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Crypto Defendant Avi Eisenberg Jury Picked
and Snacks OKed But Exhibits Still in Play
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
SDNY COURTROOM,
April 8 - In the U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York
on December 27, 2022 a
complaint was ordered unsealed
charging Avraham Eisenberg
with commodities fraud. He was
arrested in Puerto Rico.
Inner City Press
is covering the case(s), often
as the only media in the Mag
Court. Related
Mag Court live-tweeted
thread (more on Patreon
here)
vlog here
On January 9,
Inner City Press came across
the CFTC case against
Eisenberg, just filed (still
with no title in PACER) and
put it out on Patreon here.
The 21-page civil complaint
is, as is often the case, more
detailed...
On April
12, the US Attorney's Office
filed a motion to intervene
and stay the Mango Labs v.
Eisenberg case, saying that
neither side opposed the stay.
The US seeks a "full stay
until the conclusion of the
parallel criminal case."
More
on Substack here.
On June 14, Judge
Berman held a proceeding to
pick a trial date. Inner City
Press covered it, thread here.
On July 27
Eisenberg moved to dismiss and
to suppress; he submitted a
7-page affadavit including "In
the evening of December 26,
2022, I arrived by airplane at
The Luis Munoz Marin
International Airport in
Carolina, Puerto Rico, just
outside of San Juan. 3. I
disembarked the airplane with
my luggage, a backpack and a
suitcase. 4. I walked to the
United States Customs counter.
There, I was questioned by a
United States Customs and
Border Protection ("CBP")
agent regarding the purpose of
the trip I had just completed
and general questions about
the contents of my luggage. 5.
The CBP agent directed me to a
specific area several feet
away from the Customs counter
for additional questioning,
and there another CBP officer
opened the suitcase and
backpack. I recall the agent
pulling out the laptop and
asking me to turn it on" -
full affidavit on Patreon here.
Watch this site.
The
complaint is on Patreon here
On February 3,
Eisenberg in a yellow jump
suit and feet shackled was
brought into Magistrates Court
at SDNY. He had, at least for
the proceeding, the same
lawyer Ethereum developer
Virgil Griffith had in the
North Korea sanctions case he
pled guilty in: Brian Klein.
His
parents were in the gallery
and he looked at them, from
two rows away. The prosecutor
said that (unlike on Sam
Bankman-Fried) they were
seeking detention, and that he
was consenting at least for
now. Here is Inner City
Press' thread.
There's more
detail on Patreon here.
On February 14,
there was a very brief
arraignment, thread here
On November 2,
2023 Eisenberg's counsel wrote
it seeking to push the
December 4 trial to March or
April. They said Eisenberg was
moved from Essex to the MDC,
and not allowed to bring his
discovery material with him.
The SDNY prosecutors
acknowledge that's a problem,
but want only a one-week delay
to December 11 - or to April,
citing an unrelated murder
trial.
On November 3, it
was moved to April 2024. And
on November 21, Judge Amit
Subramanian set out questions
to be answered in early
December, including "Whether
any transaction involving
USDC, even where it is used as
a medium of exchange to
purchase something that is not
a commodity, is nevertheless a
“contract of sale of any
commodity” given the statutory
and regulatory definitions
(see Dkt. 37 at 5-6);
Whether the indictment alleges
manipulation as to the price
of USDC, deceptive conduct
affecting the USDC market, or
deceptive conduct otherwise
“in connection with” a
contract of sale of USDC (see
Dkt. 37 at 7–8); Whether
the indictment alleges a
manipulative device “in
connection with . . . any
swap” where Eisenberg was the
party on both ends of the MNGO
Perpetuals" - full order and
questions on Patreon here.
On March 14,
2024, there was a hearing on
motions in limine and experts.
Inner City Press live tweeted
here
AUSA: We're
getting toward a "code is law"
inference...Question as to
terms of service, in defi, who
the duty is between... They
will be arguing Mango Markets
should have seen this coming
Eisenberg's lawyer: What he
did was not criminal.
On March 28 there
was the final pre-trial
conference, and Inner City
Press went, here:
OK - now in
criminal crypto case of US v
Avi Eisenberg, at final
pre-trial conference. He was
brought in by US Marshals
Judge: What about
they Touhy request?
Defense: The
Government only gave us their
objections yesterday... They
are trying to use our client's
tweets against him. AUSA: We
have been making nightly
disclosures of 3500 material
There was some
back and forth on logistical
issues - will Eisenberg come
forward to sidebars with the
judge? Defense: No, that would
be a circus [the Marshals
would go up with him,
highlighting that despite the
suit he is in detention].
We will continue
to cover the case.
In a parallel
civil case, on February 24,
2023 there was an hour and a
half argument in Mango Labs v.
Eisenberg before Judge Lewis
J. Liman. Inner City Press
live tweeted...
Ultimately
Judge Liman extended the TRO
for two weeks, after for two
letters by Tuesday, and said
he will rule on March 10.
On March 10,
Inner City Press was there,
thread here
On March 27, one
of Eisenberg's counsel wrote
in supporting his subpoena of
Mango Markets founders Dafydd
Durairaj and Max Schneider,
noting that Durairaj "is
expected to be a critical
government witness."
On April 8, just
before 5 pm, the 12 jurors and
3 alternates were selected.
Inner City Press was there,
observing from the gallery as
Eisenberg whispered in the ear
of one then another of his
five lawyers, going over
exhibits of text messages on
the laptop before him. Judge
Subramanian approved the
defense's request to bring
their client snacks, but
deferred judgment on a number
of exhibits.
More with
analysis on Substack here
Watch this site.
Inner City Press
will have more on these cases.
The criminal case
is US v. Eisenberg, 23-cr-10
(Subramanian)
The stayed CFTC
case is Communities Futures
Trading Commission v.
Eisenberg, 23-cv-173
(Schofield)
The Mango Labbs
civil case is Mango Labs, LLC
v. Eisenberg, 23-cv-665
(Liman)
***
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