Court filing
Exhibit B - Judge Liman Sentencing Transcript — USA v. Ilori et al. (Dkt. 120-2, S.D.N.Y.)
Filed May 1, 2023 in USA v. Ilori et al.; one of 59 filings from this case.
Record facts
| Court | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York |
|---|---|
| Filed | 2023-05-01 |
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York · No. 1:20-cr-00378-LJL · Doc. 131 · 2023-05-01 · Docket on CourtListener
Full text
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SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C.
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
------------------------------x
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, New York, N.Y.
v. 20 Cr. 378 (LJL)
ADEDAYO ILORI,
Defendant.
------------------------------x Sentencing
March 3, 2022
2:10 p.m.
Before:
HON. LEWIS J. LIMAN,
District Judge
APPEARANCES
DAMIAN WILLIAMS
United States Attorney for the
Southern District of New York
BY: CECILIA E. VOGEL
Assistant United States Attorney
SIMPSON THACHER & BARTLETT, LLP
Attorneys for Defendant
BY: BROOKE E. CUCINELLA
KATHRYN WHEELOCK
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(Case called)
THE DEPUTY CLERK: Starting with the government,
please state your appearance for the record.
MS. VOGEL: Good afternoon, your Honor. Cecilia Vogel
for the government.
THE COURT: Good afternoon, Ms. Vogel.
MS. CUCINELLA: Good afternoon, your Honor. Brooke
Cucinella, from Simpson Thacher, on behalf of the defendant
Adedayo Ilori, who is standing now next to me, and my
associate Kathryn Wheelock is joining me at the end of the
table.
THE COURT: Good afternoon, Ms. Cucinella and
Ms. Wheelock; and good afternoon, Mr. Ilori. You may be
seated.
So we are here today to impose sentence in the case of
United States v. Adedayo Ilori.
On April 8, 2021, Mr. Ilori appeared before me and
pleaded guilty to Count One of the indictment in connection
with a written plea agreement. Count One charged him with
conspiring to commit wire fraud and mail fraud in violation of
18 United States Code § 1343 and 1341 during the period from
March 2019 to March 2020.
Mr. Ilori, also admitted to Count Five of the
indictment, which charged him with conspiracy to launder
$200,000 in proceeds from the mail and wire fraud conspiracy
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charged in Count One.
In connection with the sentencing today, I have
reviewed a number of materials.
First, I have reviewed the presentence investigation
report prepared on June 4, 2021, and revised on July 8, 2021,
including the addendum to that report and the sentencing
recommendation.
I have also received and reviewed the following
additional submissions in connection with sentencing: the
sentencing submission from Ms. Cucinella, dated September 29,
2021, with attachments; the government's sentencing letter
dated October 7, 2021; the transcript of Mr. Ilori's guilty
plea on April 8, 2021; the government's letter of October 8,
2021, which requested an arrest warrant for the defendant for
his violation of conditions of pretrial release; the
government's letter of November 15, 2021; the government's
letter of February 28, 2022; draft transcripts provided on
February 28, 2022; the defendant's sentencing memorandum dated
February 28, 2022, which contained the report of Dr. Goldsmith;
and the defendant's revised supplemental sentencing memorandum,
dated March 1, 2022, also with a report of Dr. Goldsmith.
Ms. Cucinella, have you received each of these
submissions?
MS. CUCINELLA: I have, your Honor.
THE COURT: And are there any other submissions of
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which I should be aware relevant to sentencing?
MS. CUCINELLA: No.
THE COURT: And Ms. Vogel, the same questions to you.
Have you received each of these submissions and are there any
additional submissions of which I should be aware relevant to
sentencing?
MS. CUCINELLA: I have received all of them, your
Honor. In addition, the government submitted a letter on March
1, 2022, which I don't believe you just listed.
THE COURT: I haven't listed that. I am prepared to
pull it up if you think that I need it. I don't have that in
front of me.
MS. VOGEL: I am happy to pass you the printed copy.
I have mine.
THE COURT: That would be fine, also.
MS. VOGEL: Excuse me. It does have a notation on it.
THE COURT: Ms. Cucinella, I assume that you have seen
the government's letter of March 1.
MS. CUCINELLA: I have, and I have another copy that I
can give to Ms. Vogel.
