| Spalletta
Convicted of Uranium Finance
Hack After Two Hour Jury
Deliberation in SDNY
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack SDNY
COURTHOUSE,
Oct 7 – Jonathan Spalletta was
arrested and arraigned for two
hacks of Uranium Finance in
April 2021. On October 7,
2026 on the seventh day of a
trial Inner City Press live
tweeted, Spalletta was found
guilty on both counts. His
lead lawyer withdrew as the
trial began, and Spalletta
asked for an ex parte
conference about his remaining
lawyers just before closing
arguments - an issue on
appeal? More on X for
Subscribers here
and Substack here The second hack,
the indictment alleges, netted
$53 million which it says
Spalletta "laundered including
through the cryptocurrency
mixer Tornado Cash in order to
buy Pokemon cards, antique
Roman coins and a piece of the
Wright brothers' original
plane that Neil Armstrong had
taken to the moon. To the
moon! [Echoes of SafeMoon,
prosecuted in
EDNY] Inner City
Press was in the U.S. District
Court for the Southern
District of New York
Magistrates Court when
Spalletta was presented and
sent up to Judge Jed S.
Rakoff's courtroom for
arraignment. On September 11,
before a September 28 trial,
Judge Rakoff ruled that the
US' Daubert motion is due
September 14 with Defendant's
opposition due September 23. On September 28
the trial began, with (very)
short jury selection, openings
and a witness, which Inner
City Press live tweeted. On
September 29 lead defense
counsel Bell requested out,
and got it. On September 30: Defense lawyer
Sharma, now lead counsel: Mr.
Pettyjohn, what does the ZK in
ZK Snark stand for? Pettyjohn:
Zero knowledge. Sharma: The
flawed code of Uranium Finance
allowed the exploit?
Pettyjohn: The exploit made it
flawed [?] It
continues Spalletta now with 3
lawyers beside him, all from
the same firm (whose name
partner is apparently in line
to become US Ambassador to
Egypt) AUSA: Do you see 3
lines of words - do they make
sense in a sentence? Sharma:
Objection! Calls for
speculation! Judge
Rakoff: Overruled Witness:
It's a seed phrase. AUSA:
Special Agent Marshall, And
this is the Uranium bug file?
Special Agent: It is. AUSA:
And another file named
"Tornado"? Special Agent: Yes Cross Sharma: You had
to try to get into an
encrypted file? Special Agent:
We used the passwords of the
phone Sharma: But you have no
idea why these files were
there, just that they were
that, right? Special Agent:
Correct [Now
Spalletta leaning back and
whispering to Sharma. After a
time] Sharma: No
further questions. More
on X for Subscribers here
and Substack here. The case is USA v. Spalletta, 1:26-cr-118 (Rakoff)
*** Your
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Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com Mail: Box 130222, Chinatown Station,
NY NY 10013 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 |
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Spalletta Convicted of Uranium Finance Hack After Two Hour Jury Deliberation in SDNY
Fifth UN Straw Poll Still Murky a Decade After Guterres Grabbed UNSG Post Again Bans Press
UN GATE / SDNY COURT, Oct 7 — This morning
brought the fifth straw poll on the tenth
Secretary-General, with Greece, as September's Council
President, refusing to answer written questions from the
Press, even about access to the stakeout SG Antonio
Guterres has banned Inner City Press from, with another
unexplained denial by MALU on September 29, after Inner
City Press was blocked at the 47th Street entrance on
September 25 despite a confirmed invitation to an event on
International Law in the TCC.
