| In
Attorney Steering Prosecution For
Nov 13 Trial in White Plains a Nov
21 Phone in FPTC
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Sept 15 – On a daily basis,
defendants are brought into
court and either get appointed
counsel or choose to pay a
private attorney, if they can.
But this system
can be gamed.
March 30, 2023 saw "charges
against DIONISIO FIGUEROA,
a/k/a “Dionicio,” an employee
of the United States District
Court for the Southern
District of New York (“the
SDNY District Court”), and
TELESFORO DEL VALLE, JR.,
a/k/a “Ted,” a criminal
defense attorney practicing in
the SDNY District Court and
elsewhere, for their
participation in a scheme in
which FIGUEROA referred
criminal defendants to DEL
VALLE and encouraged those
defendants to retain DEL VALLE
as counsel in exchange for
cash payments from DEL VALLE
to FIGUEROA. FIGUEROA
was arrested, and DEL VALLE
surrendered earlier today, and
both will be presented before
United States Magistrate Judge
Andrew E. Krause in the SDNY
District courthouse in White
Plains, New York."
Inner City
Press, which closely covers
the Magistrate Court, had in
2022 reported the
investigation against Del
Valle, and on March 30
wondered why the defendants
were presented in White
Plains.
On April 10, U.S.
District Court Judge Mae A.
D'Agostino set a November 13
trial date.
On May 22, the
Federal Defender's office for
the Northern District of New
York wrote to Judge D'Agostino
in Albany asking that the
requirement of a financial
responsible person as
co-signer be waived, as
Figueroa while living in East
Harlem with people of "modest
means" is barred from speaking
with SDNY employees who might
co-sign.
On June 6 a
telephone conference was held
- without any listen-only
public access line included in
the notice.
Now in September,
"TRIAL ORDER as to Dionisio
Figueroa, Telesforo Del Valle,
Jr. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that
a FIRM Trial date is set in
this case. The jury trial in
this case shall begin on
Monday, November 13, 2023, at
9:30 a.m., in WHITE PLAINS,
New York before the Honorable
Mae A. D'Agostino; it is
further ORDERED that all
counsel appear before the
undersigned at a final
pretrial conference on, to be
held via Telephone Conference,
on Friday, November 3, 2023 at
9:30 a.m.; Dial-in
instructions for the
conference call will be
provided to counsel
separately" - but will the
public and press be told of
the dial-in number?
On September 15,
the trial date changed:
"NOTICE OF HEARING as to
Dionisio Figueroa, Telesforo
Del Valle, Jr. This trial was
scheduled to begin in White
Plains on 11/13/23 at 9:30
a.m. Judge D'Agostino had to
reset the date. The NEW FIRM
Trial date is Monday, December
4, 2023 at 9:30 a.m. in WHITE
PLAINS. (Jury Trial set for
12/4/2023 at 09:30 AM before
District Judge Mae A
D'Agostino)."
The case is US v.
Figueroa et al.. 23-cr-161
(D'Agostino)
***
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