| Bronx
Cab Driver
Shot 9 Times
So Mario
Powell Got 24
Years Now US
Pushes 2d
Trial
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
June 10 –
Back in March
2018 then US
Attorney
Geoffrey
Berman
announced that
"on March 17,
2018, Mario
Powell called
a livery cab
in the Bronx
then
threatened the
driver with a
gun and
demanded
cash.
The driver
handed over
$23 in
cash.
Powell exited
the cab and
then shot the
driver seven
times."
On May 16,
2023, Powell
was on trial
before U.S.
District Court
for the
Southern
District of
New York Judge
Paul A.
Engelmayer.
Inner City
Press was
there and
covered
it.
The
driver Jeffrey
Cisnero
Camacho, who
survived, was
on the witness
stand. He said
he had been
shot nine
times, and
still has two
bullets in his
leg. He said
the two police
officers who
helped him,
Jennifer and
Sean, were
"angels." He
cried.
In
the courtroom
gallery, his
relatives
including one
of his
daughters
listened. On
the other
side,
apparently
family members
of the
defendant.
On
May 17, on the
stand was
Mario Powell's
brother in
law, who
identified him
to police. In
the courtroom
gallery, ten
supporters of
Powell, who
barely looked
at the
exhibits on
the screen. No
sign of the
victim
(understandable),
nor of his
family. On
cross
examination
the brother in
law
acknowledged
he was only
linking the
person in the
surveillance
video footage
to Mario
Powell, not
directly to
the shooting.
On
May 18 in
closing
arguments the
AUSA listed 11
reasons to
conclude Mario
Powell was the
robber and
shooter,
coming again
and again to
the bright
blue Air
Jordans with
the orange
Gatorade tag.
There were
PowerPoint
problems. The
defense
emphasized, No
gun, No DNA,
No prints.
After 5
pm, the
pre-sentence
investigation
report was
ordered up.
Docketed on
May 19: "JURY
VERDICT as to
Mario Powell
(1) Guilty on
Count 1s,2s."
On
July 25, 2023,
Mario Powell
was back in
SDNY court, in
a yellow
prison
jumpsuit,
three family
members in the
gallery. The
slashing a
Corrections
Officer with a
razor in the
MCC on May 30,
2020 - during
the height of
COVID.
Jump
cut to
September 25,
2023 when
Mario Powell's
lawyer wrote
to Judge
Engelmayer
seeking a 45
day
adjournment of
the sentencing
scheduled for
October 3,
saying he's in
a trial in
EDNY in which
"three jurors
contacted
COVID."
[It's
a murder for
hire trial in
EDNY]
On
September 26,
Judge
Engelmayer
granted the
delay: "as to
Mario Powell,
GRANTED.
Sentencing is
adjourned to
November 20,
2023 at 2:15
p.m. (Signed
by Judge Paul
A. Engelmayer
on
9/26/2023)."
In
the second
case, trial
has been set
for January 8,
2024, with
another
conference on
October 13.
The prosecutor
alluded to a
"parallel
proceeding" -
that would be,
the
sentencing.
On
November 29 in
the second
case, the US
Attorney's
Office wrote
in requesting
a three month
adjournment,
for forensic
analysis of
the shank, and
because of a
request for
deferred
prosecution it
says it sees
as "in good
faith."
On June 10,
the US
Attorney's
Office asked
for a
conference on
June 13 to
keep the July
22 trial on
track in face,
they say, of
"previously
unnoticed
defenses
bearing on the
mental state
of the
defendant."
This
second case is
US v. Powell,
23-cr-229
(Cronan)
In
the taxi case,
the US
Attorney's
Office on
April 8, 2024
asked for 20
years, above
the 198 month
guideline.
On
May 17, he was
sentenced:
"JUDGMENT IN A
CRIMINAL CASE
as to Mario
Powell (1).
THE DEFENDANT:
was found
guilty on
counts 1s and
2s of the S1
Indictment
after a plea
of not guilty.
All open
counts are
dismissed on
the motion of
the Un ited
States.
IMPRISONMENT:
Two hundred
eighty-eight
(288) months:
one hundred
sixty-eight
(168) months
on count 1 s,
and one
hundred (120)
months on
count 2s,
these terms to
run
consecutively.
The defendant
is to receive
credit for
time served
dating from
March 24,
2018. ~ The
court makes
the following
recommendations
to the Bureau
of Prisons:
that the
defendant be
returned to
MCFP
Springfield to
continue
mental health
treatment, and
any other
treatment
programs for
which he is
eligible, and
for
designation to
a facility
appropriate to
the
defendant's
mental health
needs."
More
detail, from
Endless
Sentences, on
Substack here
The
taxi case is,
or was, US v.
Powell,
18-cr-287
(Engelmayer)
***
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