THE COURT: I have reviewed the government's letter of
March 1, 2022. I will pass it back. I just corrected to list
it. Thank you, Ms. Vogel. Let me now turn to the presentence
report.
Ms. Cucinella, have you received and read the
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presentence report in this case?
MS. CUCINELLA: I have, your Honor.
THE COURT: And have you discussed it with your
client, Mr. Ilori?
MS. CUCINELLA: Yes, your Honor.
THE COURT: Mr. Ilori, have you read the presentence
report?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
THE COURT: Have you discussed it with Ms. Cucinella?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
THE COURT: Have you had the opportunity to go over
with her any errors in the report or anything else that should
be taken up with the Court?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes, I have.
THE COURT: Ms. Cucinella, any issues to be taken up
with the Court?
MS. CUCINELLA: No, your Honor.
THE COURT: Ms. Vogel, have you received and read the
presentence report?
MS. VOGEL: Yes.
THE COURT: And any objections to be taken up with the
Court with respect to the factual findings?
MS. VOGEL: I just want to note for your Honor that I
actually recently identified an error, factual error in the
report as to paragraph 34.
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THE COURT: Let me turn to that.
MS. VOGEL: The last sentence in that paragraph is not
correct. That should not be there. I think this is
referencing the later conversation of February 26 which is in
fact later in the report as well. This didn't -- to my
understanding, this did not occur on January 30.
THE COURT: Is there any objection, Ms. Cucinella, to
me striking the last sentence on paragraph 34?
MS. CUCINELLA: No, your Honor.
THE COURT: Okay. I'm going to strike the last
sentence on paragraph 34.
Anything else, Ms. Vogel?
MS. VOGEL: No. Thank you.
THE COURT: All right. So with the exception of the
last sentence on paragraph 34, which I am striking, the
remainder of the factual findings on the presentence report are
adopted by the Court.
The presentence report will be made part of the record
in this matter and placed under seal. If an appeal is taken,
counsel on appeal may have access to the sealed report without
further application to the Court.
Ms. Cucinella, with respect to the sentencing
memoranda, I take it the report of Dr. Goldsmith is filed under
seal. Is that correct or not?
MS. CUCINELLA: It is not, your Honor.
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THE COURT: Is there anything that you have filed that
is under seal?
MS. CUCINELLA: There is not, your Honor.
THE COURT: That makes life easy.
And I take it, Ms. Vogel, nothing that you filed is
under seal?
MS. VOGEL: That is correct.
THE COURT: All right. Let me now turn to the
sentencing guidelines calculation. Although the Court is no
longer required to follow the sentencing guidelines, I am still
required to consider the applicable guidelines in imposing
sentence. To do so, it is necessary that the Court accurately
calculate the guidelines sentencing range. In this case, the
parties in the plea agreement have stipulated that the
guidelines range is 51 to 63 months of imprisonment and a fine
of $15,000 to $150,000 based on a total offense level of 22 and
a criminal history category of III.
The Probation Department agrees that the guidelines
range is 51 to 63 months of imprisonment based upon the same
analysis.
I need to make an independent determination. The
November 1, 2018 guidelines manual applies to this case. I am
prepared to adopt the guidelines calculation as set forth in
the presentence report and the plea agreement. Although it is
something of a close question, it is something of a close
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question because there is a question as to whether, in light of
Mr. Ilori's conduct after his plea and while he was awaiting
sentencing, he remains entitled to an adjustment for acceptance
of responsibility. But I am prepared, given the fact of his
early plea, to give him the three-level downward adjustment for
acceptance of responsibility and to consider only that -- that
conduct only with respect to the Section 3553(a) factors.
So with that said, I find that the total offense level
is 22, the criminal history category is III, and the guidelines
range is 51 to 63 months.
The next subject I need to cover is departures, which
is to say within the sentencing guidelines framework. I find
no departure is available as a matter of law. I will address
the parties' arguments for variances when it comes time to
sentence.
Does the government wish to be heard with respect to
sentence?
MS. VOGEL: Yes, briefly, your Honor.
So just in responding to the defense's arguments made
throughout their sentencing submissions, there is no dispute
here that codefendant Chancy was the primary point of contact
with the CS and undercover and the lead in this scheme. But
Mr. Ilori had a very significant role and he was an eager
participant in the scheme for one year, a long period of time.
