Man Charged With Shipping Stolen Cars from The Bronx to West Africa Asks Low So Remain

Man Charged With Shipping Stolen Cars from The Bronx to West Africa Asks Low So Remain by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack SDNY COURTHOUSE, April 24 – Two men charged with using a South Bronx auto transport firm to try to move stolen luxury vehicles from the US to West Africa are scheduled to stand trial.    On September 16 they appeared with the lawyers before U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Analisa Torres. Inner City Press was there, the only media in the courtroom.    One defense lawyer only recently joined the case, replacing a Federal Defender, and requested to push the trial back from February 10 into May. The other defendant did not want such delay, and said he'd like to have his case severed and tried separately.    Judge Torres agreed to move the trial back to May 12 - but told the second defense lawyer that she was unlikely to grant any severance motion. Jump cut to April 28, 2025 when counsel to defendant Fofanah wrote in that while a plea offer has been made, his mother-in-law was taken to the hospital by ambulance - and asked to delay the May 12 trial date by 60 days.  On May 19 co-defendant Haidara through counsel wrote in and asked for probation on June 2. On May 20, Judge Torres set a change of plea for co-defendant Fofanah on May 27. But it did not happen, and on June 2 Fofanah's counsel wrote is saying he hopes to have a definitive answer regarding whether there will be a disposition by June 6 - so his filing is due then. Fofanah pled guilty on June 18, 2025. Then a long delay in sentencing, for both. On March 16, 2026 the US Attorney's Office wrote in about Haidara, a 2020 incident in New Jersey where checks for an auto were bounced. Both exhibits are sealed. The US is requesting 46 to 57. On April 24 defense counsel wrote in, with heavy redactions, asking for less than a year so that Haidara will not be deported. Co-defendant Fofanha asks for "a sentence well below the 5 year Guidelines recommendation," and mentions five years probation.  Both will be sentenced on May 4.  The case is  USA v. Haidara, et al., 1:24-cr-85 (Torres) *** 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 SDNY Press Room 500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA 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 2006-2024 Inner City Press, Inc. To request reprint or other permission, e-contact Editorial [at] innercitypress.com