| DEA
Corruption Trial of Costanzo Had Sealed
Courtroom Now Gets 48 Months Avenatti
Cited
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
April 24 – On May 20, 2022 DOJ
announced that "JOHN COSTANZO
JR., a Drug Enforcement
Administration Special Agent,
and MANUEL RECIO, a former DEA
Assistant Special
Agent-in-Charge, were indicted
in Manhattan federal court."
On April 24, 2024
after conviction at trial with
a sometimes sealed courtroom,
Costanzo was sentenced to 48
months with Michael Avenatti
and other cases cited. Inner
City Press, as for the trial
but for sealing it opposed,
was there. Thread
Worlds collide:
in run-up to imposing
sentence, Judge cites 2d
Circuit decision on Devon
Archer.
Judge Oetken:
Costanzo came to New York and
accepted free Yankees
tickets... Defendant's Section
201 / honest services wire
fraud motion is denied. We'll
turn to sentencing
Judge: Mr.
Mukasey, have you read the
pre-sentencing report?Marc
Mukasey (who handled
sentencing of SBF and trial of
Nikola's Trevor Milton) -
"Yes, we'll rest on our papers
Prosecutor:
Costanzo was directing the
flow of info; the sentencing
enhancement applies.
Judge: I will not
apply the 3B1.1 enhancement.
The guideline, then, is 63 to
71 months. The Government is
requesting 84 months. AUSA:
The jury rejected defendant's
arguments. Time served would
be absurd.
Mukasey: A long
sentence for Mr. Costanzo
would be merciless and
cruel. [He then cites
lower sentences in cases of
George Floyd non-Chauvin
police officers, Rodney King
and clerk in this courthouse
Inner City Press first
covered.
Now Mukasey
cites another SDNY Judge- on
same floor as this one - who
lightened Michael Avenatti's
sentence in the Nike case
because DOJ did not also
indict Garagos
Costanzo: I
did not speak at trial. I want
to thank my legal team. When I
traveled overseas I told my
sister the location of my
thumb drive with my final
messages. I viewed Recio as an
extension of the DEA. This is
my cross to bear.
Judge:
Defendant shared confidential
DEA information, and made
money for it. It is like the
clerk in this courthouse - but
he was a lower level employee,
and did not share confidential
info. There are a lot of
countries where this kind of
corruption is routine
Judge: I
sentence Mr Costanzo to 48
months [4 years]
Proceeding ends
in the weeds, Costanzo's 2d
lawyer contesting forfeiture,
including "The Yankees tickets
were not related to the
charged conduct in this case."
But wait
there's more: Costanzo asking
for bail pending appeal -
after judge started setting
surrender date. AUSA:
Your Honor should continue and
set the surrender date. Judge:
Denied. Surrender date is July
22
More on X for
Subscribers here
& Substack here
Back on October
27, 2023 with the trial
belatedly underway, Inner City
Press was in the courtroom
when Special Agent Brandon
Jaycox testified. Audio tapes
were being played. Behind the
scenes there were dueling
letters on the admissibility
of recordings about Recio
telling Costanzo about the
impending arrest of Cesar
Peralta.
On October 30
witness Hernandez - he
explained his nickname grew
from having "a head shaped
like a bowling ball" - read
from his text messages with
Costanzo, who he called
"boss."
On October
31, after Hernandez testified
about his relationship with
Alexander Saab, it emerged -
not in the docket - that the
US seeks to seal the
courtroom, citing what they
described in open court as an
exhibit concerning a
"unilateral operation" without
the consent of the country it
took place in, an operation
that apparently involved or
involves committing crimes.
Inner City Press joined an
oral request to unseal - with
a written letter.
Judge Oetken to
his credit docketed the letter
at 4:30 pm. But by then, the
courtroom was sealed, and
Inner City Press waiting
outside in the hall until past
5. Inside throughout were,
among others, two woman in the
gallery who left with a
defendant, seemingly family
members. So isn't the horse
out of the barn?
On November 8,
the jury came back with guilty
verdicts. Judge Oetken told
the parties to choose a
sentencing date in March or
April, 2024.
On November 17,
it was set for April 24, 2024
- and the SDNY prosecutors
wrote it to confirm and defend
that the family members
remained in the sealed
courtroom during Nadler's
testimony with the national
security information, citing
US v. Alimehmeti, 284 F. Supp.
3d 477, 487 (SDNY 2018). But
weren't they free to share the
dangerous document?
On April 15,
Costanzo's counsel wrote in
requesting a sentence of
probation, arguing that would
"allow this extraordinary,
selfless person, who has
already lost most, if not
everything, to continue caring
for his father, assisting his
community and serving his
community."
On April 19, the
US wrote in asking for a
sentence of at least 84 months
and forfeiture of $98,750.
Back on July 15,
Judge Oekten held a
conference, which Inner City
Press live tweeted here
US letter
alleging conflict on Patreon here.
The case is US v.
Costanzo, 22-cr-281
(Oetken)
***
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
SDNY Press Room 480, front cubicle
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA
Mail: 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 2006-2022 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com
|
,