But here are the October 7 results:
Grynspan has 6 discourages - but is 1 of
them a P5 veto? Colored ballots Oct 16? Grynspan 9, 6;
Grossi 6, 7, 2; Rodriguez 5, 9, 1; Otunnu 3, 12; Sall 5,
10; Espinosa 3, 9, 3; Baki 0, 14, 1 (Baki: 1 no opinion :
)
And September 29:
Grynspan - 3 Discourage (up
from 1) (and now 10 Encourages, 2 No opinions)
Rodrigues Birkett - 6 Discourage (and 8
Encourages, 1 No opinions)
Grossi - 7
Discourages (and 8 Encourages, zero No opinions)
Otunnu - 8 Discourages (and 5
Encourages, 2 No opinions)
Sall - 9 Discourage (and 5 Encourages, 1 No
opinions)
Espinosa - 10 Discourages (and 3 Encourages, 2 No
opinions)
Baki - 11 Discourages (and
finally 1 encourage, 3 No opinions)
Bachelet -
WITHDREW
Now what?
On September 25, blocked; on September 29,
denied without explanation. What would these candidates
do? They have been asked.
On August 21, still banned, Inner City
Press streamed the stake-outs, including an appearance by
Amir Dossal, one of only five board members on the
Terramar Foundation of Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted and
jailed for sex trafficking, video here
In 2015, Inner City Press stood in that
hallway. This year, banned from the building for eight
years, it cannot, and now it appears neither can UNTV's
own cameras. So this morning, letters went out — to
France and the United Kingdom as permanent Council
members, to Pakistan and Bahrain as this morning's
tellers, to the Democratic Republic of the Congo as the
Council President who will give whatever readout there is,
and to Colombia, Greece, Latvia, Liberia, Panama, and
Somalia as the Council's other current members. Each was
asked the same two things: raise with the Council
presidency and the Department of Global Communications
that independent press access to this readout be restored,
and press MALU directly on Inner City Press's own pending
accreditation application, filed July 26 and still
sitting, per MALU's own words, merely "awaiting approval."
A UN Security Council that cannot say, this week, whether
the public will hear anything at all about its first vote
on the next Secretary-General is a Council that has
managed, in the space of one process, to make 2015 look
more transparent than 2026....
The letters may have done something:
unlike this morning's uncertainty, a UNTV camera was
present for the Democratic Republic of the Congo's readout
as July's Council President. But Ambassador Zénon Mukongo
Ngay declined to disclose the actual results of the first
straw poll — the vote count that, in 2015, Inner City
Press could get simply by standing in the hallway outside
the Council chamber and asking the delegates walking out.
This year, with X Live still nonfunctional after weeks of
unresolved platform problems, Inner City Press streamed
what coverage it could manage on YouTube instead, here.
What's missing is not incidental. In 2015,
being inside the building meant being able to ask a
delegate directly, off the cuff, what the numbers actually
were, even when the official readout was vague. Banned
from UN Headquarters for eight years, with an
accreditation application now five days old and still
"awaiting approval," Inner City Press cannot do that —
cannot catch an ambassador in the hallway, cannot ask a
follow-up, cannot press a source who might say more than
the President chose to. A camera being present is not the
same as the Council actually saying anything. On both
counts — access to the building, and now apparently the
substance of the readout itself — the process is less
transparent than it was a decade ago. The UN is getting
worse, not better, at exactly the moment it says it is
choosing who should lead it next.
Inner City Press has covered this
exact mechanism before — a decade ago, in 2016, when the
Council chose António Guterres.
The difference this time is not the
process. It's that Inner City Press can no longer walk
into the building to ask about it. In 2016, the
informal, non-binding straw polls ran through the summer
and fall: the first held July 21, with Japan's Ambassador
Koro Bessho, that month's rotating Council President,
telling Inner City Press directly that the results "will
be confidential. We'll see."
A third poll followed August 29, still
without colored ballots. Colored-ballot straw polls — a
later refinement in which the five veto-wielding permanent
members' preferences are specifically marked,
distinguishing their views from the other ten Council
members' — came further along in the process. Fourth and
fifth polls followed September 9 and 26, under New
Zealand's presidency, before Guterres emerged as the
choice that October.
