SDNY
Memoir of
Geoffrey
Berman
Sidestepped
Garagos and
OneCoin, Could
SBF Be Next?
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
book
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Feb 24 –
With
the
disparities
mounting in
the Sam
Bankman-Fried
case, in which
unlike for
other
defendants the
Southern
District of
New York US
Attorney's
Office did not
even seek
detention, it
seems
important to
know how the
Office, and
wider
Department of
Justice, work.
Damian
Williams
hasn't written
a book on it,
at least not
yet, so Inner
City Press has
turned about
to Geoffrey
Berman's
"Holding the
Line."
There
are many holes
in
it.
Just a few
examples: in
recounting in
detail the
Michael
Avenatti
prosecutions,
Berman
mentions but
does not
explain not
charging Mark
Garagos, who
was with
Avenatti
during the
Nike
shake-downs at
Boies
Schiller.
In expressing
disgust at
Tekashi
6ix9ine's
music while
saying how
quickly he
flipped,
Berman does
not mention
the death
threats again
him at that
time of
flipping.
In
fairness,
Berman does
add to
nitty-gritty
knowledge by
describing
6ix9ine
sleeping in
the SDNY
office walking
to testify
through the
third floor
bridge to 40
Foley Square.
And here we
were, waiting
on Pearl
Street to spot
the transport
from the GEO
cooperators'
private prison
in
Queens....
Also
interesting
are details in
how
prosecutions
are doled out
to various US
Attorney's
Office.
Ultimately,
Berman write,
Main Justice
decides, if
the two or
more US
Attorney's
cannot agree.
So how did it
go on
Bankman-Fried?
Near the end
of the book,
Berman quotes
his own answer
on Lev Parnas
at a press
conference, on
what he calls
a racehorse
drugging case.
So US v.
Navarro, et
al. wasn't big
enough to
merit a Berman
chapter? And
not One
Coin?
Rather
than focusing
on the holes,
this
mini-review
will end with
a vignette.
Early in
COVID, Inner
City Press was
in the SDNY
Magistrates
Court, as so
often, the
only media
there. And who
came in to see
how it was
working?
Geoffrey
Berman, alone.
Now
that... was
holding the
line.
We'll
wait for
Damian
Williams' book
- as we write
our own. The
more the
merrier, at
and about the
SDNY.
***
Your
support means a lot. As little as $5 a month
helps keep us going and grants you access to
exclusive bonus material on our Patreon
page. Click
here to become a patron.
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
SDNY Press Room 480, front cubicle
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA
Mail: Box 20047, Dag
Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2023 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com
|