| COVID Delayed Safety Valve Proffer So
Cuong Bang Got 80 Months Now Loses 2009
Infiniti
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
May 3 – Cuong Bang was
charged in a drug conspiracy
with his brother. He was and
is eligible for the Safety
Valve but understandably did
not want his proffer used
against his brother, who the
US argues was not safety value
eligible (and got 180 months).
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 maintained that a
written proffer was 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 seems to be
lifting.
Jump cut to April
27, 2022, when Cuong Bang was
up for sentencing. The AUSA
wanted 96 months; Shroff asked
for 60 months, and spoke
convincingly of Cuong Bang's
limited role. Judge Liman
split the difference - almost
- and arrived at 80 months.
On May 3, Judge
Liman issued this: "CONSENT
PRELIMINARY ORDER OF
FORFEITURE AS TO SPECIFIC
PROPERTY as to (19-Cr-213-2)
Cuong Bang.... IT IS HEREBY
STIPULATED AND AGREED that: 1.
As a result of the offense
charged in Count One of the
Indictment, to which the
Defendant pled guilty, all of
the Defendant's right, title
and interest in the Specific
Property is hereby forfeited
to the United States for
disposition in accordance with
the law, subject to the
provisions of Title 21, United
States Code, Section 853. 2.
Pursuant to Rule 32.2(b)(4) of
the Federal Rules of Criminal
Procedure, this Consent
Preliminary Order of
Forfeiture as to Specific
Property is final as to the
Defendant CUONG BANG and shall
be deemed part of the sentence
of the Defendant, and shall be
included in the judgment of
conviction therewith....[***
See this Consent Preliminary
Order of Forfeiture As To
Specific Property ***]. SO
ORDERED: (Signed by Judge
Lewis J. Liman on 5/3/2022)."
And the property
is... one 2009 Infiniti FX35,
VIN JNRAS18U39M102426." And so
it goes in the SDNY.
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
|
,
