| COVID Restrictions Delayed Safety
Valve Proffer But Now Cuong Bang Pleads
Guilty
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Oct 6 – Cuong Bang was
charged in a drug conspiracy
with his brother. He is
eligible for the Safety Valve
but understandably did not
want his proffer used against
his brother, who the US argues
is not safety value eligible.
On July 9,
2020 U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New
York Judge Lewis J. Liman held
a proceeding. Inner City Press
covered it.
Assistant
US Attorney Elizabeth Hanft
argued that Judge Liman should
set a trial date, that Cuong
Bang could not pick his own
timing for a proffer.
Judge Liman,
noting the delay of trials by
the COVID-19 pandemic, instead
set another conference for
September 11 (which he called
an inauspicious day, but one
by more may be known about the
timing of trials).
Cuong Bang's
lawyer Sabrina Shroff noted
that the US Attorney's Office
in some cases emphasizes that
trial must be delayed and in
other case like this one seeks
to push forward. She cited
upcoming trial for other other
detained clients.
On May 14, 2021,
Judge Liman held another
conference, by Zoom and phone,
and Inner City Press again
covered it. The US Attorney's
Office maintains that a
written proffer is not enough,
that it wants to ask follow up
questions.
But Cuong
Bang's lawyer Sabrina Shroff
understandably wanted to be
present. Judge Liman set a
July 12 deadline for motions,
and said COVID seemed to be
lifting.
Now on October 6
with everyone in the SDNY
courthouse still masked, Cuong
Bang Zoomed in and pleaded
guilty. He allocuted to that
his brother asked him to pick
up drugs - meth - and pick up
money in New York. When asked,
he said Manhattan.
Judge Liman set
sentencing for January 18 at 2
pm.
This case
is US v. Bang et al.,
19-cr-213 (Liman)
***
Your
support means a lot. As little as $5 a month
helps keep us going and grants you access to
exclusive bonus material on our Patreon
page. Click
here to become a patron.
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
SDNY Press Room 480, front cubicle
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA
Mail: Box 20047, Dag
Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2019 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com for
|
,
