By Matthew Russell Lee
SDNY COURTHOUSE, July 3 – A woman from Ghana pled guilty to receiving stolen property in The Bronx before U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Denise Cote on July 3. Assana Traore has a plea agreement for a guideline sentence of from 15 to 21 months and will be sentenced on October 4, see below. Before Traore's plea, the same defense lawyer Stephen Turano had another client plead guilty.
But who was it?
After inquiry with the U.S. Attorney's Office, thankfully Inner City Pres was informed this earlier case was US v. Sadi Fofana, 19-cr-447. There was another defendant in that case, Malick Keita, initially represented by Florian Meidel. So who pled guilty? Whoever it it, their sentencing is said to be October 4 at 3 pm. Only there is someone else scheduled to plead guilty before Judge Cote at that time...
Assana Traore was accused of receiving $20,000 wired in to her bank account in The Bronx and money laundering.
It's part of the wide "US v. Rufai" case in which Judge Cote has given four year jail sentences to men involved in the romance scam side of the wider case (one defendant cut off his ankle bracelet and fled). Traore is a U.S. citizen and does not, like the men, face or flee deportation.
While one of the men claimed he was not part of the romance scam but only aware of it, Judge Cote demurred. The issue of awareness apparently did not arise with Mr. Traore. Perhaps in the sentencing submissions. The case is USA v. Assana Traore, 18-cr-201 (Cote).
Back on April 12 when Tourey Rufai appeared for sentencing before Judge Cote, he was wearing an overcoat and holding a napkin into which, when called on, he cried. His lawyer argued that he was aware of but did not participate in the romantic fraud part of the conspiracy but Judge Cote was not convinced, citing to Exhibit C. The argument shifted to whether Rufai will be at risk when he is deported back to Ghana, given that he is viewed as having helped a gay friend. Judge Cote said that will be up to an immigration court to decide. She sentenced him on the upper end of the 41 to 51 months guidelines, at 48 months. He is to turn himself in on May 24 at 2 pm, to the SDNY Marshals if not otherwise designated by then. Despite the tears the end of the sentencing felt rushed, with corporate lawyers waiting for Woody Allen and Jeff Bezos' Amazon. But this Ghana fraud might itself make a good movie, at least for Nollywood. We'll have more on this.
The day before in the SDNY Magistrate's Courtroom near 6 pm an older doctor or former doctor Gordon Freedman was presented, charged with 16 counts the last of which involved the death of a patient. Freedman's lawyer, who first asked Inner City Press if it was there specifically to cover his client, told Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn that the day's arrest had not been needed. Freedman already has a case in front of SDNY Judge Kimba M. Wood; he would have surrended without incident on this new and, he said, related charge. Freedman's mother was buried only yesterday. Judge Netburn said sorry for your loss, and did not follow the government's request that Freedman find another co-signer. He is an Uber driver now; his bail conditions included taking passengers to Connecticut and New Jersey. Now he faces a possible 20 year mandatory minimum sentence. Inner City Press will continue to cover this case, or cases.
Twenty four hours before a defendant accused of three Hobbs Act roberries in October 2018 and February 2019 was presented before Judge Netburn, before her voice was hoarse, so hungry that his Federal Defender had to ask the marshals to bring him a lunch bag with an apple in it. Defendant Figueroa had barely opened the brown paper bag with the Magistrate judge returned. Assistant US Attorney Espinosa recounted the Hobbs Act robbery allegations, on 20 October 2018 and 11 and 17 February 2019. One Federal Defender was filling in for another, and Figueroa re-disappeared into custody, fate of apple unknown (execpt a CJA lawyer in the courtroom remarked he was so hungry he wanted the apple). Inner City Press will continue to cover this.
