NY DAILY NEWS: Prosecutor tells Brooklyn jury Mexican drug lord El Chapo exported enough cocaine for every American citizen to snort a line

By MOLLY CRANE-NEWMAN , MIKEY LIGHT  and LARRY MCSHANE

NOV 13, 2018 | 12:05 PM

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-metro-el-chapo-trial-opens-20181113-story.html

Mexican drug lord Joaquin (El Chapo) Guzman, as head of a murderous multi-billion dollar empire, exported enough cocaine for every American citizen to snort a line — and then some, a federal prosecutor charged Tuesday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Fels, in his opening argument at the long-awaited trial of the lethal drug kingpin, promised to expose the staggering breadth and relentless violence of Guzman’s lucrative business.

“Money, drugs, murder — a vast global drug trafficking organization,” Fels told the Brooklyn Federal Court jury. “That is what this case is about, and that is what the evidence in this trial will prove. We are confident you will find that the defendant is guilty of all the crimes charged.” Artwork by Elizabeth Williams AP ( click on image to see larger)

Many of the damning details, the prosecutor promised, would come right from the defendant’s mouth. Text messages, audio recordings and even a video of El Chapo pulling the trigger of a weapon will offer the panel an inside look at the Sinaloa Cartel under the bloodthirsty defendant’s leadership, Fels declared.

“What Guzman did not count on is that for a short period of time, the government was listening — the government was recording,” said the prosecutor. “Guzman left behind a treasure trove of evidence implicating him in (his) drug empire.”

A stoic-looking Guzman, appearing calm and engaged while seated between his translator and defense attorney Eduardo Balarezo, wore a navy suit and a blue-striped tie to the first day of his trial. 

 He waved warmly to his wife, Emma Coronel, as she entered the courtroom — and later popped his head up to gesture goodbye as she left.

Emma Coronel seated in courtroom the first day of trial. 

“I bought him the tie,” his wife proudly told reporters

Guzman, 61, spent the last 22 months in solitary confinement, with a Brooklyn judge even blocking his wife from giving El Chapo a courtroom hug. The defendant famously escaped from a pair of Mexican prisons in 2011 and 2015, two major events in the evolution of his mythic persona.

There was intensive security inside and outside the courthouse for what’s likely the last chapter for the notorious narco-terrorist. Heavily-armed officers stood guard on the Brooklyn streets, and a media horde arrived for the trial’s start.

N.J. men charged with running telemarketing scam targeting seniors, found guilty

N.J. men charged with running telemarketing scam targeting seniors found guilty 

DOJ Link

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/two-men-found-guilty-wire-fraud-and-money-laundering-connection-telemarketing-fraud

Two Men Found Guilty Of Wire Fraud And Money Laundering In Connection With Telemarketing Fraud Scheme Targeting The Elderly

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced that ANDREW OWIMRIN, a/k/a “Andrew Owens,” a/k/a “Jonathan Stewart,” and SHAHRAM KETABCHI, a/k/a “Steve Ketabchi,” were found guilty today in Manhattan federal court of conspiring to commit wire fraud and conspiring to commit money laundering in connection with a telemarketing scheme.  OWIMRIN and KETABCHI were convicted following 12-day trial before United States District Judge Sidney H. Stein.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “Andrew Owimrin and Shahram Ketabchi conspired to target and victimize elderly people through aggressive and deceptive telemarketing.  The various so-called investment opportunities were really just variations on fraudulent schemes to steal investors’ money.  Now Owimrin and Ketabchi await sentencing for their crimes.”

According to the Superseding Indictment, other filings in Manhattan federal court, and the evidence presented at trial:

Beginning in at least October 2013 through March 21, 2017, OWIMRIN and KETABCHI worked for telemarketing companies (the “Telemarketing Companies”) that engaged in a fraudulent scheme (the “Telemarketing Scheme”), by which they promised to earn victims (the “Victims”) money in exchange for particular Victims making an initial cash “investment” in business development, website design, grant applications, or tax preparation services.  Many Victims, the majority of whom are over 70 years old, “invested” thousands of dollars with the Telemarketing Companies, but did not earn any of the promised returns.  When Victims sought refunds, or fought credit card charges, the Telemarketing Companies provided explanations and documentation to the credit card companies falsely representing that the Victims had received the promised services.  OWIMRIN worked as a sales representative for two of the Telemarketing Companies, Olive Branch Marketing and A1 Business Consultants.  KETABCHI, who worked for A1 Business Consultants, was responsible for, among other things, the submission of false documentation to the credit card companies in order to challenge the Victims’ attempts to recover their funds.

Thirteen other individuals have been convicted in connection with this case:

Assistant US Attorney Benet Kearney gives closing statement to the jury in the US v Owimrin trial. Judge Sidney Stein presiding. ( Click on the image to see larger) Artwork by Elizabeth Williams 

NJ. COM

https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2017/03/6_nj_men_charged_with_running_telemarketing_scam_t.html