SDNY COURTHOUSE, May 7 – A defendant charged with fraudulently cashing checks in many U.S. states appeared for trial beginning May 6 representing himself, pro se, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York courtroom of Judge Kevin Castel. On May 6 the jury was selected, with Marko Stasiv several times making use of the Ukrainian language interpreters on hand. At day's end Stasiv asked for a list of the names of the jurors.
On May 7 Stasiv conducted cross examination of FBI Agent Fox, who had a box of seized cell phones, ID and bank cards in front of her. Stasiv asked Agent Fox, Did you observe me in the check cashing store? No, she had not.
He questioned her about the dates of the complaint and the warrant but she said she was not part of that process. One of the three Assistant U.S. Attorneys facing off against Stasiv -- they are Janis Echenberg, Noah Falk and Jonathan Rebold -- objected but Stasiv, now hopping around on a cane, prevailed. Defendant's Exhibits A and B are now part of the record.
Also now part of the record are IDs belong to some of those charged along with Stasiv in the scheme, including Gennady Toporov and Mikhail Dikler. The government says that two will testify against Stasiv, among a total of 28 government witnesses. Will the jury view this as overkill? Could rooting for the underdog result in a verdict of not guilty? More on Patreon, here.
At day's end, after a defrauded check cashing CEO brought up from Georgia to testify, Stasiv was put back into shackles and taken back to the MCC. Some one remarks, For the U.S. Attorney's office, there is only downside here. Inner City Press covering and amplifying this trial, which so far is akin to watching a person try to conduct brain surgery on themselves while talking. The case is U.S. v Stasiv, 18-cr-259 (Castel). Watch this site.
On Saturday May 4 Assistant U.S. Attorney Janis Echenberg wrote to Judge Castel with new arguments and information, noting that it could not be delivered to defendant Stasiv in the MCC. Inner City Press will be covering this trial - watch this site.
Back in late April, Judge Castel told the government to make the 3500 material and other discovery available right away or he'll fashion a remedy they will not like. In other fashion news, Judge Castel has signed an order for Stasiv to be appropriately dressed during his trial. Inner City Press and @SDNYLIVEwill be there - watch this site, and that feed.
Back in late April, Judge Castel told the government to make the 3500 material and other discovery available right away or he'll fashion a remedy they will not like. In other fashion news, Judge Castel has signed an order for Stasiv to be appropriately dressed during his trial. Inner City Press and @SDNYLIVEwill be there - watch this site, and that feed.
On April 23, two defendants arrested at Newark International Airport for an advance fee scheme, essentially predatory lending, were presented late in the SDNY arraignments courtroom, presided over by that week by retiring Magistrate Judge Henry Pitman. One of them, Omar Young of 107 West Fourth Street, Granton, Wisconsin, was given a free / publicly funded lawyer despite having $215,000 in a business checking account. The other, a Mister Perlman of northern Georgia, has $161,000 in the bank but his counsel, from the white shoe firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, argued that he should be given a free lawyer -and that the whole proceeding should be sealed. But it was held in open court, and Inner City Press was there, albeit the only media present. Why is a corporate law firm like Sullivan & Cromwell representing a predatory lender -- alleged, of course -- and arguing they should be paid, and it should be sealed? Inner City Press aims to have more on this case. For now we note that in the open court proceeding it was said that no hotel can be found in or around New York City for less than $250 to $300 a night, and each defendant was allowed while getting publicly funded counsel to spend $2000 a week while in New York. That's $102,000 a week, deemed reasonable by the court and Sullivan & Cromwell, in a District where many families don't make that in a decade. Inner City Press will have more on this.
Earlier on April 23, also by Judge Pitman, a defendant accused of selling fake IDs over the Dark Net was told to stop using that platform while given bail on April 23. The defendant, apparently also an Italian citizen and arestaurant consultant, has social media showing his shooting guns and has, according to the government, purchased "SWAT-ing" services (Google it). But Judge Pitman told him not to use the TOR net, while asking rhetorically if they even make phones anymore without the Internet, other than those advertised in the backpages of AARP Magazine. Indeed.
Earlier on April 23 a man was denied bail after naming his Instagram account "Catch Me If You Can." A Mister Crowder, wearing a "World Sacrifice Tour" t-shirt, was requesting bail. But Judge Pitman asked about the naming of his Instagram account, and the two excuses given, that it was named after a Leo DiCaprio movie ("I've seen it," Judge Pitman said) and that he later changed "if you can" to "if you could," were unavailing. The marshals took him back into the cell block Judge Pitman said to close the door to, less than an hour before affluent opioids distributor Laurence Doud was released on $500,000 bail and walked with his lawyer Mister Gottlieb across Foley Square with Inner City Press asking questions, Periscope video here. We'll have more on this.
