by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack
SDNY COURTHOUSE, Dec 19 – Rolando Chumaceiro ran and ostensibly owned a no-fault medical clinic at 2767 Southern Boulevard in the South Bronx.
But he was only pretending to own it, as a doctor, while engaged in a health care fraud and money laundering conspiracy, and selling fentanyl.
On April 5, 2023 U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Paul G. Gardephe held a change of plea proceeding. Inner City Press went and covered it.
Chumareiro pled guilty to three counts, after conferring with his lawyer. There is a plea agreement but its terms, including sentencing guideline agreed to, were not read outloud, as best as Inner City Press could make out. Nor are plea agreements routinely put into the docket, at least at this stage. (The agreed guideline will be quoted in the sentencing memos).
There was no one but Inner City Press in the courtroom gallery (where, we noted, COVID masks were no longer required).
On November 3, 2023, lead defendant Gulkarov followed suit and pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, and aggravated identity theft in connection with his orchestration of a $40 million fraud targeting no-fault automobile insurance companies. The plea deal is for 144 months, with 24 of them mandatory on top of any other sentence.
On December 19, Gulkarov's lawyer was before Judge Gardephe, seeking to withdraw. Judge Gardephe noted the March sentencing, and asked Gulkarov about getting another lawyer. Gulkarov said it would have to wait until after the holidays - the lawyers' holidays, he clarified. He did not know how much they would charge. The Probation Officer will be informed, for the Pre-Sentencing Report, with a letter due in two weeks. The reasons for withdrawal were not put on the record, as privileged.
On December 1, co-defendant Albert Aronov also pled guilty, sentencing set for April 11, 2024.
The case is US v. Gulkarov, et al., 22-cr-20 (Gardephe)
***
Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a month helps keep us going and grants you access to exclusive bonus material on our Patreon page. Click here to become a patron.
Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
