| On 34 Year Old
Charged With Luring Teens to
Have Sex & Sell Drugs Judge
Precludes Roccio
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY
COURTHOUSE,
March 10 – The U.S. District
Court for the Southern
District of New York
prosecutors on July 10
announced the unsealing of an
Indictment charging SHYMELL
EPHRON, a/k/a “Shy,” with two
counts of coercion and
enticement of minors to engage
in unlawful sexual activity
and five drug-trafficking
counts, including two counts
of using a minor to distribute
narcotics and two counts of
distributing narcotics to a
minor."
Inner City
Press went to the presentment,
the only media there. Thread:
AUSA: The
17-year-old was forcibly
raped: the 15 year old was
given Ecstasy. Federal
Defender: We are asking for
release on bail. AUSA:
The defendant is 34 years old.
He invited another to come
over, texting "Just got two
b*tches." After the FBI found
drugs in his apartment, he was
already on location
monitoring.
Jane Doe 1's
mother (by phone) We have
endured trauma. Keep this
criminal off the street.
Federal Defender:
I have doubts about coercion.
They went to a police
precinct, then went back with
the defendant. He has an
apartment in Harlem, unlike
many of our
clients
FD: He is ROR on
the state cases. He didn't
flee. AUSA: He checks in
with Probation in Times
Square, which is where he
found the 2 victims.
Judge Sarah
Netburn: I cannot release you.
Detained.
On August 30, the
US Attorney's Office opposed
Ephron's request for a 60 day
extension of the motions
deadline, noting that on
August 6 it received
recordings of the defendant's
jail calls and immediately
produced them to defense
counsel and citing the public
interest in the prompt
resolution of criminal cases.
On September 4
Judge Garnett adjourned the
deadline for defense motions
six weeks to October 25,
saying this is the best way to
protect the rights of the
defendant.
On September 30
Federal Defenders wrote in
asking to delay the trial,
citing getting Attorneys
Possession Only discovery it
had to go and stay in MDC to
review with the defendant.
On October 1
Judge Garnett ruled that
motions are due November 8,
with another conference on
December 9 at 1 pm.
On November 18
Federal Defenders filed a
notice that Shymell Ephron
"intends to introduce expert
evidence at trial related to a
mental disease or defect...
bearing on the issue of
guilty."
On February 7,
2025 the US Attorney's Office
opposed the defendant's
proffered expert, Dr. Jason
Krellman, as "impermissible
under the Insanity Defense
Reform Act of 1984."
On February 11,
the Federal Defenders wrote in
with conditions for a rebuttal
expert, citing US v. Roof, 225
F.Supp.3d 419 (D.S.C. 2016)
On February 28
the US Attorney's Office
specifically sought to exclude
Dr. Krellman's opinion that
"most people with Mr. Ephron's
conditions would be unlikely
to engage in sophisticated
behavior."
On March 4
Federal Defenders wrote in
that the US linked 3500
Materials to Ephron
stipulating to to
"attribution of DNA swabs."
On March 10, Inner City Press
went to the rulings on motion
in limine, and Judge Garnett
after hearing argument
precluded the testimony of US
expert Rocchio (whom Inner
City Press previously covered
in the Ghislaine Maxwell as
other trials), unless the
defense opens the door. Judge
Garnett called this a simpler
case, and Rocchio's testimony
as potentially prejudicial,
outweighing any probative
value. Trial is set for March
31.
The case is USA
v. Ephron, 1:24-cr-418
(Garnett)
***
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