On
Honduras Narco Urbina Soto US Asks for 20
Years Now Sentencing Delayed to October 3
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Substack
SDNY
COURTHOUSE,
Sept 25 – In the closing
arguments on March 6, 2024
AUSA Tarlow said that narco
trafficking had grown under
Honduras President Juan
Orlando Hernandez. On March 7,
out of the hearing of the jury
and for then the Press, JOH's
lawyer Stabile said he'd heard
different overnight.
From who?
The
defendant's wife he said.
Was this
just a play for a mistrial?
Judge Castel
concluded it was, and denied
Stabile's motion, Order on
Patreon here.
Later on March 8,
the verdict, here-
then the book Narco Drama in English then Spanish.
On August 28,
successor President
Xiomara Castro
asked
Honduran Foreign Minister
Enrique Reina to "denounce"
the country's extradition
treaty with the United States.
Amid that on
August 30 Arnaldo Urbina Soto,
extradited from Honduras on
January 31, 2023 after jail
time there, asked for a time
served sentence on September
13 at 11 am.
The US Attorney's
Office wrote in asking for a
20 year sentence - and on
September 12, the eve of
sentencing, defense counsel
wrote in asking for an eight
week adjournment in
sentencing, arguing "the
government provided
cooperating witness testimony
that alleges Arnaldo Urbina
Soto received bribes from a
drug trafficker “in exchange
for information from the
government” and “in exchange
for violence,” among other
things. See Gov. Ex. A at 830.
This is the first time these
issues have been provided to
the Court" - letter on Patreon
here.
On September 25,
sentencing was pushed back to
October 3: "ORDER as to
Arnaldo Urbina Soto: IT IS
HEREBY ORDERED that the
sentencing scheduled for
September 25 is adjourned to
October 3, 2024, at 3:00 PM
(Signed by Judge Denise L.
Cote on 9/25/2024)
This case is US
v. Soto, et al., 18-cr-497
(Cote)
More on X for
Subscribers here
and Substack here
***
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