| Two
Slovenes
Extradited on
400 Kilos of
Heroin Charges
Both Pled
Guilty now 2d
Asks 10 Years
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
March 14 – Gorazd Filimonović
and Gašper Urbanc of Slovenia
was arrested in Croatia in May
2021 on US drug trafficking
charges. Extradition took more
than two
years.
On June
22, U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New
York Magistrate Judge Barbara
C. Moses held the presentment
of the two defendants. Inner
City Press was there, the only
media in the SDNY Mag
Court.
Judge Moses
sought a Slovenian
interpreter. The best or
nearest that could be found
was a Croatian interpreter,
Ms. Martic, by phone. Both
defendants spoke English. Mr.
Martic was on the phone only
in case they needed help.
(They didn't).
Both were
detained on
consent.
AUSA Hellman
asked about the complaint
being unsealed and was told
that it had been.
But an hour after
the proceeding, PACER still
said "This case is under
seal."
Jump cut to
August 17, 2023: The two were
indicted, on two counts, and
their case wheeled out to
District Judge Gregory H.
Woods.
On August 28 the
two appeared before Judge
Woods and pleaded not guilty.
The AUSA noted that a third
defendant, Aleksandar Gacevic,
had been slated for
extradition from Austria until
its was overturned by that
country's Supreme Court. A
fourth, Andrez Urbanc whose
brother is detained, is in a
country that does not have an
extradition treaty with the
US.
Jump cut to
September 18, 2024. Urbanc and
the Filimonovic plead guilty,
with sentencings set back to
back on February 27, 2025.
Urbanc's was pushed back to
March 28.
On February 21
the US Attorney's Office wrote
in asking for 135 months on Filimonović.
His sentencing
memo was not
filed - or at
least, not
publicly
docketed.
There was one
"sealed
document
placed in
vault on
February 18."
On
February 27
Filimonovic
was sentenced
to 120 months,
10
years, with
RDAP
recommended
"to the
extent that he
is eligible."
The defense memo
was and is of
this writing
still no
available.
On
March 14
Urbanc asked
for the same:
10 years.
Sentencing is
set for March
28.
The case is
USA v. Filimonovic, et al.,
1:23-cr-425 (Woods)
***
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