| After
Guilty
Verdicts in
Plot to Import
Afghan Drugs
Balouchzehi 20
Yrs US Opposes
Release
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Dec 29 – Malek
Mohammad
Balouchzehi
was on trial
for conspiracy
to import
narcotics into
the US from
Mozambique and
elsewhere.
On May 11,
2023, U.S.
District Court
for the
Southern
District of
New York Judge
Jesse M.
Furman was
presiding over
the trial in
large
courtroom 318
in 40 Foley
Square. Inner
City Press
went and
covered
it. That
day, and to
the guilty
verdicts on
May 16, there
was no other
media.
On May 11,
Balouchzehi's
CJA counsel
from Quinn
Emanuel was
cross-examining
the
prosecution's
phone and
photo expert.
It was
established
that while
most photos
taken by a
phone were
stored in the
DCIM folder,
other defaults
can be
set.
Over
objections,
Defense
Exhibit 2C
came in - the
prosecutors
had already
introduced it.
Summations
should be
Monday, May
15.
On
May 12, the
charge
conference was
held. Inner
City Press was
there. The
defense wanted
out the
instruction
about absent
witnesses,
saying they
could not have
called the
Mozambique
undercover,
who was
anonymous. The
prosecution
said they
didn't try.
Judge Furman
to his credit
docketed the
draft charge -
and the jury
questionnaire.
The
US closing on
May 15 had a
video of the
defendant
scrolling
through photos
of drugs - and
the cans of
tuna he
allegedly
shipped them
in - on this
phone. The
quantities
were
astonishing:
500 kilos, $37
million. There
were photos of
the villa in
Kenya where a
meeting was
held. By the
afternoon, the
lawyers waited
in nearly
empty
courtroom 318.
On
May 16,
defense
counsel was
waiting up on
the 5th floor,
monitoring 2d
Circuit
arguments
before, among
others, Judge
Alison J.
Nathan.
Finally, the
verdict:
guilty on both
counts.
On
August 28,
Judge Furman
ruled
"MEMORANDUM
OPINION AND
ORDER as to
Malek Mohammad
Balouchzehi.
For the
foregoing
reasons, the
Court
concludes that
Balouchzehi
qualifies as
"an organizer,
leader,
manager, or
supervisor,"
as defined in
U.S.S.G. §
3B1.1, and is
ineligible for
the so-called
safety valve
set forth in
18 U.S.C. §
3553(f).
Unless and
until the
Court orders
otherwise,
sentencing
remains
scheduled for
October 18,
2023, at 3 pm
On
October 4,
Balouchzehi's
lawyers wrote
in to ask for
144 months -
with letters
but none from
the defendant,
who maintains
his
innocence..
On
October 24, he
was sentenced
to 20 years:
"MALEK
BALOUCHZEHI,
a/k/a “Malek
Khan,” was
sentenced to
20 years in
prison for
conspiring to
import heroin
into the
United States
and
distributing
heroin for
importation
into the
United
States."
Jump
cut two years
to November
10-11, 2025
when
Balouchzehi
from Fort Dix
wrote in
asking for
release to
time served
and transfer
to ICE for
removal.
On
December 29
the US
Attorney's
Office wrote
in opposing
compassionate
release,
calling the
defendant a
continuing
danger to the
community.
The
case is US v.
Balouchzehi,
21-cr-658
(Furman)
***
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