At every one of those monthly presidency
handovers, Inner City Press was in the room, or in the
stakeout position outside the Council chamber, asking the
rotating president directly: will there be a press
stakeout after the closed-door consultation on the straw
poll? Can the process be made more transparent? On behalf
of the Free UN Coalition for Access, Inner City Press
pressed New Zealand's Ambassador Gerard van Bohemen on
exactly this in September 2016, alongside questions about
Burundi, Western Sahara, and the UN's failures in Juba.
The answers were often noncommittal —
"We'll see" was Bessho's own phrase for it — but the
questions were asked, in person, monthly, by a journalist
physically present to ask them again the next month if the
answer didn't hold. That access ended on July 3,
2018, when Inner City Press was physically removed from UN
Headquarters covering the Fifth (Budget) Committee, and
barred from re-entry two days later.
Eight years later, as the Security Council
prepares tomorrow's first straw poll on Guterres's
successor, Inner City Press cannot walk into the stakeout
position to ask this year's rotating president — Denmark,
for August — the same question it asked New Zealand and
Japan a decade ago. It can only write a letter, as it did
this week to Denmark's Permanent Representative, asking
that access to the August 3 briefing be arranged by WebEx,
and that Denmark's Presidency intervene with MALU on the
accreditation application still, per MALU's own words,
merely "awaiting approval."
The straw poll process itself remains
what it was in 2016: informal, confidential by the
Council's own description, run entirely behind closed
doors, with the public and press dependent entirely on
what leaks out or what a rotating president chooses to say
at a stakeout — assuming, this year, that the press is
even let in to reach one. For this first one, DRC seems to
so no color coding for P5 members. But the blocks and
vetos are in the air: US of Bachelet, China of Grossi,
we'll have more on this. For now, this
book.
Ten years ago, "we'll see" was an answer
given in person, to a question asked in person, with the
prospect of asking it again next month.
This year, "we'll see" is what Inner City
Press is left to say about whether anyone answers the
letters at all. Watch this site.
All 3 Alexander Brothers Guilty on All Counts Now Oct 19 Hearing on Victims and SeparationAll 3 Alexander Brothers Guilty on All Counts Now Oct 19 Hearing on Victims and Separation
| All 3
Alexander Brothers
Guilty on All Counts
Now Oct 19 Hearing
on Victims and
Separation
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Substack Book SDNY
COURTHOUSE,
Oct 7 – Amid the news
of the arrest of the Alexander
brothers in Miami on SDNY sex
trafficking charges, in the
SDNY Magistrate Court on the
morning of December 11, 2024
the superseding indictment was
"wheeled out." On August 21,
2025 Oren Alexander retained
two of the defense lawyers in
Sean Combs' recent trial, Marc
Agnifilo and Teny Geragos,
amid pre-trial skirmishes. On November 7
Inner City Press filed
opposition to the Alexander
brothers' extensive
redactions, on PACER here
and on DocumentCloud here On January 12,
the courtroom was abruptly
sealed after defense counsel
referred to sealed memo not
visible in the docket on
PACER. Inner City Press filed
a letter with the Court, on
DocumentCloud here. Here is a court
drawing of jury selection,
courtesy to Inner City Press
from Elizabeth Williams - on X
for Subscribers here
and Substack here Late on January
20 lawyer Evan Torgan - whose
name is not to be mentioned in
front of the anonymous jury -
wrote in to quash subpoenas,
under seal (his letter on
Patreon
here). [On January 30
Inner City Press publish
Hamptons Horror here,
audiobook here] On February 11 a
UN staffer named Avishan
Bodjnoud testified... On February 27,
the charge conference which
Inner City Press live tweeted,
being the first to report
this: AUSA: The
Government does not intend to
go forward with Counts 6 and
7, about June 2009. Judge Caproni: So
it's now going to be ten
counts [not the 12 counts in
the S6 indictment] Why? It was
belatedly docketed on February
27, letter on Patreon here On March 9 after
several jury notes, at 5:30
the jury returned with guilty
verdicts for all three
brothers on all counts. On May 12,
sentencing was pushed back:
"IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the
sentencing in this action
scheduled for Thursday, August
6, 2026, is ADJOURNED to
Tuesday, October 6, 2026, at
10:00 A.M. The sentencing will
take place in Courtroom 26A of
the Daniel Patrick Moynihan
United States Courthouse, 500
Pearl Street, New York, New
York 10007. Absent
extraordinary cause, this date
will not be extended further.
