EXTRA: Man Gets 25 Years For 1000s of Kilos of Coke from PR to NY Saying Prisons Run by Gangs - then sealed, why?

More here below the low / paywall line

by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack

SDNY COURTHOUSE, Aug 8 – A defendant who pled guilty to trafficking thousands of kilos of cocaine from Puerto Rico to New York and elsewhere was up for sentencing on August 8 before U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Paul A. Engelmayer.

 Inner City Press covered it, thread:

OK - now covering sentencing in US v Camilo Enriquez-Nunez who pled guilty to trafficking at least 5,000 kilos of cocaine from Puerto Rico to NY, NJ & FLA. 

Judge asks how trauma 25 years ago is relevant. Defense: He had to pay costs, too. He didn't make or keep all the money listed in the Pre-Sentencing Report. 

Judge: Have you read the Puerto Rico search warrant application?

Defense: No. I didn't think it would be an issue. 

Defendant (in Spanish) I suffered losses... No illegal activity could compare with being next to your family. Now I am in 24-hour lockdown. The BOP is losing control of institutions. Everything is run by gangs.  

Defendant: I know I have badly impacted many families, I helped feed drug addictions. Now my property in Puerto Rico is being taken.  Judge: I'll take a ten minute break.  

All rise!

Judge: The guideline is life in prison. The US says 25 years, you ask for 10 years.  I'll be blunt: I tend to agree with the government. This was a breathtakingly large drug operation. 

Judge: On the other hand, you pleaded guilty early, I credit you for it. You became a father at 19. [Reads from son's letter, and one from 99-year old grandmother]. I sentence you to 25 years in prison, I thought of going higher.

More below the fold / paywall line here