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By Matthew Russell Lee

SDNY COURTHOUSE, February 19 – Two different sides of the government's fight against oxycodone have been on display in mid February in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. On February 19 before SDNY Judge Denise Cote, the U.S. Attorney's Office closed it case against Ernesto Lopez MD with a witness going over, in great detail, log-ins to Practice Fusion to delete oxycodone prescriptions. Lopez' lawyers countered with a Harvard professor of pain management who said never say never when asked if it might be appropriate to prescribe oxy to a person already addicted to it. The U.S. Attorney's Office called it a proceeding of interest but it appeared Inner City Press was the only media present. Maybe it was the Excel log in spread sheets. Here's from the prosecutors' old press release: "From 2015 until October 2017, LOPEZ operated medical clinics located in Manhattan,New York; Jackson Heights, New York; and Franklin Square, New York, where LOPEZ wrote thousands of prescriptions for large quantities of oxycodone and fentanyl patches in exchange forcash payments. LOPEZ typically charged $200 to $300 in cash for “patient visits,” where LOPEZ performed no meaningful physical examination of patients. Instead, a typical “patient visit” consisted primarily of recording a patient’s vital signs and sometimes involved the brief movement of a patient’s limbs. LOPEZ then prescribed large quantities of oxycodone, most frequently 120 30-milligram tablets, and fentanyl patches. Between January 2015 and the present, LOPEZ wrotemore than 8,000 oxycodone prescriptions, resulting in an estimated $2 million in fees to LOPEZ." That's real money. The previous business day on February 15,when Gustavo Salvador pled guilty to selling oxycodone in The Bronx before SDNY Judge Paul A. Engelmayer, his two lawyers tried to argue for a suspended remand based on the cold in the MDC Brooklyn. Judge Engelmayer turned them down saying he had personal knowledge that the heat was back on; not surprising. Surprising, though, was that a Bronx oxy dealer was represented by the white shoe Goodwin Proctor law firm. Was it pro bono? Their representation goes back at least until Thanksgiving, before the MDC Brooklyn conditions became public. In the audience, a young child then a baby cried. The volume of oxy pills was in the thousands, according to the indictment. The sentencing guidelines run from 57 to 71 months. Judge Engelmayer said he said something else on his schedule coming up, should the sentencing be rescheduled? It went forward. Goodwin Proctor. Later on February 15: on East 104th Street in Manhattan last April 24, multiple gunshots to the chest killed 17-year old Samuel Ozuna. A week later, 24-year old Gary Turner was arrested and charged. When Turner on February 15 changed his plea to guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Azuna's family members sat on one side of the courtroom. On the other, separted by security officers, were supporters of Turner. In the back, the only media in the room, was Inner City Press.

  SDNY Judge Jesse M. Furman asked Turner the extent of his schooling - 9th grade - and then to explain in his own words what he had done. Turner read a statement full of legal terms of art ("I shot him, resulting in his death") and a woman on Ozuna started to cry. Judge Furman told Turner to speak directly in the the microphone, and slower. Turner said he did the shooting to protect drug territory. The crying on Ozuna's side got louder.

   Judge Furman explained that the plea agreement meant that Turner was waiving his right to appeal any sentence less than 405 months, that is, 33 years. (Turner had faced the death penalty). There was some discussion of whether Turner's allocution was sufficient, since he refused to say he had committed the murder to improve or maintain his position in an organization. These crews are looser, his lawyer said. Judge Furman agreed, and the proceeding was adjourned.

The marshals asked those on Turner's side of the courtroom to leave first. As they did, and Turner was led out in shackles, from Ozuna's side a women screamed, "You piece of sh*t!" This did not make it into the U.S. Attorney's Office press release. There was more crying, and on the way down some said the gun could have been pointed the other way. But this is what happened.

As if in on a different planet but in the same city and courthouse, art gallery owner Mary Boone after pleading guilty to tax fraud was sentenced on February 14 to 30 months in prison to be followed by a year of supervised release with 180 hours of community service. 

Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York said that tax fraud is a crime that can and must be deterred. His sentence provided for 90 hours of community service with the non-profit Free Arts NYC or one like it, and 90 hours of service to New York City Board of Education beginning, he said, in June 2021.

Unlike two recent Judge Hellerstein sentencees, Norman Seabrook and Murray Huberfeld, Boone through her lawyer Robert S. Fink did not announce an appeal and ask for bail pending appeal. On Worth Street outside the SDNY courthouse, Inner City Press asked Boone what she thought of the community service requirement. She did not answer, swarmed by photographers as she awaited the white luxury car she drove off in.  Periscope video here.

  Her tax fraud involved mis-characterizing as deductible business expenses such things as Louis Vuitton and Hermes charges of nearly $20,000, beauty salon bills of $24,380, and $15,000 in jewelry. Fink said this came from mental problems, feeling like the world was ending. He emphasized that Boone has been dropped by Chase Bank and the Century Club and even by her therapist, who felt that reporting on her from the pre-sentencing report made other clients doubt she could keep their confidences.   Judge Hellerstein told Fink he personally fought to keep such PSRs confidential but that other judges who prioritized transparency won out. He emerged after hearing Boone's written statement which pleaded to be kept out to jail to continue her work with his sentence, including the community service. Fink requested the Women's Camp in Danbury, Connecticut. Boone is to turn herself in, on May 15 before 2 pm. Whether as some surmise there will be a whistleblower payment is not known...

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