| Fentanyl
Death Trial of Ortega Has Rainey On Cross
Denying Prostitution and Drugs in MDC
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
SDNY COURTROOM
EXCLUSIVE, Jan 25 - In
the U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New
York on December 16, 2022
Billy Ortega was brought in by
US Marshals and pleaded not
guilty to his role in the
death by fentanyl laced
cocaine of
Julia
Ghahramani,
26, a
first-year
lawyer at Akin
Gump, Ross
Mtangi, 40, a
trading
executive at
Credit Suisse
Group AG,
and Amanda Scher, 36, a social
worker.
There were
four family members in the
gallery, where Inner City
Press was the only media.
District Judge Ronnie Abrams
asked about recently provided
discovery, in advance of the
trial scheduled for January
18. The Assistant US Attorney
replied that some phones had
only recently been accessed;
there are many text messages
on them.
The defendant's
opening argument on January 19
triggered a US Attorney's
Office request for a curative
instruction - and their
request to unseal Ortega's CJA
affidavit, citing Inner City
Press' win in US v. Avenatti,
550 F. Supp. 3d 36 (SDNY
2021). Meanwhile the same
Office is consenting by taking
no position to the secrecy of
Sam Bankman-Fried's
co-signers. Watch this site.
Back on January
13, Judge Abrams held the
final pre-trial conference in
Courtroom 110 where the trial
will be. Inner City Press was
there. Judge Abrams ruled on a
number of motions in limine,
asking the prosecution why
they couldn't redact
information about Ortega being
behind on child support from
one of their exhibits; she
asked the defense to consider,
before trial, who Ortega
allegedly being a family man
would be relevant and not an
invitation to nullification,
like a mention of the
sentenced - 25 years mandatory
- that he faces.
On January 16,
one of Ortega's lawyers filed
a memo alleging, with
exhibits, that Kaylen "Rainer
who is now a government
cooperator... who is HIV
positive prostitutes himself
with inmates at the MDC
without the knowledge of the
inmates of Rainey's HIV
status" and "sells fentanyl
laced marijuana and synthetic
heroin at the MDC." The
allegation is that the US
Attorney's Office has never
looked into this, or spoken
with letter-writer Jonathan
DeLaura - who has been
subpoenaed.
On January 17,
after a barely redacted copy
of the memo and letter(s) went
into the docket, the US
Attorney's Office filed
opposition to DeLaura
testifying, and seeking to
exclude from cross examination
of Rainer any reference to the
allegations he spreads HIV in
the MDC, calling it
"inflammatory."
On January 18,
while jury selection was
proceeding in Courtroom 110,
Billy Ortega's lawyer put in
another letter, that "I met
with Jonathan DeLaura at the
MDC today. DeLaura states that
he first met Rainey at the MDC
in Brooklyn in 12/2021, or
1/2022, and thereafter spoke
with Rainey about the events
continued in DeLaura's letter,
or observed those events until
8/2022, a period of 8 months."
So what if anthing will he be
allowed to testify about?
On January 20,
the US put another of Ortega's
customers on the stand, under
subpoena. He got an immunity
deal. He testified about
buying cocaine from Ortega -
somehow he didn't know if it
was powder or crack - and then
being texted to not use a
particular packet, it would be
swapped out.
Dawn
Florio asked if he took any of
the cocaine that was recalled.
No he said, otherwise I might
not be here. Bernard Seidler
objected, but Judge Abrams
said, one lawyer at a time.
Florio get the second half of
the response stricken.
He said
after Billy Ortega a/k/a Jason
a/k/a J, a friend of his
friend Phil, stopped answering
his texts, he found another
dealer or "delivery service,"
by a woman named Mils.
On January 23,
Rainey was on the stand. He
described delivering cocaine
to 37 Warren Street and 232
Elizabeth Street. He said he
kept $100 a day, and delivered
the profits to Josefina,
"Billy's mother." A NYCHA
floor plan of 431 West 17th
Street, Apartment 4E was
shown. The drug safe was in
the closet.
After Rainey was
taken out in detention back to
the MDC, after the jury left,
talk turned to Ms. White,
represented by Federal
Defenders. One of Ortega's
lawyers insisted White wants
to speak with him or Ortega
without Federal Defenders
present, and that while he
insists no ethical violation
has taken place, even if it
had, he should be punished,
not Ortega.
On January 24,
Rainey on cross acknowledged
texting "Booty" about his gun
(which he said was Billy's).
Rainey liked a customer Amanda
at 50 East 8th Street, also
sold at 185 Avenue B and 303
Lexington, as well as New
Jersey.
At the end, the
US Attorney's Office asked to
speak with Rainey's lawyer
about logistics and Rainey's
safety. The charge conference
will be January 26 after
court, with closings on
January 27, when Judge Abrams
has a sentencing. Ms. Maurice
"Reese" Whyte remains up in
the air - counsel, escorting
ex-doctor Hadden on Worth
Street on January 24, had
referred to a proffer. But was
it this one?
On January 25,
Ortega's counsel completed her
cross of Rainey. She asked him
if he prefers men (yes) and if
he prostituted himself in the
MDC (no). He asked if he
called a co-defendant "Daddy."
There was an objection,
sustained on relevance
grounds.
After running
again through the addresses of
the deliveries, she asked, You
don't know if they had other
suppliers, do you? No, was the
answer.
Inner City Press
will continue to cover the
case.
The case is US v.
Ortega, et al., 22-cr-91
(Abrams)
***
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 2006-2022 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com
|
,
