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  ICP has published a (double) book about a variety of Bronx-relevant topics -- a review in Commonweal magazine of Dec. 5, 2003, opines  that "Predatory Bender... is as vivid an account of life in the Bronx as you are likely to read" -- click here for sample chapters, here for an interactive map,  here for fast ordering and delivery, and here for other ordering information.  See also, "City Lit: Roman a Klepto [Review of ‘Predatory Bender’]," by Matt Pacenza, City Limits, Sept.-Oct. 2004. CBS MarketWatch of April 23, 2004, says the the novel has "some very funny moments," and that the non-fiction mixes "global statistics and first-person accounts." The Washington Post of March 15, 2004, calls Predatory Bender: America in the Aughts "the first novel about predatory lending;" the London Times of April 15, 2004, "A Novel Approach," said it "has a cast of colorful characters."   The Pittsburgh City Paper of Dec. 11, 2003, wrote that it "may, in fact, be the first great American lending malfeasance novel" including "low-level loan sharks, class-action lawyers, corporate bigwigs, hired muscle, corrupt politicians, Iraq War veterans, Wall Street analysts, reporters and one watchdog with a Web site."  And all in The Bronx!   Click here for that review; for more information, contact us.
2014: MRL on Beacon Reader

By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon, Thread III
The Source - XXL - The Root - etc

SDNY COURTHOUSE, Sept 19 – When Daniel Hernandez, better known as rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine, finished three days of cooperating testimony for the government against his former partners in the Nine Trey Bloods gang, conviction seemed likely for defendants Aljermiah "Nuke" Mack and Anthony "Harv" Elisson.   Harv was caught on video apparently car-jacking Hernandez and his driver Jorge Rivera. Video here.   

But then Harv's lawyer Deveraux Cannick began the question the timing and specifics of the carjacking and kidnapping. It coincided with the release of one of 6ixNine's songs; Cannick asked again and again if the rapper had specified the dozens of punches he now claimed while in proffer sessions with the prosecution.   

Hernandez wants the all important 5K1 cooperation letter. Without it he faces a minimum of 47 years and maximum of life. But what will not only insulting the Bloods but also linking other rappers like Trippie Redd to the gang, things may be difficult in or out of jail.   On the third day of the trial it emerged that audio had been recorded of the begining of Hernandez' direct examination, apparently from inside the courtroom.

Judge Engelmayer prohibited any further entry of phones or other electronics.   The government's initial estimate of a two to three week trial now seemed too long. Prosecutor Michael Longyear told Judge Engelmayer the government might complete its case by Wednesday, September 25.

By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon

SDNY COURTHOUSE, Sept 12 – Jerome Jackson conducted a drive-by shooting on Freeman Street and Prospect Avenue in the South Bronx on September 26, 2018. On September 12, 2019 he was sentenced to 60 months in prison, have been allowed to plead down to possession of ammunition. The drive-by, with three bullets, actually hit the target. Life is cheap, it seems, in The Bronx.

 U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge P. Kevin Castel, who when he has discretion is creative in sentencing, here had none. He recited the facts of the shooting, and of the plea.

By Matthew Russell Lee

SDNY COURTHOUSE, Sept 4 – Chance McCurdy was in prison on Riker's Island on February 19, 2015 when someone was slashed by the commissary, with a surgical blade. McCurdy ended up beaten and his lawsuit against the City of New York finally reached trial on September 4 before U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Gregory H. Woods.

  The courtroom was almost empty. In fact plaintiff McCurdy wasn't there, not produced from the MCC. Instead on the stand was Captain Cheryl Bell, being questioned by McCurdy's lawyer Fred Lichtmacher about the three prior disciplinary actions against her for excessive force and failure to supervise the use of force.

 In response she called the plaintiff a member of the Bloods street gang, who had to be housed in a special Bloods unit on Riker's Island in the Anna M. Kross Center or AMKC. The City's lawyer described McCurdy, when facing a strip search to find the missing blade, as yelling "I'm not stripping... F.U... It's lit."

  Inner City Press has asked to be informed when the six-member jury comes back with a verdict. Watch this site.

Earlier this year in the SDNY Johnny Morgan was suing the United States for a rectal search he endured in the Metropolitan Correctional Center at 150 Park Row, right next to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. On April 4 before SDNY Magistrate Judge Debra Freeman, the government presented an expert Roy Lubit who said that Morgan is a "malingerer" and blamed his pain on abuse suffered earlier at the hand of his own mother. But even government expert Lubit said that the rectal entry should not have happened.

  It is, in fact, an outrage. While some might question taxpayer money going to pay damages for what happened to Mr. Morgan, what about public money for an expert witness to insult the torturee? We'll have more on this.

