| In
Trial About
Drug Deal in
Upper
Manhattan
Cooperator
Admits
Misstatements,
Waiver Issue
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
book
BBC -
Honduras
- CIA
Trial book - NY
Mag
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Nov 14 –
Pedro
Sosa-Zarzuela
is on trial
for conspiracy
to distribute
narcotics.
On
November 9 he
was described
in a car in
Upper
Manhattan with
a kilo of
cocaine for
sale for
$28,000. Inner
City Press was
in the
courtroom.
In
the run-up to
the trial,
U.S. District
Court for the
Southern
District of
New York Judge
Paul A. Crotty
on November 4
granted an
application to
partially seal
the courtroom,
providing an
audio feed
into another
courtroom as
he did,
previously, in
the first
trial of
Joshua Schulte
for CIA
leaks.
But
on November 9
it was open,
with the
witness on the
stand
describing the
drug deal on
215th Street
and Broadway.
The
AUSA asked the
witness to
step down and
put Post-it
notes on the
chart, to show
where the sale
took place.
There
was other
lawyers in the
gallery,
seemingly for
co-defendants
or
cooperators.
On
November 10,
many of these
remained in
the courtroom
when it was
locked and
sealed. In the
hallway
outside, Inner
City Press
spoke about
access with
the next
witness, a
cooperator as
it turned out,
Rodolfo
Escoto. Once
the doors were
unlocked he
took the stand
and described
dealing drugs,
including with
"Aguacate,"
and getting
arrested. Then
he pled guilty
and became a
cooperator,
now testifying
against his
brother in the
law, the
defendant.
On
November 14,
cooperator
Escoto was
still on the
stand, being
asked about
his
cooperating
agreement and
certain
misstatement
he had made -
early in the
process, he
quickly
specified.
An issue has
arisen whether
Escoto even
waived
discovery as a
defendant.
Sosa's white
shoe CJA
counsel says
written proof
of that waiver
has been
provided.
Watch this
site.
The
trial
continues. The
case is US v.
Sosa-Zarzuela,
21-cr-41
(Crotty)
***
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