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By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
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SDNY COURTHOUSE, May 9 – Charged with computer hacking, Aviran Arazi was arrested at New York's JFK Airport on September 29, 2019 at 5:30 am. He was presented and pled not guilty before U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Magistrate Judge Kevin N. Fox on September 30.

  He had retained paid counsel, who while consenting to Azari's detention pending putting together a bail package to be presented to SDNY District Judge John G. Koeltl asked for medical attention to his right eye. "My client is an Orthodox Jew," he said, requesting Kosher food and the ability to pray particularly during Rosh Hashana. 

  The  indictment, signed by Magistrated Judge Katharine H. Parker on August 28 and wheeled out to District Judge Koeltl who will see Azari on October 14, charges that Azari worked with co-conspirators to hack into accounts including by using so-called phishing emails.

   It referred to "successful intrusions various hackers had accomplished that month [July 2018], including PURTY."

Then the case was pushed back to September 30 and time excluded: "ORDER as to Aviram Azari. The parties are directed to appear for another conference on September 30, 2020 at 10:30 A.M. Because a continuance is needed to assure the effective assistance of counsel, to allow the defendant time to review discovery, and to allow the parties to discuss a disposition short of trial, the Court prospectively excludes the time from today, July 31, 2020, until September 30, 2020, from Speedy Trial Act calculations. The Court finds that the ends of justice served by granting the continuance outweigh the best interests of the defendant and the public in a speedy trial. This Order is entered pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(7)(A). Time excluded from 7/31/2020 until 9/30/2020. (Signed by Judge John G. Koeltl on 7/31/2020)

 September 30, 2020 was a full year after he was presented before Judge Fox.

 Then more: In April 2021, this: "ORDER as to Aviram Azari: At the request of the defendant, the conference scheduled for April 16, 2021 is adjourned until June 14, 2021 at 9 am. The continuance is needed to assure effective assistance of counsel, given the complexity of the case and the voluminous record. Therefore, the Court prospectively excludes the time from today, April 15, 2021, until June 14, 2021, from Speedy Trial Act calculations."

On June 14, 2021, this: "SPEEDY TRIAL ORDER as to Aviram Azari. The parties are directed to appear for a conference on Monday, August 9, 2021, at 9:00am, before the Honorable John G. Koeltl. The Court prospectively excludes the time from today until August 9, 2021 in calculating the speedy trial date under 18 U.S.C. 3161 in order to assure effective assistance of counsel and because the ends of justice served by ordering such a continuance outweigh the best interest of the public and the defendant in a speedy trial pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h) (7)(A). Time excluded from 6/11/2021 until 8/9/2021. (Signed by Judge John G. Koeltl on 6/11/2021)."

As it turned out, there was a conference held on October 5, 2021 and Inner City Press covered it. There was consecutive interpretation by a Hebrew interpreter and another conference was set for December 7. Defense counsel was given best wishes for his medical procedure.

On March 14, 2022, this: "SPEEDY TRIAL ORDER as to Aviram Azari. The parties are directed to appear for a conference on Wednesday, April 13, 2022, at 11:00am, in Courtroom 14A, before the Honorable John G. Koeltl. Because the additional time to schedule a conference in this matter is due to the unavailability of the parties, the Court prospectively excludes the time from today until April 13, 2022."

On April 20, Inner City Press went in person to cover Judge Koeltl's next proceeding in the case - and this time, Azari was there to plead guilty. He was in beige prison garb, with a Hebrew interpreters and four people in the gallery, beyond Inner City Press. He pleaded guilty to Courts 1, 3 and 4 and sentencing was set for July 21 at 11:30 pm.

On May 9, Judge Koeltl ordered notice to victims, as is being requested in the OneCoin cases: "ORDER as to Aviram Azari: It is hereby ORDERED That the following procedures are reasonable and give effect to the notification rights contained in Title 18, United States Code, Section 377l(a): 1. The United States Attorney's Office will post notification about scheduled public proceedings on its Internet website at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/nys on a page for this case and that page will also provide the following information: a. The caption, case number and assigned judge for the case for which notification is made; b. A substantially verbatim listing of the rights provided for in Title 18, United States Code, Section 377l(a); c. A listing of public proceedings scheduled in the case; and d. The name and contact information for a United States Attorney's Office official with responsibility for addressing victims' rights. 2. The Government will update its Internet posting relating to this case to reflect scheduled public proceedings, within a reasonable period of time of such scheduling. (Signed by Judge John G. Koeltl on 5/9/2022)."

Inner City Press will continue to follow this case. It is US v. Azari, 19-cr-610 (Koeltl). 

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