By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC - Guardian UK - Honduras - The Source
SDNY COURTHOUSE, Oct 20 – Christopher Nelson, also known as Hype, was indicted in December 2019 as part of the Black Mob gang. On May 27 he argued for release from prison amid COVID-19 before U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Valerie E. Caproni. Inner City Press covered it, below.
On October 1, 2021, a co-defendant was brought into the SDNY Magistrates Court and Inner City Press was there. He had face tattoos and was referred to as "Garcia." Inner City Press was told, in a whisper, that the case is death penalty eligible. Garcia was detained on consent; later this: "unsealing of a five-count Superseding Indictment charging JONATHAN GARCIA, a/k/a “Jayo,” with racketeering, murder in aid of racketeering, firearms, and narcotics offenses, in connection with GARCIA’s involvement in the 2017 murder of Joshua Flores, a/k/a “Monster,” and offenses committed by GARCIA as a member of the Latin Kings, including the Black Mob tribe of the Latin Kings. GARCIA was arrested today and will be presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein in Manhattan federal court." Inner City Press was there, as the only media in the Mag Court, and said it would stay on the case.
It was. On October 20 Judge Caproni held another proceeding on Garcia, whose CJA lawyer said he was reaching out to the Federal Defenders. Judge Caproni referred to the Department of Justice making up its mind - that is, whether or not to seek the death penalty. After the mention of 6 gigabytes of discovery, the matter was pushed back to March 10, 2022 at 3 pm. Inner City Press will stay on the case.
From May 27, 2021: Assistant US Attorney Adam Hobson quoted from social media video, about shooting people.
Nelson's defense lawyer argued that "Mr Nelson did not stab anyone. The government asserts that 'the defendant and two junior Black Mob members chased and stabbed a 17 year old boy in Port Jefferson, New Jersey.' This is untrue. The government knows very well that the video shows that it was an entirely different person - it was a black man (Mr. Nelson is white) believed to be 'Jo Jo' Joseph Garcia."
Judge Caproni noted that Nelson is not even prescribed an asthma medicine, and is a risk of flight. She denied the motion to release him.
Jump-cut to July 1, 2021, when Judge Caproni had a telephone proceeding with two more defendants in the case. The AUSA spoke of offering a plea deal to at least one of them. Judge Caproni said the trial, if there is one, will be in the first quarter of 2022.
On July 6, another co-defendant Mark Woods was to have been presented by Zoom from the MDC. But the MDC had an "encryption problem."
Judge Caproni said this would be the last virtual proceeding, since the MDC no longer requires quarantine after in-person court appearances. She said defendants who are not vaccinated will face trial masked - but the trials will not be delayed for vaccination. She urged defendants to get vaccinated.
On June 8, 2023, Judge Caproni conducted a final pre-trial conference in US v. Velez, et al. Reference was made to a music video; the defense was told it cannot cross examine a cooperator about the issue of child sexual abuse. Inner City Press intends to cover the trial.
The overall case is US v. Velez, et al., 19-cr-862 (Caproni).
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