| Darden Conned NBA
Dwight Howard on Buying WNBA
Dream 2d No Show so April 3
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY
COURTHOUSE,
April 2 – Calvin Darden Jr.
was on trial for defrauding
NBA player Dwight Howard to
convince him he was buying the
WNBA team the Atlanta Dream.
Inner City Press is covering
the trial. September 30 thread
Then, the
conviction of CALVIN DARDEN,
JR. for his role in defrauding
former National Basketball
Association players Dwight
Howard and Chandler Parsons
out of $8 million. The
defendant was found guilty
following an 11-day jury trial
before U.S. District Judge
Vernon S. Broderick.
On December 23,
Judge Broderick revoked his
bail and jailed him:
"Defendant Calvin Darden, Jr.,
present, defendant's bail has
been revoked. Defendant is
remanded to the custody of the
United States Marshal's
Service."
On January 21,
2025 the US Attorney's Office
wrote in asking for the top of
the guidelines - 168 months -
on January 27.
But it was
delayed, as his family wanted
to come: " The sentencing
scheduled for January 27, 2025
is hereby adjourned. The
parties should meet and confer
concerning days in March 2025
when they are available for
sentencing, and inform the
Court in a joint letter on or
before January 28, 2025. No
further adjournments will be
granted."
And on January 31
it was re-set: "The sentencing
in this matter is scheduled
for March 26, 2025.
On March 19 the
US Attorney's Office submitted
a 10 page letter advocating
for a upward departure,
ranging from "real estate
transactions as violations of
Federal law" to violations of
pre-trial release conditions.
On March 25 Judge
Broderick denied Darden's
motion for acquittal or a new
trial, which had cited an
email to the prosecutors from
one of their witnesses,
Jennifer Baltimore, that "a
friend is interested in
purchasing the Darden
residence." Judge Broderick
noted this was just a friend,
and concluded "I have no
concern 'an innocent person
may have been convicted.'"
On March 26,
sentencing did not occur due
to "an incident at the MDC."
On March 31, defense counsel
wrote in asking for sentencing
on April 2 at 2:30 pm.
In advance of
that, Judge Broderick rightly
docketed: "As Defendant has
recently suffered an injury, I
find that it is necessary to
conduct a direct colloquy with
Darden Jr. to confirm the
knowing and voluntary nature
of his waiver request. That
colloquy will occur at the
beginning of the time reserved
for sentencing on April 2,
2025 at 2:30 pm, and if I am
satisfied that Darden Jr. has
made a knowing and voluntary
waiver, he will be excused for
the remainder of the
proceeding."
Inner City Press
went - but it was locked. In
the docket:
Then saw:
"Sentencing is hereby
ADJOURNED to April 3, 2025 at
1:00 pm."
The case is USA
v. Cohen, et al., 1:23-cr-134
(Broderick)
***
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