By Matthew Russell Lee, Periscope, Photos
SDNY COURTHOUSE, Feb 1 – After insider trading tipper Sebastian Pinto-Thomaz was sentenced to 14 months in prison, and on July 30 one of his two tippees Jeremy Millul was sentenced to five months, on October 11 the second cooperating tippee Abell Oujaddou came to be sentenced, see below.
Now on February 1, 2021, Oujaddou's supervision is ended early, after this request: "Re: United States v. Abell Oujaddou, 18-cr-00579 (JSR) Dear Judge Rakoff: We represent Abell Oujaddou in the above-captioned matter. We respectfully write to request early termination of Mr. Oujaddou’s supervised release, which is currently scheduled to end on or about October 10, 2021. As you may recall, on November 1, 2018, Mr. Oujaddou entered a guilty plea before the Your Honor to one count of Conspiracy to Commit Securities Fraud in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. Section 371 and one count of Securities Fraud in violation of Title 15 U.S.C. Sections 78j(b) and 78ff. On October 11, 2019, this Court sentenced Mr. Oujaddou to Time Served followed by two years of Supervised Release. Mr. Oujaddou has been on supervised release since the date of his sentencing. The statute governing early termination of supervised release, 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e), provides that the court may terminate a term of supervised release “and discharge the defendant released at any time after the expiration of one year of supervised release … if it is satisfied that such action is warranted by the conduct of the defendant and the interest of justice.” Mr. Oujaddou, who has been on supervised release for approximately fifteen months, respectfully submits that he meets the criteria for early termination of supervised release. We have spoken with Mr. Oujaddou’s Probation Officer, Zondra Jackson, and she concurs. Officer Jackson has informed us that Mr. Oujaddou has been in full compliance with the conditions of his supervised release and has complied with all of her requests. As a result, Officer Jackson consents to Mr. Oujaddou’s early termination.1 In addition, Mr. Oujaddou 1 We have also spoken with AUSA Christine Magdo, and she takes no position with Mr. Oujaddou’s request.
His forfeiture obligation was satisfied at the time of sentencing. The reason Mr. Oujaddou seeks to have his period of supervised release terminated early is related to quality of life for his family. Mr. Oujaddou and his family would like to spend more time Florida to attend to the business they have established in Miami and to pursue a business opportunity in Tampa."
On November 6 Inner City Press has received a letter from a firm saying it represents Oujaddou: "Inner City Press Matthew Russell Lee – Senior Reporter Re: Courtesy Request To Whom It May Concern, We have been retained by Abell Oujaddou in connection with an article published on your website at the following URL: here and here. While we support free speech rights and have great respect for the work journalists perform, especially in the current anti-media environment, our client does have some concerns about this article. We are not permitted to give you specific details at this time, however our client believes several facts were reported without necessary context and/or that some details conveyed in this article are wholly incorrect. In no small part due to the ready availability of your article via internet search engines, our client has suffered both personally and professionally. Again, we are not permitted to reveal details at this time, however we can state that this article has had a negative impact on their personal wellbeing, personal and professional relationships, work environment and employment/business opportunities. We would be happy to provide additional details. However, due to the sensitive nature of some information, we are only able to do so if your publication agrees to keep any information disclosed strictly off the record."
Apparently this refers to: "the second day of the trial of Sebastian Pinto-Thomaz on four felony counts proceeded, with Oujaddou in the stand. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine I. Magdo walked him through his Charles Schwab accounts, and photos from the Home Depot on 23rd Street where he said he handed Sebastian $7,500 in cash he kept in his apartment with his wife, since Hurricane Sandy.
But when the jury left, questions were raised. Oujaddou had been threatened with a lawsuit for sexual assault by a woman whom he fired from the salon, just before marrying his Superstorm Sandy co-hoarder wife. This information, who said on the record, was deemed too prejudicial for the jury to hear.
Oujaddou was probably surprised to see the full courtroom of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Jed S. Rakoff. The crowd, other than Inner City Press and perhaps one other, was for Judge Rakoff's GSE bond antitrust case.
Inner City Press went to the overflow room, usually unused Courtroom 12B, and watched as Judge Rakoff asked Oujaddou's lawyer why he should not impose a large fine. When the lawyer replied that Oujaddou was an unusual client in that he was so nice, Judge Rakoff jokely asked if he told his other clients that.
While Oujaddou cheated even Pinto Thomas, out of $2,500 dollars, his cooperation counted for a lot with the US Attorney's office, who has also only this week discussed its 5K1 letter offers to men who confessed to killing 56 and 78 people.
Judge Rakoff imposed a $500,000 fine on Oujaddou, but no jail time. It's a significant fine, more than Oujaddou made and payable in 30 days. But with no jail time, one wonders how it is not pay to play. We will continue to explore this.
During the sentencing that Pinto-Thomaz's lawyer's argument in the trial had been to "throw his mother under the bus." The lawyer, Henry Mazurek with another client facing a jury across the hallway, said it was more complicated that that. And complicated it is.
Sentencings in the SDNY often involve the invocation of the sins of the father, absent fathers, abusive fathers. This absent father was different than the norm: a Brazilian industrial magnate. Equally absent, even as Sebastian's mother sent to open luxury stores in Asia. Call it the Nanny Diaries.
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