| On
Honduras Narco Urbina Soto Was Sentenced
to 226 Months Asks to Stay in MDC for
Appeal
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Substack
SDNY
COURTHOUSE,
Oct 11 – In the closing
arguments on March 6, 2024
AUSA Tarlow said that narco
trafficking had grown under
Honduras President Juan
Orlando Hernandez. On March 7,
out of the hearing of the jury
and for then the Press, JOH's
lawyer Stabile said he'd heard
different overnight.
From who?
The
defendant's wife he said.
Was this
just a play for a mistrial?
Judge Castel
concluded it was, and denied
Stabile's motion, Order on
Patreon here.
Later on March 8,
the verdict, here-
then the book Narco Drama in English then Spanish.
On August 28,
successor President
Xiomara Castro
asked
Honduran Foreign Minister
Enrique Reina to "denounce"
the country's extradition
treaty with the United States.
Amid that on
August 30 Arnaldo Urbina Soto,
extradited from Honduras on
January 31, 2023 after jail
time there, asked for a time
served sentence on September
13 at 11 am.
The US Attorney's
Office wrote in asking for a
20 year sentence - and on
September 12, the eve of
sentencing, defense counsel
wrote in asking for an eight
week adjournment in
sentencing, arguing "the
government provided
cooperating witness testimony
that alleges Arnaldo Urbina
Soto received bribes from a
drug trafficker “in exchange
for information from the
government” and “in exchange
for violence,” among other
things. See Gov. Ex. A at 830.
This is the first time these
issues have been provided to
the Court" - letter on Patreon
here.
On September 25,
sentencing was pushed back to
October 3: "ORDER as to
Arnaldo Urbina Soto: IT IS
HEREBY ORDERED that the
sentencing scheduled for
September 25 is adjourned to
October 3, 2024, at 3:00 PM
(Signed by Judge Denise L.
Cote on 9/25/2024)
On October 3,
Inner City Press went and live
tweeted - he got 226 months -
thread:
All rise! Judge:
The guidelines are 324 to 405
months. The US recommends 240
months while the defendant
wants time served...He became
mayor of Yoro in 2009. He was
convicted of money laundering.
Judge: I
understand that
co-conspirator(s) did not want
him to run again as mayor of
Yoro. AUSA: We ask for 20
years. He used political power
so that drug trafficking could
florish in his district. JOH
told him not to run again
& hurt JOH's campaign for
president
AUSA Robles: Ton
quantities of cocaine were
sent to the US. Defense lawyer
Carla Sanderson: He had a
religious conversion. He
worked in the kitchen in the
MDC. His crimes, he committed
with his brothers.Defense:
When he was in jail in
Honduras, he could have family
visits. Not here. No further
punishment is needed.
Judge
Denise L. Cote: Mr. Urbina
Soto? Urbina Soto: I have
accepted responsibility. I am
44 years old, with 4 children.
I apologize.
Urbina
Soto: I wish my wife could be
here, but she does not have
the right papers to travel. I
apologize for my misbehavior.
God bless you, Your Honor.
Judge Cote: You
used your position as mayor to
promote drug trafficking.Judge
Cote: I have found the trial
testimony [which Inner City
Press live tweeted] quite
useful. I sentence Mr. Urbina
Soto to 226 months in prison
and then submit to deportation
Defense: Please
recommend prison in
Pennsylvania. Judge Cote: I
will. Adjourned.
On October 11
Urbina Soto's lawyer wrote in
to ask that he remain in
MDC-Brooklyn, like Sam
Bankman-Fried of FTX crypto
currency fraud, pending
appeal. The US is opposed.
Letter on Patreon here.
This case is US
v. Soto, et al., 18-cr-497
(Cote)
More on X for
Subscribers here
and Substack here
***
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