| In
Fentanyl Death
Trial of Billy
Ortega Guilty
So Sentencing
June 2 with 25
Year Minimum
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
SDNY COURTROOM
EXCLUSIVE, Jan 30 - In
the U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New
York on December 16, 2022
Billy Ortega was brought in by
US Marshals and pleaded not
guilty to his role in the
death by fentanyl laced
cocaine of
Julia
Ghahramani,
26, a
first-year
lawyer at Akin
Gump, Ross
Mtangi, 40, a
trading
executive at
Credit Suisse
Group AG,
and Amanda Scher, 36, a social
worker.
There were
four family members in the
gallery, where Inner City
Press was the only media.
District Judge Ronnie Abrams
asked about recently provided
discovery, in advance of the
trial scheduled for January
18. The Assistant US Attorney
replied that some phones had
only recently been accessed;
there are many text messages
on them.
The defendant's
opening argument on January 19
triggered a US Attorney's
Office request for a curative
instruction - and their
request to unseal Ortega's CJA
affidavit, citing Inner City
Press' win in US v. Avenatti,
550 F. Supp. 3d 36 (SDNY
2021). Meanwhile the same
Office is consenting by taking
no position to the secrecy of
Sam Bankman-Fried's
co-signers.
The trial ended on
January 30 before noon with a
verdict of guilty on all counts.
Judge Abrams asked everyone to
stand out of respect for the
jury. Everyone did - except
Billy Ortega. He is set to be
sentenced on June 2 at 11 am,
with a 25 year mandatory
minimum. There will be a Rule 29
motion for acquittal. Inner City
Press will stay on the case.
***
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