| Man Is Detained in
DDC After Instagram Videos Shown
to Judge But Not the Public So
Letter
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack DDC
COURTHOUSE,
April 15 รข€“ A man on federal
supervised release was
arrested in a car with
marijuana, and is depicted on
an Instagram account he says
he shares with his brother,
selling marijuana. On April
15 U.S.
District Court
for the
District of
Colombia
Magistrate
Judge Zia M.
Faruqui had a
violation of
supervised
release
proceeding at
1 pm. Inner
City Press, in
DC, went to
cover it.
It did not
start on time.
The defendant
arrived a few
minutes late;
his defense
lawyer stood
in the hall
speaking with
him. Judge
Faruqui
arrived with a
visiting
delegation,
which may have
been related
with this
weeks IMF
Spring
Meetings (they
bowed their
head formally
when entering
and leaving
Courtroom 4). Judge
Faruqui
brought
several of the
visitors, one
refered to as
the Chief
Judge, back to
his chambers,
along with the
Probation
Office. When
the emerged,
Judge Faraqui
urged the
Probation
officer to
show the
Instagram
videos to the
defense
lawyer, and
turned up
white noise as
he did.
Ultimately
Judge Faruqui
ordered the
defendant
remanded, at
least for a
week, pending
a release plan
or application
for in-patient
drug treatment
at Samaritan
Inn. But
why aren't the
videos,
disposive in
this case and
therefore
judicial
documents, in
the docket or
otherwise
available?
We have asked
- watch this
site.
But when
Inner City Press, covering the
cases, sought out the case on
PACER on the morning of
December 13, it was still
listed as "25-sz-50 SEALED v.
SEALED; Case is not available
to the
public."
Figuring from the
number that there must be at
least 49 earlier seizure order
in 2025, Inner City Press
checked them one by one. Only
four were not sealed: one
involving SpaceX, others
involving domains uses for
cryptocurrency
scams. But what
about the other 45 cases in
2025? Inner City
Press, which often
successfully makes such
requests in the U.S. District
Court for the Southern
District of New York, and now
in the NYS Supreme Criminal
Court unsealing exhibits in
the Luigi Mangione case, on
April 15, 2026 is in the DDC
courthouse, clerk's office. In
DDC PACER, there are already
26 sz / seized cases in 2026 -
all 26 of them sealed. And no
response from Judge Zaruqui.
So a 4th filing seeking
unsealing has been sent. Watch
this site. Back on
the morning of December 13
filed with Judge Faruqui, with
a copy to the AUSA on one of
the four unsealed cases. On the morning of
December 22, the
promised-to-be-unsealed M/T
Skipper order was still
sealed; now there are 25-sz-51
to 56 orders, all sealed,
along with the other 45 orders
still sealed. Inner City Press
has written to Judge Faruqui,
and the AUSA, a second time.
And now a third: On the morning of
January 7, after the Bella 1
was boarded, even 25-sz-50 was
still sealed, and a new one
added (sealed) in 2026. So a
third letter has done in. Watch this site
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Editorial [at] innercitypress.com Mail: Box 130222, Chinatown Station,
NY NY 10013 Reporter's mobile (and weekends): 718-716-3540 Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis. Copyright 2006-2026 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com |
Friday, April 17, 2026
Man Is Detained in DDC After Instagram Videos Shown to Judge But Not the Public So Letter
