SDNY COURTHOUSE, June 10 – When Fuguan Lovick appeared in court shackled on May 9 to plea guilty in the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods case best known for the involvement of rapper Tekashi 6ix 9ine a/k/a Daniel Hernandez, it began as a routine allocution. Then Lovick implied, at least temporarily, that it was self defense. See below.
On June 10 Aljermiah Mack appeared beforeU.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Paul A. Engelmayer in shackles, a late entrant in the case. With a September 4 trial date, Assistant US Attorney Michael Longyear said that only Mack and two others have not pled guilty, and that one of those two is on the verge. So will Tekashi6ix9ine not have to testify?
Mack's lawyer Louis Fasulo said his client is eager for a speedy resolution; he will begin reviewing discovery immediately. The government seized two of Mack's phones when he was arrested on June 6; they are seeking search warrants for those and his Instagram account. The whole proceeding had the feeling of a very genteel push to plead guilty. We'll have more on this.
Back on May 9 when Lovick, also known as Fu Banga, offered his own description of what he did on April 21, 2018 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Judge Engelmayer did not accept it.
Lovick said that outside the door of a boxer, a group ran at him; he drew a gun and fired it into the air to make them step back.
Judge Engelmayer said this allocution wouldn't do, with its implication of self defense and failure to mention the Nine Trey Gangsta Blood organization. He urged Lovick, still in chains, to spend ten minutes with his defense lawyer Jeffrey G. Pittell to discuss a prepared allocation which would jibe with counts six and seven of the superseding indictment to which he was ostensibly pleading guilty.
Pittell, with whom Inner City Press spoke just outside the courtroom, had previously filed a motion to suppress and to dismiss. He had an interesting argument that the New York State crime of menacing - trying to cause the fear of bodily harm - would not fit even the superseding lesser included charge to which Lovick was pleading guilty. Pittell told Inner City Press this is an issue of first impression.
But as Judge Engelmayer put it when after two breaks he accepted Lovick's guilty plea, lawyers can always make arguments but it was his view that there was no real claim of self-defense in this case. Pittell referred to a video of the incident but Judge Engelmayer said he had not seen it. Venue was also questioned; that too was smoothed over.
As more and more of the initial defendants in the overall USA v. Jones / Tekashi 6ix 9ine case plead guilty, to some the remaining question is the pleading-out of the defendant(s) who are NOT affiliated with the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods. Inner City Press will continue to cover this case. For now, a bit more on Patreon, here.
For more on this case, including the April 30, 2019 multiple defendant discovery conference before Judge Engelmayer, click here.
