March 23, 2018,
including
about his
cooperation
agreement. Could
this be
retroactively
sealed, too?
Lizardo's
lawyer argued
that his
client may be
subject to a
removal
order to the Dominican
Republic
where, he
said, they do
not like
informants.
Assistant
U.S. Attorney
Nathan Wren said
he and
presumably his
office had no
problem with
sealing
everything. He
said that Lizardo's
cooperation
had not only
help convict Lizardo's
co-defendant Roberto
Arce but had
convinced
Daniel Monsanto Lopez
to not pursue a so-called
Fatico hearing
to try to
to show he is
or was
eligible for a First
Step Act
"safety valve" and
thus a lesser
sentence.
Should
all of this be
confidential?
Even if so,
how can that
be effectuated
if the
proceedings were
in open court?
US v. Lizardo,
16-cr-643, was
listed on the
electronic
board in the
lobby of the
Daniel
Patrick
Moynahan
Federal
Courthouse
on May 15. Likewise on
May 15 it was
said that
it would be
difficult for the
public to
learn of Lizardo's
testimony
since the
transcripts
are only
available on
Pacer
terminals in
the
courthouse.
We'll have
more on this - for
now, we have
more on
Patreon, here.
Earlier in
May on the other side of Pearl
Street in 40 Foley Square,
defendant Jesus Lopez walked
into the SDNY courtroom of
Judge Valerie E. Caproni to be
sentenced on May 1 for driving
10 kilograms of cocaine from
California to New York.
He was
wearing a suit; he had been
allowed out on bond while
awaiting sentencing due to his
mother having Stage Four
cancer. Before the sentencing
he uploaded a video directed
at Judge Caproni but still
online as of this writing on
Vimeo, here.
The
courtroom was full, with two
U.S. Marshals in the back row,
and the two front rows, Inner
City Press was later informed
by a participant in the
proceeding, filled by judges
from China. Lopez' lawyer Jeff
Greco argued in his sentencing
submission for time served,
essentially one month.
But Judge
Caproni, after asking
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan
Rhen why the government wasn't
seeking forfeiture of the
truck Lopez used to drive the
drugs - "there's a lot of
equity in there," she said --
looked sternly at Lopez.
Judge Caproni was not
impressed by Lopez' statement
that he took drugs because he
was bored, that boredom was
one of his triggers. She said
she did not believe that he
had only agreed to drive the
drugs in order to feed his own
habit. First she sentenced him
to 60 month, five years, in
prison.
Then as
the U.S. Marshals rustled in
the row behind Inner City
Press, she said she would be
remanding Lopex into custody
today. Right now. Her
courtroom deputy handed the
Marshals an order to that
effect.
Defense attorney Greco said
that Lopez' mother could die
at any time, and that the
Bureau of Prisons would be
unlikely to let him out to
attend her funeral. Judge
Caproni said there was no way
to know when his mother would
die, and that she had allowed
him to remain out on bond
pending sentencing so he could
spent time with her. The
Chinese judges sat as Jesus
Lopez took his wallet out of
his pants and put his hands
out for shackling.
A well known
courtroom
artist in the
SDNY has told
Inner City
Press about
the time she
managed to
sketch a
similar remand
of a higher
profile
defendant,
Bernie Madoff.
But there was
no artist
present for
the remand of
Jesus Lopez,
and cameras
are not
allowed - only
this article.
The case is U.S.
v. Lopez,
part of the
larger
conspiracy
prosecution U.S.
v. Soto et al.,
18-cr-00282
(Caproni).
Notably one
floor above in
40
Foley Square,
a man who pled
guilty to
stealing $7
million in
Medicare and
Medicaid fraud
has had his
sentencing
delayed for a
year already,
and perhaps
another year,
so that his
wife can
finish a
medical
residency
program. That
case is U.S
v. Javed,
16-cr-00601-VSB.
Unlike the
unpublicized
case of Jesus
Lopez,
the Office of
the US
Attorney for
the SDNY
announced the
Javed
sentencing to
the press (but
not its
subsequent
deferral).
Click here
for that
story.
Which approach
is the right
one? How can
these
disparities be
explained?
These are
among the
questions that
Inner City
Press will be
pursuing, in
the SDNY.
Watch this
site, and the
new @SDNYLIVE
Twitter feed.
Background: Even
in Judge Caproni's courtroom,
there are more positive or
lenient stories. When Todd
Howe, who pled guilty in the
New York State corruption
case(s), came up for
sentencing on April 5, Judge
Caproni was
told that Howe
is now working
more than 12
hours a day in
Idaho, on ski
slopes and now
a golf course.
After his
guilty plea he
had been
remanded to
the
Metropolitan
Correctional
Center when he
disputed to
Capital One
some credit
card charges
and the
government
believed it to
be another
attempted
fraud.
With
him out of MCC
for seven
months, Judge
Caproni said
it may have
just been a
mistake. She
put off
sentencing
Howe, instead
putting him on
five years
probation. If
he "stays
clean" during
that time, it
all goes away.
If not, he
faces serious
time.
In the
elevator down
after Howe's
lawyer, in
what she
called her
last criminal
sentencing,
said Howe
still respects
government
service after
his lobbying
career
meltdown,
Inner City
Press asked
Howe what he
thought for
example of
congestion
pricing. He
laughed and
said it is not
needed in
Idaho.
Meanwhile a
shackled
prisoner Jones
was led into
Judge
Caproni's now
empty
courtroom to
plead guilty
to selling
crack in The
Bronx and
hiding a gun
after a 1999
felony
conviction.
That
sentencing is
set for August
1. Inner City
Press and @SDNYLIVE will be there.
***
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