| In SDNY Rhino Horn Case
Moazu Kromah Pleads Guilty After Telling of
Liberia & Guinea
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
March 31 – Back on June
13, 2019 SDNY then-US
Attorney Geoffrey
L. Berman
announced the
indictment of
four citizens
of African nations
for trafficking
in rhino horn, elephant
ivory and heroin
into New York
and that
one of them, a
Liberian named
"Kampala Man," had
earlier in the
day been
arraigned in
the Magistrates
Court. Inner
City Press was
there.
On
December
11, 2019
assigned U.S.
District Court
for the
Southern
District of
New York Judge
Gregory H.
Woods held a
proceeding in
the case, or
tried to. The
interpreter
was not doing
simultaneous
or even complete
interpretation.
Judge Woods
reminded him
this was necessary,
as he
translated the
defendants
request to
know the name
of the judge.
Jump cut to
March 30,
2022, where Kromah
appeared in
Judge Woods
courtroom.
Inner City
Press was
there. As part
of the change
of plea
script, Judge
Woods asked
Kromah of
his employment history.
Kromah said
he was born in
Liberia and
sold shoes and
used clothes
there until the
civil war.
Then he moved
to Guinea. His
CJA counsel
urged him to
keep it simpler.
He did, and
pled guilty. Sentencing
is set for
June 29, 2022
at 11:00 a.m.
The case
is US v.
Kromah,
19-cr-338
(Woods).
It
is US v.
Kromah,
19-cr-338
(Woods).
Docketed
back
on August 19 was
Amara Cherif's
letter to
Judge Woods:
"I am
contacting you
to request an
official court
analysis of my
sentence
exposure,"
citing Federal Rule of
Criminal
Procedure
32(e)(1). The letter
is dated June
26 but took
seven weeks to
docket - as,
for example,
the letters to Judge
Woods from
FINCEN leaker
Natalie
Edwards should
also be
docketed.
On
August
20 Judge
Woods
denied Cherif
(no ruling yet
on unsealed
Edwards'
letters after
her
thanks they
were considered by
the Court) -
"Defendant
writes to
request an
official court
analysis of
sentencing.
ENDORSEMENT:
Application
denied. The
Court cannot
respond to
this request.
Mr. Cherif has
counsel and
the Court does
not provide
advisory
guidance to
litigants. SO
ORDERED.
(Signed by
Judge Gregory
H. Woods on
8/19/2021)"
In connection
with
Judge Woods'
hearing Inner
City Press was
contacted
and told that
Surur has been
ordered extradited.
We added it with
h/t, below. Now on
January
25, it's confirmed:
"Audrey
Strauss, the
United States
Attorney for
the Southern
District of
New York,
announced
today that
MANSUR MOHAMED
SURUR, a/k/a
“Mansour,” a
Kenyan
citizen, was
extradited
from Kenya and
arrived in the
United States
this
morning.
SURUR was
arrested by
Kenyan
authorities on
July 29, 2020,
in Mombasa,
Kenya, on
charges of
conspiracy to
traffic in
rhinoceros
horns and
elephant
ivory, both
endangered
wildlife
species, which
involved the
illegal
poaching of
more than
approximately
35 rhinoceros
and more than
100
elephants.
In addition,
SURUR was
charged with
conspiracy to
commit money
laundering and
conspiracy to
distribute and
possess with
intent to
distribute
more than 10
kilograms of
heroin.
SURUR’s
co-defendant,
Moazu Kromah,
a/k/a “Ayoub,”
a/k/a “Ayuba,”
a/k/a “Kampala
Man,” a
citizen of
Liberia, was
previously
deported to
the United
States from
Uganda on June
13,
2019.
Co-defendant
Amara Cherif,
a/k/a “Bamba
Issiaka,” a
citizen of
Guinea, was
extradited to
the United
States from
Senegal on
April 3,
2020.
Co-defendant
Abdi Hussein
Ahmed, a/k/a
“Abu Khadi,” a
citizen of
Kenya, remains
a
fugitive.
SURUR is
expected to be
arraigned
later today
before
U.S.
Magistrate
Judge Debra
Freeman.
The case has
been assigned
to U.S.
District Judge
Gregory H.
Woods. "
Inner
City Press
first reported:
Surur is
facing, and trying
to fight,
extradition, h/t
The
case is US v.
Kromah,
19-cr-338
(Woods). US v.
Kromah,
19-cr-338
(Woods).
***
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
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
|
,
