| Ruless Pierre Jury Trial On
Embezzlement & Fraud Moves From Planet
Wings to Brother
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
May 24– Ruless Pierre is on
trial for securities fraud and
embezzlement.
On May 17,
U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Judge Sidney H. Stein began an
in-person jury trial in the
case.
Inner City Press
went to cover it, in-person
since there is no listen-only
call-in line as there was, for
example, in the recent US v.
Hild reverse mortgage fraud
trial before Judge Ronnie
Abrams.
Assistant
U.S. Attorney Robert Boone
said Pierre defrauded his
Haitian compatriots and
devoted the money to expensive
meals.
The witness
worked for a hotel in
Palisades, New York,
embezzlement from which Pierre
is charged.
On Marcy
18, with the trial paused for
a day, Inner City Press ]
reported on the record that
the US Attorney's Office
offered Pierre a plea
agreement with a stipulated
guidelines range of 51 to 63
months' imprisonment. It was
rejected.
On May 20, AUSA
Boone was questioning a victim
of Pierre's, who seemed to say
she was compensated from
bringing in more victims. She
was to withdraw $43.05 as a
test, she said.
On May 24,
Pierre's CJA lawyer Brooke
Cucinella of Simpson Thacher
cross examined at length about
charts showing Pierre's
finances, including his
purchase of a Planet Wings
franchise, and payments over
Zell.
Judge
Stein asked the witness, to
friendly laughter from the
jury, Do you have a Zell
account? He told the lawyers,
including AUSA Drew Skinner do
did the re-cross, to "chill."
The
Government will close on the
morning and May 25, and the
defense will have two
witnesses: Pierre's brother,
also involved in the Planet
Wings, and a summary witness.
Then a charging conference,
and closings on May 26. Watch
this site.
The case is
US v. Pierre, 19-cr-783
(Stein)
***
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