by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack
SDNY COURTHOUSE, May 16 – Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco, depicted taking over an apartment building in Aurora, Colorado then arrested in a sweep this week on Odgen Avenue in The Bronx, was presented on January 29 before U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Magistrate Judge Jennifer E. Willis. Inner City Press was there.
While Zambrano-Pacheco through his appointed Criminal Justice Act lawyer consented to detention, he expressed concern about his safety in jail. His lawyer cited press coverage and asked for an order directing the Bureau of Prisons to take precautions.
Judge Willis after some back and forth agreed to recommend to BOP that they be mindful of security concerns.
Jump cut to April 21 when more defendants in the now-indicted case were brought in, assigned CJA lawyers and detained on consent. One asked for consular notification to Venezuela. Inner City Press will stay on the case(s).
Jump again to April 23, when co-defendant Bello-Chacon, arrested at 8 am, was presented and detained on consent.
On April 28, another, Luciano, presented and detained on consent.
On April 30, a mass arraignment. Inner City Press was there, from the thread:
Judge: Only 12 of the 21 charged are here today. AUSA: One has previously been removed...Velasquez will be flown in in early May. Others are in Chicago, Florida and Oregon. Mata is in immigration custody
Judge: Why only him? AUSA: He'll be here in SDNY in 2 weeks. Judge: The charges include harboring and sex trafficking, guns and drug trafficking. All are detained - and all pled not guilty, ultimately waiving a public reading.
Afterwards: a further conference on July 15, 2025 at 2:00 p.m
On May 7, another co-defendant Freites Velazquez was flown in from Chicago, presented and detained.
On May 16 co-defendant Mata was presented and detained on consent, represented by a white show CJA counsel who used to be with SDNY.
The initial case Inner City Press first reported in January was USA v. Zambrano-Pacheco, 25-mj-284 (Willis)
The overall case is now USA v. Zambrano-Pacheco, et al., 1:25-cr-76 (Vyskocil)
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