| In SDNY Murder For Hire Jury
Trial Is 1st Since COVID As Testimony Turns To
Bronx Cell Sites
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Oct 16 – While many even most
cases in the Magistrates Court
of the
U.S.
District Court
for the
Southern
District of
New York are
sealed, on
June 13, 2019
then-US
Attorney Geoffrey
L. Berman
announced the
arrest and
presentment of
two middle
aged men for
murder for hire, and
said they had
already been
presented in
the Magistrates
Court.
But even an
hour later,
the case file
or docket for
19-cr-395 said
"This case is
under seal." Inner
City Press asked,
as to this and
other murky
Mag Court
cases, Why? Then on
July 26 Ramon
Ramirez was
denied bail by
District Judge
P. Kevin
Castel, pending
trial.
On
October
15, 2020 as
the first
criminal jury
trial in the
SDNY after
months of COVID-19
modifications
and CourtCalls, the
trial began.
Inner City
Press live
tweeted Day 1 here and
below.
And on
Day 2,
October 16, here:
Defense
lawyer Kluger:
So you were
committing a
crime wave in
Pittsfield,
Massachusetts,
correct?
CW1:
Please
rephrase the
question.
Defense
lawyer Kluger;
I'll withdraw
it. Count 9
was drug sale,
280 grams of
crack? CW1:
That's what it
says.
Now
co-defendant
Vance Collins'
lawyer Eric
Breslin, of
Duane Morris:
Where did you
meet my
client?
CW1: In
the Bronx.
Breslin: Did
he introduce
you to
Santeria? CW1:
Yes.
Breslin:
Do you smoke
pot in Orange
County Jail?
CW1: Yes. But
I never got
caught.
Breslin:
And you mixed
crack and
marijuana in a
cigar? CW1: In
a blunt.
Breslin: Tell
the jury what
a blunt is.
CW1: A cigar.
Breslin:
So you've been
selling drugs
for 20 years?
CW1:
Yes.
Breslin:
Did you
cooperate with
the Bronx DA?
CW1:
Yes. But this
is my first
time with the
Feds. I don't
know how it
works. I need
that 5K
letter.
Breslin:
How long has
it been since
you saw your
mother?
CW1:
Two years.
Breslin: Does
you wife come
to prison?
CW1
(voice rising)
NOBODY COMES
TO VISIT ME IN
PRISON.
Breslin:
No further
questions.
Then
testimony
turned dry, to
cell site records
in The Bronx
(Barnes
Avenue and
Boston Road),
Queens and
Yonkers. The trial
will continue
and probably
wrap up next
week.
From
Day 1, October
15:
The US
Attorney's
Office's
witness is
rattling off
the crimes
he's been in
jail for since
October 29,
2018 - drugs
in the Bronx,
firearms.
He has
describing
*trying* to
commit a
murder for
hire in
Queens. But
the
prospective
victim would
not leave his
house
The
government's
cooperating
witness says
of course he's
trying to get
a lighter
sentence. Now
he's up for
cross
examination.
First
up is Ramirez'
lawyer Matthew
Kluger: Who
decides if
you're telling
the truth?
Cooperating
witness
(CW-1): I do
Note:
Inner City
Press in
covering the
case reported
"Ramirez came
from Nicaragua
in 1996 and
does not have
a passport
now- but has
an HVAC
business, E
& R
Refrigeration
Services." Now
Kluger is
asking about
the
business.
CW-1
called
co-defendant
Collins
"Big-AK"
Kluger: You're
not taking
about David
Green, you
sold drugs
with, but the
David you shot
in the head,
right? CW1:
Right.
Kluger:
Sometimes you
had a knife
with you,
because a gun
would make too
much noise?
CW1: That is
correct.
Kluger:
You claim you
were being
extorted, but
you were the
Big Homie,
right?
CW1:
Not in Mount
Vernon. I was
just a regular
drug dealer
there. He
wanted to get
free marijuana
from, and
money. He
disrespected
me. Kluger:
That made you
angry, right?
CW1:
Right.
CW1: I
wouldn't call
myself the
victim. But I
was
victimized.
Kluger:
They put you
back in jail,
right? You
told the judge
you changed
your life,
right? And he
believed you,
you were
convincing,
right?
CW1: I
felt like
that.
Kluger: But
you committed
more crimes.
Judge
Castel: Ladies
and gentlemen,
we are going
to break a
little early.
No emailing,
no research.
The weather
seems to be
with us today.
Be here early
tomorrow.
Back
in July 2019,
Ramirez' lawyer Matthew
J. Kluger
argued that most of
the case
against his
client is a cooperating
witness
with, he said,
two gun
charges against him in
the SDNY and a
VOSR. But
Assistant US
Attorney Celia V. Cohen said
Ramirez gave a
Mirandized
statement in
which he
admitted to discussing
putting
the man his
wife was
having an affair with
into a wheelchair,
and to paying
$2000.
Judge
Castel said
that with
Ramirez facing up
to ten years
in prison and
possible
deportation as
a non-citizen,
he is a
risk to flee,
and also a
danger not
only to the man who had
the affair
with his wife
but also any
possible
witnesses
against him. Judge Castel
said he could
not come up
with any conditions
to assure
return to
court and the
safety of the
community. So
it's been
detention
until trial.
The
case is US
v. Collins,
19-cr-395
(Castel)
***
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