He participated in multiple in-person meetings, many calls to
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organize the scheme. He pushed the scheme forward and was very
eager in those conversations, representing that he could open
more bank accounts, get more IDs, was encouraging the group to
do more loans. He pulled others into the scheme. There are
numerous references throughout their conversations to a white
guy, a coconspirator that they would use to open the accounts,
that that was a contact of Mr. Ilori's.
THE COURT: Is it the government's understanding that
that individual refers to Mr. Albarella or somebody else?
MS. VOGEL: No. Our understanding, after the guilty
plea in this case, is that that actually refers to Christopher
Recamier who is indicted in that separate case before
Judge Vyskocil. It is in fact Mr. Recamier's face who is on
the photo identifications on several of the fraudulent
applications submitted in this loan scheme that is before your
Honor. So that's part of why we believe it is Mr. Recamier who
was involved.
I think the real key here is the need for significant
deterrence.
THE COURT: Let me ask you a question about the facts
of the case, just to see if my understanding is correct.
There are conversations in June and July. It seemed
like they are for the set-up of the loan transactions. Neither
of the two sets of loan transactions actually take place in
June or July. It is not until, as I understand it, Mr. Ilori
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is released from prison that either set of transactions ends up
going forward. Is that right?
MS. VOGEL: That's correct, and there are -- while
Mr. Ilori is detained in Rikers during that time period, there
are conversations between Chancy and the confidential source in
which Chancy explains essentially that he can't go forward
until Mr. Ilori is released because Mr. Ilori's the one who is
able to create bank statements and create documents or has a
contact who can do so.
THE COURT: That was -- you anticipated my question,
which is what significance you ascribe to the fact that the
scheme is not consummated until after Mr. Ilori is released.
MS. VOGEL: And that would be my response, your Honor.
And that is reflected in the recorded meetings that take place
between July and November when Mr. Ilori is released. And when
Mr. Ilori is released, within about two weeks of when he is
released, he meets again with Chancy and the confidential
source and, in at least one of those November meetings, the
undercover agent. And they again resume talk about executing
this scheme, what kinds of statements they need. Mr. Ilori
talks about using fresh accounts, fresh IDs, indicating that
when he was previously arrested it was in the context of
opening accounts for this scheme. And so they discuss again
starting this initiative.
And it is in mid December that Chancy first submits,
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by e-mail, to the undercover one of the first round of
applications. It is then in mid January that the four
applications are e-mailed and also mailed, and Mr. Ilori's
fingerprints are recovered from the mailed -- two of the mailed
applications, two of the four.
The second round of loans is submitted in mid February
and, again, Mr. Ilori's fingerprints are recovered from one of
the applications, and it is an application that is consistent
with one of the applications in the first round. It uses the
same Pennsylvania ID that's a stolen identity. It shows also
Mr. Recamier's face. There are new bank statements that have
the new date, so they are not simply recycled from the previous
round, showing that Mr. Ilori submitted these documents to
Chancy afresh for the second round. And, as well --
THE COURT: Where did the other bank statements come
from? What's the proof with respect to the other three of the
four in the second round?
MS. VOGEL: Exactly where they came from or how they
were --
THE COURT: Whether there was a --
MS. VOGEL: We don't know. We attribute those three
applications to Mr. Chancy because they are all associated with
him. One is in his own name. The other two are associates of
Mr. Chancy. And in fact in text messages in February, between
Chancy and the confidential source, where they are discussing
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the second round, Chancy explains that, in referencing to
Mr. Ilori, although he doesn't name him explicitly, that he has
one, meaning one application in this next round.
And shortly after that, on February 8, there was a
recorded call between the confidential source and Mr. Ilori,
where Mr. Ilori explicitly talks about wanting to do the second
round and wanting to be involved in the next round. There are
no more recorded conversations with him after that, but two
weeks after that conversation, the four applications are mailed
to the undercover. One of the four has Mr. Ilori's
fingerprints, and, as I said, uses the same identity as in the
previous round. So the government is confident that the
evidence shows that Mr. Ilori remained in the scheme through
the second round of the loan applications.
THE COURT: Okay. What else should I know from you?
MS. VOGEL: I have nothing further specific as to the
facts.
