| Bronx Drug
Case Expanded To Cover A Murder Now
Defendant Wants 121 Months Not 40 Years
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Oct 17 – A
multi-defendant case charging
narcotics conspiracy and guns,
with phone data dumps and
complaints from Valhalla and
Essex County jails landed in
Federal court.
On February 5,
2021 U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New
York Judge Katherine Polk
Failla held a proceeding.
Inner City Press covered
it.
Assistant US
Attorney Frank Balsamello
described the range of
discovery, and a parallel
state case.
Defendants cut
in, complaining of bad
treatment. Judge Failla
supported the idea of a
discovery coordinator.
Jump cut
to June 2022 when defendant
Drilon Haxhaj, according to
his lawyer, has been engaged
in extensive plea negotiations
- and therefore asks that his
May 2022 suppression motion be
held in abeyance. He pled
guilty on June 27.
On July 21, 2022
Judge Failla held a proceeding
with remaining defendants and
Inner City Press went and
attended, live tweeting here:
On March 29,
counsel for Shpendi Haxhaj
filed a reply memo to sever
his case, citing the risks of
a joint trial. Dkt 161. In a
garbled footnote, "the defense
does not concede that the
alleged statements made by the
court-defendant are true or
that they were in fact made at
all. The defense argues that
if the declaration co-defenses
t's statements were omitted as
evidence that regardless of
their truth they would
prejudice the defendant."
On
July 24, 2023,
counsel for
Shpendi Haxhaj
filed another
letter with
Judge Failla,
that "we
informed Mr.
Haxhaj that if
he is
convicted at
trial of
murder in aid
of
racketeering,
he would face
a mandatory
life
sentence...
Mr. Haxhaj has
informed
Counsel that
he has elected
to proceed to
trial."
On
August 9,
co-defendant
Ivis Perdomo's
lawyer filed a
supplemental
sentencing
memo complete
with DD5s and
photos of a
club shooting,
objecting to
the US seeking
at least 240
months.
On
August 17
Jeremy Cedeno
was sentenced,
at the top of
his guideline.
Inner City
Press was
there, thread.
On
September 12,
co-defendant
Boris Beltran
was on trial
on Courtroom
110 of 40
Foley Square.
The gallery
behind him was
nearly full;
the right
side, empty. A
49th Precinct
sergeant
was on the
witness stand,
identifying
the drugs
seized that
night. But on
cross she was
asked if she
knew if
Beltran lived
in the raided
apartment. She
did not.
On
September 13,
the cooperator
on the witness
stand was
cross-examined about, among
other things,
getting back
into drug
dealing the
day after he
was released
from prison,
then cutting
the cooperation deal. On
January 5,
2021 he pled guilty
to conspiracy
to distribute
5 kilos or
more of
cocaine, with
a ten year
minimum,
maximum life.
But on
cross he
acknowledged
he never planned for
five kilos -- "if
I'd
managed to
stay out I
might have gotten
there," he
said. Then
why, with only
three years
left on his
state
sentence, did
he agree to
this plea to
ten to life?
It also
emerged he couldn't
say it was Beltran
who put drugs
in the jacket
passed under
the table of a
restaurant on
Fordham
Road in The Bronx,
or into the
trunk of his
car outside.
On
September 14,
with defendant
Yeltsin
Beltran
greeting those
in the gallery
behind him,
the prosecutor
put an
NYPD detective
on the stand,
to describe
the victim Ramon
Encarnacion
bloody in Lincoln
Hospital, and
the afterhours
location on 149th
Street by
Courtlandt Avenue.
On February
14, 2024 the
US Attorney's
Office wrote
in asking for
Boris Beltran
300 months -
25 years.
On
February 18,
2024 the US
Attorney's
Office filed a
relative Ramon
Garcia's email
to the SDNY victim
witness coordinator with
a photo of the
victim on
family
vacation in
Punta Cana in
2014, with
Instagram
comment "We
need another
family vacay"
and asking
for the maximum
punishment.
On
February 20,
2024 the US
Attorney's
Office filed brother
Ramon Rosario's
February 19
email to the
SDNY victim
witness coordinator with
a photo of the
victim and brothers
in front of an
apartment door,
with smoke
alarm and blue
birthday cake
and
asking
for the maximum
punishment.
"Sometimes
when I am
feeling happy
it crosses my
mind that my
little brother
is no longer
with us and I
immediately
start feeling
guilty that I
am having fun
and I just
stop enjoying
myself."
Jump
cut to August
3,
2024 when
counsel Shpendim
Haxhaj's
counsel wrote
to Judge
Failla that while
there are
records he
cannot give to
his client's
family he
supposes
their request
for a
visit in
the BOP US
Medical Center
for Medical
Prisoners, which
has said "if
individuals are
not willing to
attend
visitation, we
cannot and
will not force
them to."
Mr. Haxhaj as
been
non-communicative
for several
months.
On
October 17
counsel for
Beltran wrote
in asking for
121 months,
not the 40
years
recommended by
probation.
Sentencing is
set for
October 31.
The case is US v.
Haxhaj et al., 21-cr-17
(Failla)
***
Your
support means a lot. As little as $5 a month
helps keep us going and grants you access to
exclusive bonus material on our Patreon
page. Click
here to become a patron.
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
SDNY Press Room 480, front cubicle
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA
Mail: Box 20047, Dag
Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2021 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com
|
,