Pre-sentencing submissions
must be filed not later than
Tuesday, September22, 2026. IT
IS FURTHER ORDERED that not
later than Friday, August 7,
2026, the Government must
inform the Court and
Defendants how many victims,
if any, it anticipates will
speak at the sentencing
hearing. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED
that not later than Thursday,
September 17, 2026, the
parties must notify the Court
whether any party requests a
Fatico hearing." On July 22 this
was amended: "as to Alon
Alexander, Oren Alexander, Tal
Alexander. IT IS HEREBY
ORDERED, due to a change in
the Courts calendar, the Court
requests that the parties
pre-sentencing submissions be
filed not later than Friday,
September 11, 2026. IT IS
FURTHER ORDERED that not later
than Friday, September 11,
2026, the parties must notify
the Court whether any party
requests a Fatico hearing." On August 7 the
US Attorney's Office wrote in
that "To date the Government
has been informed by six
victims that they wish to
speak at sentencing and by
nine others that they are
considering speaking, though
they have not made final
decisions. There are
additional victims the
Government has contacted or
attempted to contact to ask
about their desire to speak at
sentencing from whom answers
have not yet been received." Late on Sunday,
August 23 Teny Geragos filed a
letter to Judge Caproni asking
her to direct the US
Attorney's Office to disclose
the names of proposed speakers
at the sentencing, attaching a
redacted email from the Office
stating that they do not
intend to so disclose. Email
attachment on Patreon here. On August 31 the
US Attorney's Office wrote in
proposing "to identify to the
Court, copying the defendants,
the names of all victims
wishing to address the Court
at sentencing in a sealed
letter filed on October 2,
2026." On September 3
Judge Caproni ruled: "IT IS
HEREBY ORDERED that
Defendants' request is DENIED.
The Government is not
obligated to disclose prior to
sentencing the names of
victims who may wish to speak
at sentencing... More on August 31
on X for Subscribers here
and Substack here On the evening of
September 18, the Alexander
brothers wrote in that "the defendants
respectfully request a Fatico
hearing as to the following
disputed issues, each of which
bears directly on the
applicable Guidelines
calculation and involves
factual disputes that
Probation resolved on the
papers without the benefit of
live testimony or
cross-examination: 1. Group 6
(Victim-4) and Group 7
(Victim-5): neither victim
testified at trial, the
associated Counts 6 and 7 were
dismissed by the government,
and the defendants provided
alibi evidence showing they
were not in the Hamptons on
the date of the alleged
conduct. In addition, even if
the Court considers this
conduct, the four-level
use-of-force enhancement under
USSG §2A3.1(b)(1) is
unsupported as to Victim-4,
who never testified and whose
allegations were never
subjected to
cross-examination; 2. Group 9
(Victim-9): this person did
not testify, nor is there any
other evidence that would
establish sex trafficking by a
preponderance of the evidence.
In addition, the four-level
useof-force enhancement under
USSG §2A3.1(b)(1) applied to
this Group is unsupported, as
Victim-9 never testified and
her allegations were never
subjected to
cross-examination; 3. Group 13
(Victim-30): the government
has never interviewed
Victim-30, and Victim-30 has
never stated she was a victim
of anything; 5.4.the scope of
relevant conduct attributable
to each defendant under USSG
§1B1.3 for Groups in which he
had no personal involvement" -
full filing on Patreon here On September 21
Judge Caproni pushed the
sentencings back: "SCHEDULING
ORDER as to Alon Alexander,
Oren Alexander, Tal Alexander.
