| On NYCHA
Bribery Starks Motion to
Dismiss under Snyder Was
Denied Pleads to 18 Months
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY
COURTHOUSE,
Nov 4 – For days Inner City
Press had heard from its
sources there would be a
"takedown" on February 6, each
SDNY Magistrate Judge would
handle seven to 10 defendants.
Arrests happen at
6 am. So at 5:55 am Inner City
Press tweeted it, first to X
subscribers with the spoiler
alert: the expectation was
that each of the current or
former NYCHA employees would
be released on bond the same
day.
And then hours
later at 9:39 am the
prosecutors announced it.
Media rushed around reporting
it. Inner City Press had
it first, and after discretely
waiting, published it first.
Then this thread of
presentments, here
Now in
Courtroom on 9 Charles Starks,
57, of NYCHA70 with a
Big Law CJA lawyer argues for
no bond, release on own
recognisance. He's accused of
$7000 in bribes over 3 years.
He's already fired.
"This is not Bernie Madoff."
Judge: $50,000 bond; wife can
co-sign
On March 5, this
defendant's case was indicted
and assigned to District Judge
Jennifer L. Rochon.
On July 18, Judge
Rochon held a status
conference with Starks; Inner
City Press was there. Starks'
lawyer said he might be moving
to dismiss under the Supreme
Court's decision on June 2024
in US v. Snyder. Judge Rochon
gave him until September 16 to
make that motion. We will be
covering it - as it has
implications for the other
NYCHA cases, many of which are
already pled out.
On September 16,
Starks moved to dismiss,
noting that the indictment
provided "almost no detail
on... the timing" - and citing
Snyder v. US. In the
alternative, Starks asks for a
Bill of Particulars.
On October 18,
Judge Rochon denied the
motion, stating in part that
"Starks, however, misconstrues
both Snyder and the plain
language of the Indictment
returned against him. In
Snyder, the Court held that
the characterization of a
given payment as a “gratuity”
versus a “bribe” turns not on
the timing of the payment, but
on whether the official has a
“corrupt state of mind and
accept[s] (or agree[s] to
accept) the payment intending
to be influenced in an
official act.” Id. at 1955.
The key inquiry is therefore
“the timing of the agreement”
between the parties, “not the
timing of the payment.” Id. at
1959. The Snyder Court held
that a “reward given after the
act,” but “pursuant to an
agreement beforehand,” would
still constitute a bribe
within the meaning of Section
666. Id. at 1959. Indeed, the
Court found that Section 666
incorporates the term
“rewarded” in addition to
“influenced” to precisely
capture those arrangements
where payment is received only
after the official act has
been rendered, but pursuant to
an existing agreement. Id.
Therefore, to the extent that
Starks argues that the
Indictment is deficient
because it suggests that
contractors issued payments to
Starks only after they had
already been awarded no-bid
contracts, that argument
misses the mark."
Could the
applicability of Snyder to
these NYCHA cases be headed to
the Second Circuit? Not via
Starks - he had pled guilty
and waived appeals, on
November 4. Thread:
Judge Rochan:
Your plea agreement is for 18
to 24 months in prison?
Starks: Yes.
Judge: You are
waiving appeal or collateral
challenge
Starks: I am.
Judge: I accept
your plea. Sentencing is set
for February 5 at noon.
Watch this site.
A case is US v.
Starks, 24-cr-126 (Rochon)
Watch this
site - and these feeds: X
and X
for subscribers.
And Substack here
***
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