Inner City Press





In Other Media-eg New Statesman, AJE, FP, Georgia, NYTAzerbaijan, CSM Click here to contact us     .



These reports are usually available through Google News and on Lexis-Nexis
,



Share |   

Follow on TWITTER

Home -

These reports are usually available through Google News and on Lexis-Nexis

CONTRIBUTE

(FP Twitterati 100, 2013)

ICP on YouTube

More: InnerCityPro

BloggingHeads.tv
Sept 24, 2013

UN: Sri Lanka

VoA: NYCLU

FOIA Finds  

Google, Asked at UN About Censorship, Moved to Censor the Questioner, Sources Say, Blaming UN - Update - Editorial

Support this work by buying this book
Belt and Roadkill
(and paperback)

Click on cover for secure site orders

also includes "Toxic Credit in the Global Inner City"
 

 

 


Community
Reinvestment

Bank Beat

Freedom of Information
 

How to Contact Us



Hooper Pled To Carbon Credits Fraud Now For June 16 Sentencing Wants Time Served

By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell Book
BBC - Guardian UK - Honduras - ESPN

SDNY Courtroom Exclusive, June 14 – Roger Ralston, Christopher Wright and Steven Hooper all faced a joint wire fraud conspiracy trial on May 12, 2022.

     On February 18, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Jed S. Rakoff held a lengthy in-person oral argument. Inner City Press went and covered it.  

 Among the issues raised is whether the trials should be severed. Hooper proffered to the US Attorney's Office for some 18 hours and almost got a cooperator's deal. Now, counsel for Ralston argues, Hooper's information could never be effectively "Bruton-ized" at trial. 

  [See, Bruton v. US, 391 U.S. 123 (1968)]

   Hooper's counsel countered, why not a bench trial for him, with stipulated facts? Judge Rakoff said it would not be a problem for him, but asked the government. Assistant US Attorney Jessica K. Feinstein said they will "take it under advisement."

 On March 15, severance was granted -- but not on the Brutonization grounds, but due to a serious health problem for Ralston due to a recent accident.

Hooper and Wright would be put on trial on April 25; Ralston to follow on September 12.

 On April 5, a change of plea (to guilty) was set for two of the defendants: "held on 4/5/2022 without transcription or recording. Melissa Kelley of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP for Defendant Wright and Shaelyn Gambino-Morrison of ChaudhryLaw PLLC for Defendant Hooper were present. A change of plea hearing concerning both defendants is set for 4/8/22 at 3:00 p.m."

Inner City Press went and covered the in-person guilty pleas, the only media in the courtroom. Both Wright and Hooper got sentencing ranges of 70 to 87 months, but 60 months is the cap. After Wright pled (allocuting to Cyprus to Saint Vincent wires) and left, it was said Hooper had been offered a cooperator's deal, and that the government at this sentencing on June 16 at noon will say he told the truth.

 His allocuation described fraudulent carbon credit, a scheme he withdrew from on this own.

 But when Hooper's counsel asked that he be allowed to travel back to the UK before sentencing, the AUSA opposed it and Judge Rakoff agreed, keeping the conditions of release including GPS bracelet, the same.

Jump cut to June 14, two days before sentencing, and Hooper through counsel re-argued for a time served sentence, chiding the government for ignoring COVID conditions and his cooperation.

The case is  US v. Ralston, et al., 19-cr-774 (Rakoff) 

***

@SDNYLIVE courthouse #CourtCastCast
                              200 Worth Street
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 480, front cubicle
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA

Mail: Box 20047, Dag Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017

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 2006-2022 Inner City Press, Inc. To request reprint or other permission, e-contact Editorial [at] innercitypress.com