| After NYCHA
Extortion Take Down Nunez Pled
Guilty Now Gets Year and a Day
in Prison
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY
COURTHOUSE,
Dec 17 – For days Inner City
Press had heard from its
sources there would be a
"takedown" on February 6, each
SDNY Magistrate Judge would
handle seven to 10 defendants.
Arrests happen at
6 am. So at 5:55 am Inner City
Press tweeted it, first to X
subscribers with the spoiler
alert: the expectation was
that each of the current or
former NYCHA employees would
be released on bond the same
day.
And then hours
later at 9:39 am the
prosecutors announced it.
Media rushed around reporting
it. Inner City Press had
it first, and after discretely
waiting, published it first.
Then this thread of
presentments, here
Now in
Courtroom on 9 Charles Starks,
57, of NYCHA70 with a
Big Law CJA lawyer argues for
no bond, release on own
recognizance. He's accused of
$7000 in bribes over 3 years.
He's already fired.
"This is not Bernie Madoff."
Judge: $50,000 bond; wife can
co-sign
On March 5, this
defendant's case was indicted
and assigned to District Judge
Jennifer L. Rochon.
On July 18, Judge
Rochon held a status
conference with Starks; Inner
City Press was there. Starks'
lawyer said he might be moving
to dismiss under the Supreme
Court's decision in June in US
v. Snyder, 603
U.S. __
(2024).
Judge
Rochon gave him until
September 16 to make that
motion. We will be covering it
- as it has implications for
the other NYCHA cases, many of
which are already pled out. At
least one other proposed plea
is stalled, with another
citing Snyder in sentencing
memo.
On August
13 before Magistrate Judge
Sarah L. Cave Raymond Nunez
pled guilty and waived appeal
rights to any sentence 18
months or below. This for
gratuities of $12,500 over six
years. Sentencing was set for
December 17 at 11:30 am.
before the assigned District
Judge, Jennifer H. Rearden.
On December 10
the US Attorney's Office wrote
in asking for a sentence in
the bottom half of the 12 to
18 month guideline.
On December 17
Inner City Press was in the
courtroom when Nunez was
sentenced to a year and a day
(to allow for "good time"
credit), thread:
Judge: We have 70
of these cases in this court.
Defense: Your Honor has only 2
or 3. Nunez: I apologize
(sobs) I'm very sick, I don't
want to go to prison and get
worse, or....
Judge: He
received bribes at two housing
projects, for 6 years. He took
bribes of $12,500 to award
contracts worth over
$100,000. I sentence Mr.
Nunez to a year and a day
imprisonment.
The case is US v.
Nunez, 24-cr-477 (Rearden /
Cave)
Watch this site.
The other case is
US v. Starks, 24-cr-126
(Rochon)
Watch this
site - and these feeds: X
and X
for subscribers.
And Substack here
***
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