  The Federal Defenders scored a big win in a misdemeanor proceeding that only Inner City Press attended and covered on April 2. They defeated the U.S. Attorney's Office which argued that the simple assault they agreed to on a dispute on a cruise ship required allocution to actual physical conflict. There was case law on the Federal Defenders' side, and a plea to making a threat on the cruise ship - in "international waters" -- was found sufficient. The case was United States v. Batista, 18 Cr. 730 (NRB). The Federal Defenders lawyer was Sabrina P. Shroff, whom Inner City Press has previously covered in the UN bribery cases of Patrick Ho (new Hong Kong documentary here), getting bail for Cheikh Gadio, and of Ng Lap Seng, representing hapless Jeff Yin. The issue in Batista was whether simple assault requires the defendant to "strike or choke." Ms. Shroff cited the US v Denis and US v Chestaro cases, and the matter was quickly disposed by Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald in her relatively small courtroom on the 21st floor of 500 Pearl Street. The question is why the U.S. Attorney's Office in this case had not researched basic case law - and whether the defendant Carlos Batista, Junior, from the Dominican Republic, must now be deported. We hope to have more on this.

By Matthew Russell Lee

SDNY COURTHOUSE, August 26 – Miguel Ramirez was sentenced to 218 months or more than 18 years in prison on August 26, for his leadership role in an armed drug conspiracy in Hunts Point, The Bronx. US District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Gregory H. Woods during his sentencing recounted Ramirez as a child living with 12 others with a "managerie of animals," then in jail on Rikers Island as a child, Woods said.

  The government asked for 262 to 327 months, emphasizing that Ramirez stored ammunition in the apartment he shared with his partner and their baby, who now a toddler toddled around the courtroom on August 26. Ramirez' lawyer emphasized society's racism - then turned 180 degrees and implied that Ramirez' co-defendant Hector Palermo, who steered clear of the guns, was not also a victim.

By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon

SDNY COURTHOUSE, August 23 – Two grocery stores on Ogden Avenue in the Bronx are being sued for overtime violations by the law firm of Katz Malinger PLLC on Madison Avenue in Manhattan. On August 23 facing default on the lawsuit a lawyer for one defendant showed up before U.S. District Court for the Southern District Court of New York Judge Valerie Caproni.

  But he was not admitted to the SDNY.

  Judge Caproni advised the attorney, Adeyinka A. Ojo of 87 East 116th Street, to get himself admitted pro hac vice. Then she asked Inner City Press, the only media in her courtroom, What are you covering here?

  Inner City Press replied, I came for the OneCoin, but stayed for the deli.

  Judge Caproni joked, If you are covering the deli it must be a slow news day. (Inner City Press did cover the Trump subpoena argument, which didn't begin until 11 am, here). But there are no small stories, only small journalists. In this case, Ojo asserts that at least one of the plaintiffs only worked at the deli for one day...

   With OneCoin the subject of criminal prosecution a civil case against it was ordered stayed on August 23 by U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Valerie Caproni.

  While Konstantin Ignatov's lawyer Jeffrey Einhorn's basis for the stay was "corresponding criminal prosecution," Judge Caproni also chided plaintiffs' lawyers at Levi & Kosinsky for failing to serve or show service on some of the defendants.

By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon

SDNY COURTHOUSE, August 16 – In sentencing a Kenyan drug lord to 25 years on the morning of August 16, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Victor Marrero said that later in the day he had on his docket a Bronx gang member facing 27 years for murder.

 Before 5 pm, Judge Marrero sentenced the man, Richard Feliz, to 32 years.

  While Feliz' guilty plea was to narcotics conspiracy and firearms, the government's sentencing submission recites that on March 25, 2015 Feliz was pursuing an opposing gang member. When this "opp" exited the 50 50 Deli at 1278 Morrison Avenue in The Bronx, "Feliz pointed the .40 gun down a crowded street and fired multiple times. His bullets missed... Instead, one of Feliz' bullets hit an innocent bystander, Victor Chafla, in the head."

   On August 16, one of Chafla's daughter gave a victim's impact statement in court. She spoke of her six other siblings, how their father came to the US from Ecuador to work to support them, how their father came to the US from Ecuador to support them, their pain, and that they wanted justice.

There were two Court Security Officers standing around Feliz' friends and family. Inner City Press was the only media present.

  Judge Marrero cited US v. Booker for the proposition that he did not have to stick with the guidelines, but he did: 240 months on Count 1, 84 months consecutive on Count 2, for  total of 32 years in prison. Feliz requested Otisville; Judge Marrero said he would recommend it and said good day.

  Kenya drug trafficker Baktash Akasha Abdalla faced a life sentence including for the use of machine guns, but got 25 years in jail on August 16 from U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Victor Marrero.

Judge Marrero emphasized that the US Drug Enforcement Agency had played an entrapping or suggesting role. He likened it to attempted murder, and contrasted it to a Bronx gang leader to be sentenced later in the day who really killed someone, but faces a guideline sentence of 27 years. Citing the need to avoid unwarranted sentencing disparities he imposed 25 years and a fine of $100,000. More on Patreon, here.

  Back on July 26, murder in Amsterdam and the possibility of execution in India all came up in an ill-attended Fatico hearing before Judge Marrero, including questions about the credibility of government witness Mr. Vicky Goswami, whom the government describes as "the Akashas' trusted co-conspirator [who] after he was released from a long prison sentence in Dubai moved to Kenya and worked in partnership with Baktash, Ibrahmi and others on their drugs and violence."

  Baktash's lawyer George Robert Goltzer on July 26 mocked the government's reliance on Goswami, pointing at inconsistencies in the 3500 material turned over.