I would just like to add that deterrence in
Mr. Ilori's case is very significant. There is a real need for
deterrence in this case, which distinguishes him from
Mr. Chancy, who had no prior criminal history and also did not
commit any violations that we know of while on pretrial
release.
Mr. Ilori is very differently situated. He has a
substantial criminal history for very similar offenses using
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stolen identities to make fraudulent transactions. He received
multiple serious sentences for those crimes, although it did
take place a number of years ago. He nevertheless committed
this offense and he committed this offense or continued to
commit this offense after being arrested in June 2019 by the
NYPD for having false identifications on him and trying to open
an account at a bank. He nevertheless continued this scheme.
And then after pleading guilty in this case, he
committed four very serious pretrial violations, which are all
in the same vein of using other people's identities to commit
fraudulent transactions. And he was engaged in these
violations literally in the days leading up to his sentencing
in October. These violations took place over the course of the
summer 2021 into the fall 2021, and it just shows that
Mr. Ilori is a serious recidivist and requires a serious
sentence in order to deter him, protect the public, and promote
respect for the law.
Unless your Honor has specific questions for me about
those violations, I don't have anything further to add.
THE COURT: I don't have anything further. Thank you.
Ms. Cucinella, do you wish to be heard.
MS. CUCINELLA: Yes, your Honor. Also, just briefly,
we filed two sentencing submissions.
I want to address, first, the post -- I'm blanking on
the term -- the violations of the supervised release or of his
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bail.
THE COURT: His bail pretrial release.
MS. CUCINELLA: Pretrial release. There you go.
As your Honor is aware and as we said in our letter,
he intends to fight these charges. We have met with his lawyer
on this case. We have also met with a lawyer for Mr. Recamier.
We have reason to believe that Mr. Recamier has made statements
that Mr. Ilori's involvement in that is not consistent with
what the government's allegations are. We do not represent him
in that case, and it is not our intent to go forward because
that case is pending in front of Judge Vyskocil. So we just
want to say, again, he is going to fight those. That being
said, in this case, it is not appropriate, given your Honor's
earlier findings and given the fact that he was indicted, to
take that up here.
We also want to note, however, that if he is convicted
in that case, if his fight is unsuccessful, he will be
sentenced in connection with those crimes in front of that
judge. This is a situation where the alleged violations of his
pretrial release are inextricably intertwined with the
indictment that is pending there. So we just wanted to make
that point. We absolutely understand that your Honor can and
will consider them in connection with the 3553(a) factors here,
but we do think it is worth noting that this is something, a
battle that is going to be fought and, if lost, properly
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punished in another courtroom.
With respect to this conduct or the conduct that he
pled guilty for in front of your Honor, I think Ms. Vogel hit
on some of the heart of our argument. This is a case that
Mr. Ilori was brought into by Mr. Chancy. As your Honor is
aware, based on a hearing you held earlier, Mr. Chancy was
heavily influenced by a very aggressive confidential informant
in this case who was trying to work off his own crimes.
THE COURT: Your client's enthusiastic words on the
transcripts tend to belie that he was -- the contention that he
is dragged into criminal conduct.
MS. CUCINELLA: Your Honor, it's clear that Mr. Ilori
has a history of being involved with false identifications and
false documents. There is no question of that. We are not
denying that. And it is something that he takes responsibility
for.
The type of scheme that he was brought into here is
much more involved and much more sophisticated than anything he
has ever been involved in. And I think it is significant that,
at the beginning, these were $5,000 loans—again, I'm not
excusing this behavior by any means—and he was involved in
preparing two of those $5,000 loans. It very quickly, from
there, escalated. No question that the confidential informant
was pushing to get those loss amounts up. Granted, your Honor
is correct. My client went along with that, and he absolutely
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shouldn't have.
That being said, this is a crime that was a sting
operation, and there was a goal here. And that goal seems to
have been to get the loss amount up because it's not
entrapment, for obvious reasons, but the idea that the
confidential informant was going along and suggested, again, to
a receptive audience, but suggesting that the value of the
loans go up, otherwise this would have been a $20,000 scheme.
Instead, we are in a guidelines range that the potential loss
is over a million dollars. That so heavily escalates the
guidelines here that we just think it is worth considering
given, I think in particular, Mr. Ilori's background and the
types of crimes he was involved in previously.
