But she
cooperated
with the government
and received a
so called 5K
letter which
will go on the
docket
shortly. Judge
Nathan deemed
her more culpable
than a Ms.
Canty who was
sentenced to
three months
imprisonment, after
taking $166,000.
But Ms Kpana
cooperated, and
the government
did its part
with the 5K
letter. Many
of Ms Kpana's
church members
were in the
courtroom
on April 29 -
almost so many
they would
have move to
it to Courtroom 110 of
40 Foley
Square, her
lawyer said.
There were
audible sighs of
relief when Judge
Nathan,
after the
script about
Booker and its
progeny, said
no
incarceration.
One attendee
said, you
don't see many
happy people
in this courthouse.
Take it while
you can.
That's
what she said.
By constrast
on April 9 a
co-defendant
was sentenced
to 42 months in
jail, before a
nearly empty
courtroom. Afterward
the U.S.
Attorney's
Office
announced that
"MELANIE
WILLIAMS-BETHEA,
the former
director of
financial aid
at Teachers
College,
Columbia
University,
and two former
Teachers
College
students,
MAWULI HORMEKU
and CARMEN
CANTY, were
sentenced to
prison terms
for their
respective
roles in
illicitly
obtaining
hundreds of
thousands of
dollars from
Teachers
College
through a
years-long
bribery and
kickback
scheme." During
the
proceeding,
Judge Nathan
pointedly
asked the
Assistant U.S.
Attorney why
his office had
not sought the
ringleader
sentencing
enhancement
for Ms. Williams-Bethea,
and never really
got an answer.
The defense
lawyer said
she was more
of an equal
with the
students she
took half of
the fraudulent
stipends
from, and that
she is now seeking
a graduate
degree. Paid
for how? The
defense lawyer
said, Tomorrow
I have a client who
shot someone
three times in
the leg but it
pleading
to much less.
Which client is
that? The
questions just
continues, and
Inner City
Press will
continue asking
them.
Elon
Musk appeared in
Federal
court on
Thursday, to
oppose an SEC
motion that he
be held in
contempt for his
tweets
including about
500,000 Tesla
cars in
2019. After
nearly two
hours of argument
the SEC
and Musk's lawyers
were directed
to negotiate
for at least
one hour in
the next two
weeks and try
to reach a
settlement. Judge
Nathan admonished
the SEC for
not having
negotiated
enough before
"running into court
and saying the
sky was
falling," as
Musk's lawyer
put it.
Another member of
Musk's
team, whom
Inner City
Press in the
courtroom
dubbed Mister
Slick, moved
to sit between
Musk and the
podium and
passed a note.
Afterward
Musk jumped
into a Tesla
with no front
place waiting
in Foley Square
and sped away.
Inner City
Press recorded
a Periscope video (here)
and headed
back into the
courthouse.
Watch
this site. As
a class action
lawsuit
against BHH's
rodent
repellers creeps
toward trial
or settlement,
on April 1in
the the U.S.
District Court
for the
Southern District of
New York Judge
William Pauley
heard
arguments and
ruled on no
fewer than
14 motions in
limine. There
were nine from
the class
action plaintiffs,
mostly successful, and
five from the
defendant,
most unsuccessful.
During
the three
hours of
argument,
Judge Pauley said
today is not
the day to
admit
anonymous
customer reviews
from
Amazon.com
from the likes
of "TaterSpud59"
(whom he
referred to as
Tater Tot),
and said that
FTC press
releases dubious
about
repellers will or
would be
admissible at
trial, with a
possible
limiting
instruction.
There
was discussion
of experts
including a
Michigan State
University
protocol which
Judge Pauley
shot down, adding
that after MSU's
victory over
Duke, he is
not disposed
toward
them. Judge
Pauley took
more time listening
to arguments
than many
other judges
would, and
said he said
spent the
rainy Sunday -
on which Duke
was eliminated
from NCAA March
Madness -
to read all of
the papers.
The sense,
after the
mouse motion marathon,
was that the
plaintiffs are
in the driver's
seat, and that
the case may
settle. There
is a mediation
scheduled for
April 9 before
Hon. John S.
Martin (Ret). But
Inner
City Press
will be cover
it and what
happens in the
SDNY
either way. The case is
Hart, et
al. v. BHH,
LLC d/b/a Bell
+ Howell, et
al., 15-cv-04804;
class counsel
is Yitzchak
Kopel
and BHH is now
represented by
Quinn
Emanuel
We
were
also at Judge
Pauley's courtroom
on the news
there would be
a
proceeding in
US v Genovese,
a hedge fund
fraud
prosecution.
But it was not
there - once
we left the
courtroom
and retrieved
electronics,
we were
able to ask
and learned
Genovese
was adjourned
to April 10. We'll
have more on
this. Back
on February
15 when
Gustavo
Salvador pled
guilty to
selling oxycodon
in The Bronx
before SDNY
Judge Paul A.
Engelmayer, his two
lawyers tried to
argue for a
suspended
remand based
on the cold in
the MDC
Brooklyn.
Judge Engelmayer
turned them
down saying he
had personal
knowledge that
the heat was
back on; not
surprising.
Surprising,
though, was that
a Bronx oxy
dealer was
represented by
the white shoe
Goodwin
Proctor law
firm. Was it pro
bono? Their
representation
goes back at
least until
Thanksgiving,
before the MDC
Brooklyn
conditions
became public.
In the
audience, a
young child
then a baby
cried. The
volume of oxy
pills was in
the thousands,
according to
the
indictment.
The sentencing
guidelines run from
57 to 71 months.
Judge Engelmayer
said he
said something
else on his schedule
coming up, should
the sentencing
be
rescheduled?
It went
forward.
Goodwin
Proctor.
Later on
February 15: on
East 104th
Street in
Manhattan last
April 24,
multiple gunshots
to the chest
killed
17-year old
Samuel Ozuna.
A week later,
24-year old Gary
Turner was
arrested and
charged. When
Turner
on February
15 changed
his plea to
guilty in the
U.S. District
Court for the
Southern District of
New York, Azuna's
family members
sat on one
side of the courtroom.
On the other,
separted
by security
officers, were
supporters of
Turner. In the
back, the only
media in the room,
was Inner City
Press.
***
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