| In Sex Trafficking Case
Paused By Covid Justin Rivera Was Found
Guilty, Now Gets 21 Years
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Thread
BBC
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SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Oct 11 – In the sex
trafficking trial of US v.
Carl Andrews that Inner City
Press has been reporting on
despite a partially sealed
courtroom and US Attorney
withholding of exhibits, the
defense on March 14, 2020
asked for and got a stay and
then end of the trial.
The reason?
Coronavirus COVID-19.
For that
re-trial one of the US
Attorney's Office's witnesses
is blamed for putting the
jury, court staff, and the
Press at risk (Inner City
Press witnessed and reported
on her March 12 testimony, here),
see below.
On April 21,
2021, U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New
York Judge Paul A. Engelmayer
held a conference in the
run-up to the related US v.
Rivera trial, set for June.
On June 9, the US
Attorney's office was nearing
closing its case. On the
afternoon of June 9 victim
Natalie Rivera answered
question after question from
the Assistant US Attorney,
like:
Did you
want to keeping to prostitute
for him?
Answer: No.
What
did he mean by, you're my
bottom b-word?
Answer:
That's how pimps keep their
prostitutes.
Her
testimony came across as
forthright, as least to this
reporter. The jury filed out
at 4:55 pm, and Judge
Engelmayer arranged for
defense lawyer Anthony Cecutti
to meet with Rivera inside 40
Foley before he was taken back
to the MCC.
On June 11
until 1:12 pm, Justin Rivera's
defense lawyer gave his
closing to the 15 jurors and
alternates. He admitted, there
were guns, Justin beat
Natalie, they engaged in
prostitution business. But he
said Natalie had agency, that
she chose to prostitute
herself. He began, soon
another person will be in that
chair --
The
Assistant US Attorney
objected, and Judge Engelmayer
sustained the objection. With
the jury out to lunch, he
admonished the defense for
misstating the standard on
venue. It's not if the jury
doubts the memory of being in
Manhattan and the Bronx, it's
the preponderance of evidece.
At 5 pm on June
11, Inner City Press went back
to the courtroom, expecting to
see the jurors instructed on
not reading about the case
(here) over the weekend.
First, Judge Engelmayer
said that the jurors had
selected the foreperson, Juror
Number 1, and that he would be
sending them away for the
weekend. Then he said, There's
a been a verdict.
That was fast.
Six U.S.
Marshals came into the back
row where Inner City Press was
standing (the gallery had only
nine positions, largely taken
up with overflow counsel).
The jurors
were led in. On Count 1,
Conspiracy to commit sex
trafficking, how do you find?
The foreman said, Guilty. So
did the others when polled.
It being six
o'clock, Judge Engelmayer did
not yet set a sentencing date.
And the verdict won't be
docketed until Monday. But
it's here, just after, on
Inner City Press. And see this
live stream stand-up.
Now on December
30, the day after the
conviction of Ghislaine
Maxwell on five of six sex
trafficking charges, Rivera's
sentence was pushed back:
ORDER as to Justin Rivera: The
Court has received the
Government's letter of
December 22, 2021, Dkt. 930,
seeking an adjournment of
defendant Justin Rivera's
sentencing, presently
scheduled for January 20,
2022, and the defense's letter
of December 27, 2021, Dkt.
931, consenting to such
adjournment, albeit for
different reasons. The Court
grants the unopposed motion
and adjourns sentencing until
Monday, March 14, 2022, at
9:30 am. (Sentencing set for
3/14/2022 at 09:30 AM before
Judge Paul A. Engelmayer)
(Signed by Judge Paul A.
Engelmayer on 12/29/2021).
On October 4,
2022, with the sentencing
still not done but upcoming,
the US put in its 18 page
sentencing memorandum. While
Rivera is asking for something
"closer to 132 months," the US
Attorney's Office wants at
least 300 months. They
discussed not only trafficking
but witness tampering.
On October 11,
Judge Engelmayer sentenced
Justin Rivera to 21 years in
prison for conspiring to sex
traffic two victims, along
with five years of supervised
release.
Watch this site.
Back on March 22,
Judge Engelmayer held another
proceeding, and Inner City
Press again covered it. One of
the issues involved Justin
Rivera being moved out of the
SHU in the MCC. His laptop
with discovery on it should be
transferred with him, Judge
Engelmayer said. He suggested
the Rivera's counsel email the
MCC, copying the US Attorney's
Office which should "me too
it," Judge Engelmayer said.
Watch this site.
On January 4, Judge Engelmayer held a
telephone conference about the new and
belated files, and Inner City Press covered
it. Because the US Attorney's Office
maintained that the trial should
still go forward
on February 16, Judge
Engelmayer said
3500 material
would be due - and, on
January 15, a letter reporting (Nejad-style)
on its
investigation as
to how the discovery lapse came
about." Watch
this site.
The case
is now US v. Rivera, 19-cr-131 (Engelmayer).
***
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