| Ezika Pled
Guilty Then Tried To Withdraw Plea But
Denied in SDNY, Gets Time Served + Week
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Jan 28 – Okechukwu Peter Ezika
entered a guilty plea in
January 2019 to "engaging in
monetary transactions in
property derived from
specified unlawful
activity."
Then he
tried to withdraw his
plea.
On January 28, U.S. District
Court for the Southern
District of New York Judge
Katherine Polk Failla held a
lengthy proceeding. Inner City
Press covered it.
Ezika said that what he
previously pled to under oath
was false.
He had changed
lawyers, twice, and his
current lawyer on January 27
said delicately that sometimes
defendants are coached what to
say by their counsel.
Judge
Failla said she would not
return the plea for such
minutae as Ezika calling her
Your Majesty or Mrs. Failla.
But she
inquired with the AUSA what
the prejudice would be to
them. They stopped their
investigation in light of the
plea.
Judge
Failla, with another
proceeding coming onto
CourtCall at 11 am (in fact,
it did not), said she will
soon issue an oral ruling.
And Judge
Failla convened another
conference on February 2, to
read her ruling. Inner City
Press covered it. Running
through the applicable legal
standards, Judge Failla said
she found no basis to find
ineffective assistance of
counsel or any other ground to
allow for the withdrawal of
the guilty plea.
On June 3, Judge
Failla held Ezeji's
sentencing, and Inner City
Press covered it. Ezeji spoke
of the difficulties of being
in the MDC amid Covid, his
wife coming up from Greensboro,
North Carolina but not being
allowed to visit him. He went
to school in Ghana; his
parents live in Nigeria. But
there were false statements
about hawala money transfers
from his father, and an obstruction
enhancement.
Still, Judge Failla
sentenced him to time serived
(23 months) and a day, and
wanted Immigration to know
that this is not a six month
sentence. Ezeji is disputing
removal.
The case is US v.
Ezeji, 18-cr-117 (Failla)
***
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