By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC - Guardian UK - Honduras - ESPN
SDNY COURTHOUSE, Oct 29 – Fabio Simon Younes Arboleda was indicted, with four others, for trying to import 10,000 pounds of cocaine from Colombia into the United States.
On November 17, 2020 U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Valerie E. Caproni held an arraignment and bail hearing. Inner City Press covered it.
The US Attorney's office emphasized the defendant's connections with Seuxis Paucis Hernandez-Solarte a/k/a Jesus Santrich, of the FARC in Colombia. Reference was made to Maduro of Venezuela, and the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico.
The argument for bail was that he could live in Florida, near Orlando.
But Judge Caproni did not go along - she denied bail, and set the next proceeding for December 4.
On November 27 in advance of that proceeding Younes' lawyer wrote to Judge Caproni that "he consents to be appearing solely via counsel" and that his own cell phone number has by the Westchester County Jail been "designated for attorney-client communications and not subject to recording."
On December 4, Judge Caproni held a proceeding and Inner City Press covered it. She asked about the status of a co-defendant and was told that while the US Attorney's Office was seeking extradition, Columbia had released the person sought. He now believed to be near the Venezuela border, but the AUSA said all efforts are being made to capture him.
Jump cut to August 17, 2021, when Judge Caproni held another conference in the case and Inner City Press again covered it. There was walk of intercepted communications in Colombia. The defense's pre-trial motions are now due on January 14, with the government's response on February 11.
Another proceeding was set for December 16. Judge Caproni said, referring to COVID, that she hopes by next summer proceedings are closer to the pre-pandemic status quo than for now.
On October 29, the US Attorney's Office filed a status report that it has given the defense 58 transcripts, and Spanish-language summaries of 55 calls intercepted by Colombian authories.
The overall case is US v. Hernandez-Solarte, et al., 18-cr-262 (Caproni)
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