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the
sentencing in this action
scheduled for Tuesday, October
6, 2026, is ADJOURNED to
Tuesday, October 27, 2026, at
10:00 A.M. The Court will not
entertain any requests to
adjourn sentencing further.
Pre-sentencing submissions
must be filed not later than
Friday, October 9, 2026." On September 28,
a joint letter stating that
while the US Attorney's Office
does not think a Fatico
hearing is needed, the defense
does. The two agreed, however,
to modify the PSR to that
"during the ride to the house,
TAL ALEXANDER falsely denied
knowing his own brother OREN
ALEXANDER." On October 7
Judge Caproni docketed: "ORDER
as to Alon Alexander, Oren
Alexander, Tal Alexander: IT
IS HEREBY ORDERED that the
parties must appear for a
conference on Monday, October
19, 2026, at 10:00 A.M., to
discuss contested sentencing
issues identified by the
parties in their forthcoming
pre-sentencing submissions, as
well as objections identified
in the presentence reports,
see Dkts. 505, 506, 507
(sealed). In particular, the
parties should be prepared to
discuss: (i) whether the
enhancement contained in
4B1.5(b)(1) of the sentencing
guidelines should be assessed
as to any Defendant; (ii)
whether the "restraint of
victim" enhancement contained
in 3A1.3 of the sentencing
guidelines should be assessed
as to Defendants Alon (Group
7), Oren (Group 12), and Tal
(Group 10) regarding the
assault of Minor Victim-26;
and (iii) whether the Court
should recommend to the Bureau
of Prisons that the three
Defendants be designated to
different facilities... not
later than Thursday, October
15, 2026, the parties must
inform the Court how much time
they would like to allocate
for o presentations at
sentencing on Tuesday, October
27, 2026." Watch this site. This case is USA v. Alexander, et al., 1:24-cr-676 (Caproni)
*** 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 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 |
Man Charged With 1 Kilo of Fentanyl Was Freed on Bond Now Pleads Guilty and Is Remanded
| Man Charged With 1 Kilo of
Fentanyl Was Freed on Bond Now
Pleads Guilty and Is Remanded
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack SDNY
COURTHOUSE,
Oct 7 – A man charged
with having more than a kilo
of fentanyl was released on
$50,000 unsecured bond in the
U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Magistrates Court on June 16.
Inner City Press was there,
the only media in the SDNY Mag
Court, and live tweeted: AUSA: We seek
detention on danger and risk
of non-appearance. Federal
Defender: We want release. AUSA: He was
found with over 500,000
potentially lethal doses of
fentanyl, it is bringing havoc
in The Bronx where the
defendant was arrested. He was
in communications with an
undercover, they met in the
UC's car and it was recorded.
There is no doubt AUSA: He was born
in the Dominican Republic and
maintains ties there. The
pre-trial report shows a
conviction in February 2020 in
state court where he got 4
years' probation, which it
appears was discharged in one
day. Judge: Is
there any immigration
proceeding against him given
the prior drug conviction? AUSA: I don't
believe there is, he is a
green card holder. Federal Defender:
We believe he can be
released... Judge: While I am
concerned, the absence of
violence or weapons in this
case lead me to offer
conditions of release. $50,000
unsecured bond with two
co-signers, bring your
passport back to this
courthouse. Urinalysis. The case was
assigned to Judge John P.
Cronan, who before a scheduled
change of plea (to guilty) on
October 7 asked for briefing
on whether the defendant
should be remanded to jail on
the day of the plea. Over
defense objection, he was
"remanded to the custody of
the US Marshal." The case is USA v. Tineo-Santos, 1:26-mj-2356 (Cave)
*** 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 Mail: Box 130222, Chinatown Station,
NY NY 10013 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 |