| In SDNY Prince Uko Is Bailed
On Bank Fraud Charges Amid Coronavirus and GPS
Bracelet Shortage
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
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SDNY COURTHOUSE,
March 20 -- A defendant
up from Georgia came at 2 pm
on March 19 to be arraigned in
the U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New
York.
But in this
time of Coronavirus, the usual
4:30 pm cut off for same day
presentments has been pushed
earlier, to noon. So this
defendant, Prince Uko,
returned to the SDNY on March
20.
The
Magistrates Court remains on
the 24th floor in a larger
than normal courtroom to allow
social distancing. In the
lobby outside the courtroom,
where Midtown Manhattan was
not visible due to fog,
folding chairs had been set
up, each six feet from the
other. But they were all
empty.
In the
courtroom, presided over by
SDNY Chief Magistrate Judge
Gabriel W. Gorenstein, Prince
Uko had a publicly-funded
Criminal Justice Act lawyer
appointed, and pled not
guilty. He is charged with
bank fraud.
The
Assistant US Attorney
told Judge Gorenstein a
bail package, the same as in
Georgia, had been agreed to.
Judge Gorenstein asked her to
spell it out, rejected some of
the item as already being
covered by law.
The AUSA
mentioned "stand alone GPS
monitoring" and Gorenstein
said, Stop. He noted, as Inner
City Press first reported this
week, that there is a lack of
GPS bracelet. The Pre Trial
Services officer, sitting in
the jury box, said there is a
shipment on the way - but that
Prince Uko already has a
bracelet on.
So how did he
travel to New York from
Georgia? The case is back on
in front of assigned Judge
Denise L. Cote on May 8, at
least scheduled for now.
Due to
Coronavirus - Judge Gorenstein
notably was wearing gloves -
she has allowed Prince Uko's
co-defendants to get
Provisionally Appointed
Counsel without showing up in
person.
The case is
US v. Uko, et al, 20-cr-179
(Cote / Gorenstein).
***
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