| MCC Staff Akparanta Pled To
Sex Abuse Of Only 1 of 7 Victims July 2
Sentencing
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Exclusive,
video
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
March 7 – When Colin Akparanta
was brought in shackles,
accused of sexually abusing
female prisoners under his
control in the Metropolitan
Correctional Center prison,
into the U.S.
District Court
for the
Southern
District of
New York's Magistrates Court
on May 21, his wife
had been
waiting for
him for hours.
Inner City
Press was
there and has
followed the
case since, since
this exclusive
report.
On
February 21
the US
Attorney's Office wrote
to SDNY District
Judge Lorna G.
Schofield
about a plea deal. And now
on March 4
Akparanta
has formally
pled
guilty,
getting a deal
of 37 to 46
months and
undefined
restitution to
seven victims.
But he was
allowed to
plead guilty
regarding
only one of
the seven
victims. The
other six will
get
undefined
restitution.
Some may still
be in the MCC,
where inmates
had
been left for
six days and
counting
without
showers or hot
food or even
lawyer visits.
Now as
a public service Inner
City Press
reports the
sentencing
date, July 2:
"SCHEDULING
ORDER as to
Colin
Akparanta. It
is hereby
ORDERED that
Defendant
Colin
Akparanta's
sentencing
hearing shall
be held on
July 2, 2020
at 11:00 a.m.
in courtroom
1106 of the
Thurgood
Marshall
Courthouse, 40
Foley Square,
New York, New
York 10007.
Defendant's
pre-sentencing
submission, if
any, shall be
filed on or
before June 8,
2020. The
Government's
pre-sentencing
submission, if
any, shall be
filed by June
11, 2020.
(Signed by
Judge Lorna G.
Schofield on
3/5/2020)." We'll
have more on
this.
Back on
May 21 the
government
argued for a
curfew, saying
that Akparanta
is a
naturalized
U.S. citizen
originally
from Nigeria
to which he
retains strong
ties.
He didn't try
to flee when
first
questioned -
but it seems
he thought he
was under
investigation
only for bringing
contraband
into the MCC
for female
prisoners, not for the sex
acts he traded
the contraband
and control
for.
The
unsealed
indictment in
USA v. Akparanta
lists as his nicknames
or aliases "Africa"
and "Akon." (A
commenter on
Inner
City Press' thread about
the
arraignment
noted that the
singer Akon is
not, in fact,
from Nigeria -
but neither is
Africa a
country.)
***
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
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 2006-2020 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com for
|
,