Earlier on April 10 at 4:55 pm, two brothers accused of trafficking in heroin on Jerome Avenue in The Bronx were given bail conditions. Their mother must come in and be deputized by the court; they must wear ankle bracelets that will set off an alarm if they approach any airport, given their connections to the Dominican Republic. They are legal residents, subject to what a Federal Defender called a double standard. But these are the conditions. One of the brothers is 28 years old with a six year old child he parents on the weekends. His younger brother has a child in the Dominican Republic - the judge inquired whether he was conceived in a relationship in the U.S. or DR. Afterward one of the attorneys joked this will find out if the mother prefers one son over the other. Inner City Press will continue to cover this.
Earlier still on April 10 in SDNY Magistrate's Court, Vincent Esposito pled guilty to one count of racketeering , with a sentencing range agreed with the government at 24 to 30 months in prison. The US Attorney's Office made a proffer that Esposito extorted a union official, and a financial adviser. His three lawyers accompanied him afterward, then left. Esposito and two apparent family member rebuffed the media at the elevator, then again on Mulberry Street. Inner City Press Periscope video here. The control date is July 10 - we will continue to cover this and other SDNY proceedings. Minutes before Esposito's plea, another man was charged with biting an ICE agent in the Bronx....
In March in the rackeeting trial of Joe Cammarano and John "Porky" Zancocchio that resulted in acquittal, in the SDNY the afternoon of March 5 ended with a government witness authenticating audio tapes he recorded in his pizzeria which, it seemed, one of the defendants was trying to take from him. He said he preferred Vinnie TV over Joe C. and Porky - who smiled and waved when his name was mentioned - but that he tried to get along with them, including by going to Porky's restaurant Bella Donna. He said that all the made guys were there on Fridays.
Like a happy hour, commented Judge Alvin Hellerstein, to some laughter including among the jury. (Later Judge Hellerstein would stay to hear and grant a motion to dismissed a sexual orientation discrimination and retaliation claim against SUNY. Such is the schedule of a Federal judge.) The trial was wrapping up - and ultimately resulted in acquittal: on March 13 the jury acquitted the two of racketeering and conspiracy to commit extortion charges. Gina Castellano, the lead prosecutor, had said they "worked together and with other members of the mob to commit crime after crime — extortion, loan-sharking, drug dealing, assault and fraud. These two men led a sophisticated criminal organization that took whatever they wanted from whoever they wanted through intimidation,” she said. But unlike with the Millbrook Houses in The Bronx, for example, this prosecution didn't work. We'll have more on this. March 5 had ended with Stephen Sabella being questioned about racist Facebook posts and a scar his step-brother left on his head. Stephen Sabella testified that the defendant John Zancocchio gave him a black eye and a broken tooth and stole his busienss from him, some $2 million in all.
"I can't stand him," Stephen Sabella said. But he went beyond that, and posted on Zancocchio's daughter's Facebook wall insults against her bi-racial daughter. He called Zancocchio himself a "stuttering MF-er;" Zancocchio's lawyer referred to "my client's disability." He cross examined: you know her from Bella Mama Rose, right? She's a good person, right? Judge Alvin Hellerstein sustained an objected by Stephen Sabella managed to work into his response, yes she is a nice person. He said he wasn't sure how Facebook worked, how many people saw his posts.
A liquor salesman posted a photo with Zancocchio calling him a classy guy; Stephen Sabella replied online that he was surprised, unless the salesman meant a thief and robber. When Stephen Sabella was beaten up a second time outside his home he decided to cooperate with the government. But, he admitted, he continued with a gambling book and some drug sales, "just marijuana," he said. Asked if his father was arrested in Florida for cocaine he followed Judge Hellerstein's sustaining the government's objection and did not answer.
Still one wondered how this might hurt his credibility with the jury, one of whose members told Judge Hellerstein that Stephen Sabella's name was mis-spelled in the transcripts that were passed out to the jurors. Stephen Sabella explaining his own calls was one thing - but another government witness was asked to authenticate a series of calls about "meet you in twenty minutes," "I can't hear you I'll call you right back" and the like. At one point classical hold music came one and Judge Hellerstein quipped, Is Mozart a part of this case? Cammarano's laughed followed suit, saying "I object." Perhaps the music was Vivaldi.
