by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack
SDNY COURTHOUSE, Dec 7 – On Cromwell Avenue in The Bronx on November 5, 2020 Andrew Done shot and killed Angel Barreiro.
Then NYPD officer Gina Mestre helped him evade capture for the murder, according to an indictment unsealed on August 15, 2023. Inner City Press had reported on the Done case, resulting in a sentence of 35 years, and covered her arraignment and release on bail on August 16, the only media in the courtroom.
Before U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Denise L. Cote, Mestre appeared in a black hooded sweatshirt, a tattoo visible on her arm.
Judge Cote set a January 2024 trial date.
The SDNY prosecutors had already agreed that unlike many defendants down in the Magistrates Court, she could be released on bail: a $250,000 bond with two so-signers.
Judge Cote proposed that she be barred from any contact with current or former NYPD officers except in the presence of counsel.
On November 9, 2023, Judge Cote set the schedule for a January 9, 2024 trial.
On November 10, the prosecution wrote it to say"plea discussions have progressed to the point where a framework for a possible plea is in place." Motions was put off until November 24 - then on November 21, a sealed document was place in the vault. No motion docketed November 24...
On December 1 Mestre's lawyer wrote in, "The parties have reached a negotiated disposition in principle... schedule a change of plea hearing for December 7."
On December 7, Mestre's plea was accepted - and the plea agreement, to Count 4, is to a 70 to 87 month guideline, with a 15 year maximum. Plea agreement on Patreon here.
Previously the prosecutor asked for an exception to the prohibition, saying in open court that Mestre's "partner" - boyfriend - is a former NYPD officer. Inner City Press has already tweeted that;
more details and name on Substack here.
The case is US v. Mestre, 23-cr-418 (Cote)
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