| In SDNY Rhino Horn Case Is
Lost in Translation As Kampala Man Has
Ailments
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Dec 11– While many even most
cases in the Magistrates Court
of the
U.S.
District Court
for the
Southern
District of
New York are
sealed, on
June 13, 2019
SDNY then-US
Attorney Geoffrey
L. Berman
announced the
indictment of
four citizens
of African nations
for trafficking
in rhino horn, elephant
ivory and heroin
into New York
and that
one of them, a
Liberian named
"Kampala Man," had
earlier in the
day been
arraigned in
the Magistrates
Court. But even an
hour later,
the case file
or docket for
19-cr-338
said "This
case is under
seal."
Now on
December
11 assigned
U.S. District
Court for the
Southern
District of
New York Judge
Gregory H.
Woods held a
proceeding in
the case, or
tried to. The
interpreter
was not doing
simultaneous
or even complete
interpretation.
Judge Woods
reminded him
this was necessary,
as he
translated the
defendants
request to
know the name
of the judge.
There was told
of physical
ailments. The
case, for now,
is a fiasco.
It is US v.
Kromah,
19-cr-338
(Woods).
The 2019
announcement
said,
"Geoffrey S.
Berman, the
United States
Attorney for
the Southern
District of
New York,
David
Bernhardt, the
United States
Secretary of
the Interior,
and
Christopher T.
Tersigni, the
Special Agent
in Charge of
the Special
Operations
Division of
the U.S. Drug
Enforcement
Administration
(“DEA”),
announced
today that
MOAZU KROMAH,
a/k/a “Ayoub,”
a/k/a “Ayuba,”
a/k/a “Kampala
Man,” AMARA
CHERIF, a/k/a
“Bamba
Issiaka,”
MANSUR MOHAMED
SURUR, a/k/a
“Mansour,” and
ABDI HUSSEIN
AHMED, a/k/a
“Abu Khadi,”
were charged
in an
indictment for
participating
in a
conspiracy to
traffic in
rhinoceros
horns and
elephant
ivory, both
protected
wildlife
species,
valued at more
than $7
million that
involved the
illegal
poaching of
more than
approximately
35 rhinoceros
and more than
approximately
100
elephants.
In addition,
KROMAH,
CHERIF, and
SURUR were
charged with
conspiracy to
commit money
laundering,
and SURUR and
AHMED were
charged with
participating
in a
conspiracy to
distribute and
possess with
intent to
distribute
more than 10
kilograms of
heroin.
KROMAH, a
citizen of
Liberia, was
arrested in
Uganda on June
12, 2019, and
expelled to
the United
States.
He was
arraigned
before U.S.
Magistrate
Judge
Katharine H.
Parker earlier
today and
detained.
CHERIF, a
citizen of
Guinea, was
arrested in
Senegal on
June 7, 2019,
and remains in
custody in
Senegal
pending a
process
through which
his
extradition,
deportation or
other lawful
removal to the
United States
is being
considered by
Senegalese
authorities.
SURUR and
AHMED, both
citizens of
Kenya, remain
fugitives."
Update:
that was then,
and this is
now: Surur is
facing, and trying
to fight,
extradition, h/t
The
case is US v.
Kromah,
19-cr-338
(Woods). US v.
Kromah,
19-cr-338
(Woods).
***
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