| Flight Attendants Charged
With Smuggling Cash to Dominican
Republic Gets SDNY Plea Deal
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY
COURTHOUSE,
Aug 12 – On May 9 DOJ
announced the unsealing of two
Complaints charging flight
attendants CHARLIE HERNANDEZ,
SARAH VALERIO PUJOLS, EMMANUEL
TORRES, and JAROL FABIO with
various offenses in connection
with their years-long
participation in smuggling
narcotics trafficking proceeds
from the United States to the
Dominican Republic on
commercial flights.
Inner City Press went to cover
the presentment of Emmanuel
Torres, before U.S. District
Court for the Southern
District of New York
Magistrate Judge Gary Stein. Thread:
Emmanuel Torres;
he was arrested yesterday at
5:30 pm and has been in
detention since
Judge: You have
applied for publicly-funded
counsel. Based on your
affidavit, I approve it. You
are charged in two counts:
operating an unlicensed money
transmission [transmittal]
business, bulk cash from NY to
the Dominican Republic. You
evaded at JFK
[DOJ says
these defendants had “Known
Crewmember” status with the
TSA which allowed them to pass
through a special security
lane at JFK... defendants
smuggled approximately $8
million in bulk cash from the
United States to the Dominican
Republic.
Assistant US
Attorney: We agree to release
on $50,000 bond, mental health
assessment, travel restricted
at least for now to SDNY and
EDNY Defense: We'd like him to
travel beyond for work with
pre-approval of Pre-Trial
Services AUSA: The government
does not object
Judge: You
must surrender travel document
and no new applications.
Mental health evaluation and
no contact with co-defendants
or witnesses except in the
presence of counsel. If you
fail to appear in court, a
warrant could be issued for
your arrest....
Jump cut to
August 12 when Torres pled
guilty to a single count of
operating an unlicensed MTB,
from 2019 not 2015, before
Magistrate Judge Sarah L.
Cave.
The case is US v.
Torres, et al., 24-cr-474
(McMahon / Cave)
***
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