By Matthew Russell Lee
SDNY COURTHOUSE, July 25 – A man found in a Yonkers apartment with heroin, fentanyl, a .380 caliber handgun, $20,000 in cash and what the government called "an industrial sized press used to package narcotics into bricks" came for sentencing on July 25 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York courtroom of Judge Alison J.Nathan.
The defendant, Miguel Zubiate, in a length pre sentence speech told Judge Nathan he'd read and been inspired by a book about Elon Musk. It was unclear if this was a sly or unintentional reference to the fact that this was the Judge before whom and the courtroom where Musk himself appeared back on April 4 to oppose an SEC motion that he be held in contempt for his tweets about 500,000 Tesla cars. Inner City Press story here.
Zubiate's lawyer, his second one, argued that the industrial press was really for printing T-shirt and caps. She disputed, successfully as it turned out, that there had been 100% fentanyl in Zubiate's apartment. The Assistant US Attorney retracted the claim, gracefully and repeatedly, said it was Zubiate's co-defendant Javon Anthony Bussey.
Nathan listened patiently to Zubiete's longer than usual statement, about being beaten by his father, about returning from Peru to find the family's apartment boarded up because the father spend the rent money on alcohol (that's in the sentencing submission too). Also apparently in the PSR, which has Zubiate "abusing percocets, Xanax, OxyContin pills, alcohol, lean (cough syrup mixed with soda)," as summarized in the sentencing submission.
Judge Nathan, without mentioning the Elon Musk coincidence, imposed on Zubiate a sentence of 102 months or eight and a half years. He has requested Danbury or Fort Dix.
As if in another world, back on April 4 after nearly two hours of argument the SEC and Musk's lawyers were directed to negotiate for at least one hour in the next two weeks and try to reach a settlement. U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Alison Nathan admonished the SEC for not having negotiated enough before "running into court and saying the sky was falling," as Musk's lawyer put it. Another member of Musk's team, whom Inner City Press in the courtroom dubbed Mister Slick, moved to sit between Musk and the podium and passed a note. Afterward Musk jumped into a Tesla with no front place waiting in Foley Square and sped away. Inner City Press recorded a Periscope video (here) and headed back into the courthouse. Watch this site. As a class action lawsuit against BHH's rodent repellers creeps toward trial or settlement, on April 1in the the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge William Pauley heard arguments and ruled on no fewer than 14 motions in limine. There were nine from the class action plaintiffs, mostly successful, and five from the defendant, most unsuccessful.
During the three hours of argument, Judge Pauley said today is not the day to admit anonymous customer reviews from Amazon.com from the likes of "TaterSpud59" (whom he referred to as Tater Tot), and said that FTC press releases dubious about repellers will or would be admissible at trial, with apossible limiting instruction.
There was discussion of experts including a Michigan State University protocol which Judge Pauley shot down, adding that after MSU's victory over Duke, he is not disposed toward them. Judge Pauley took more time listening to arguments than many other judges would, and said he said spent the rainy Sunday - on which Duke was eliminated from NCAA March Madness - to read all of the papers. The sense, after the mouse motion marathon, was that the plaintiffs are in the driver's seat, and that the case may settle. There is a mediation scheduled for April 9 before Hon. John S. Martin (Ret). But Inner City Press will be cover it and what happens in the SDNY either way. The case is Hart, et al. v. BHH, LLC d/b/a Bell + Howell, et al., 15-cv-04804; class counsel is Yitzchak Kopel and BHH is now represented by Quinn Emanuel We were also at Judge Pauley's courtroom on the news there would be a proceeding in US v Genovese, a hedge fund fraud prosecution. But it was not there - once we left the courtroom and retrieved electronics, we were able to ask and learned Genovese was adjourned to April 10. We'll have more on this. Back on February 15 when Gustavo Salvador pled guilty to selling oxycodon in The Bronx before SDNY Judge Paul A. Engelmayer, his two lawyers tried to argue for a suspended remand based on the cold in the MDC Brooklyn. Judge Engelmayer turned them down saying he had personal knowledge that the heat was back on; not surprising. Surprising, though, was that aBronx oxy dealer was represented by the white shoe Goodwin Proctor law firm. Was it pro bono? Their representation goes back at least until Thanksgiving, before the MDC Brooklyn conditions became public. In the audience, a young child then a baby cried. The volume of oxy pills was in the thousands, according to the indictment. The sentencing guidelines run from 57 to 71 months. Judge Engelmayer said he said something else on his schedule coming up, should the sentencing be rescheduled? It went forward. Goodwin Proctor. Later on February 15: on East 104th Street in Manhattan last April 24, multiple gunshots to the chest killed 17-year old Samuel Ozuna. A week later, 24-year old Gary Turner was arrested and charged. When Turner on February 15 changed his plea to guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Azuna's family members sat on one side of the courtroom. On the other, separted by security officers, were supporters of Turner. In the back, the only media in the room, was Inner City Press.