That being said, your Honor is correct; he did go
along with this and he absolutely shouldn't have, and I think
he is going to speak today about his remorse for that. But
those are just the points that we wanted to make in connection
with this.
Mr. Ilori is a father. He is a husband. Time
served -- excuse me, time in prison is time away from his
family. It's incredibly detrimental to his children and to his
wife who is working very hard to raise those kids, but he will
speak to that as well.
Unless the Court has any questions, that is all I
wanted to say today.
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THE COURT: I don't have any questions. Thank you
very much.
Mr. Ilori, do you wish to be heard?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes. Yes, I do.
THE COURT: Please keep your mask on, but you can
remain standing.
THE DEFENDANT: Yeah, I do not know -- and I have been
thinking about where to start this plea in front of you and
today, and the more --
THE COURT: Maybe you can put the microphone closer to
your mouth. You are a tall gentleman and the microphone is far
away. I think you should be able to lift it, right? If you
lift it, that way you will be heard.
THE DEFENDANT: Yes. Thank you.
THE COURT: Take your time, Mr. Ilori. No rush.
THE DEFENDANT: And hearing in the way that I have
been -- am painted by the ADA today and previously, you know, I
have been thinking so much about my life in general and what
led me here today in front of you. I have actually said, and I
know an extensive record for the same type of schemes, but I
have, at a point I changed myself, I changed my life, and I was
focused on just building my business and I was successful at
that for a while. And when I had my down time, I was weak at
that point and to be receptive to doing this scheme.
And even after I was arrested by the state and I came
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back out, it wasn't a part of being weak at that time; it was
part of an obligation of being -- I was -- I'm trying to say
help my wife to get me in and out of jail at that point. So at
that point I just felt an obligated [sic]. I'm not trying to
make an excuse for being part of the scheme because I went
along with it. And I can tell you so many things about in the
scheme and maybe I try to get out and maybe not, but that is
not what I am trying to do here.
I am really sorry for putting my family into this,
because my wife tell me the other day that she hasn't had a
good three years straight and without anything happening and
that really felt so, so bad that I haven't been able to stay
straight.
And I am asking that the Court today to show mercy
that I will not be in front of any other court. In the other
case, I am 110 sure that I will deal with that. I will fight
that. And my lawyer has told me that I shouldn't talk about
that other case here today.
But this is the case that I know that I am responsible
for, and I am taking an absolute responsibility for, for what I
did and my involvement in it, and I am asking you to give me
another chance and to show the Court and my family that -- I am
asking the Court for redemption. I went ten years without
getting into any type of trouble. I could go 20 years. I
could go 30 years. I could go the next lifetime, my lifetime
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without getting into any sort of issue.
My kids, I have always -- and I'm a personal trainer
and I'm a fitness instructor. I pushed my daughter because I
think that she could be a very great -- an athlete. I pushed
her to get into track. Now -- and she's gotten into track, and
I cannot be there and to help her along. I get on the phone
every day. She is telling me, oh, she is going to this track
meet today, tomorrow. I cannot be there. It's very, very
painful. And I will ask the Court to give me the chance and to
be there for her because I know that she can be something
special.
THE COURT: Thank you, Mr. Ilori.
THE DEFENDANT: Thank you.
THE COURT: Ms. Vogel, is there any reason why
sentence should not now be imposed?
MS. VOGEL: No, your Honor.
THE COURT: Ms. Cucinella, is there any reason why
sentence should not now be imposed?
MS. CUCINELLA: No, your Honor.
THE COURT: Okay. I am prepared to impose sentence.
As I have stated, the guidelines range applicable to
this case is 51 to 63 months of imprisonment. Under the
Supreme Court's decision in Booker and the cases that have
followed it, the guidelines range is only one factor that the
Court must consider in deciding the appropriate sentence. The
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Court is also required to consider the other factors set forth
at 18 United States Code § 3553(a). These include the nature
and circumstances of the offense, and the history and
characteristics of the defendant; the need for the sentence
imposed to reflect the seriousness of the offense, to promote
respect for the law, and to provide just punishment for the
offense; to afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct; to
protect the public from further crimes of the defendant; and to
provide the defendant with needed education or vocational
training, medical care, or other correctional treatment in the
most effective manner.
The Court is also required to consider the kinds of
sentences available, the guidelines range, any pertinent policy
statement, the need to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities
among defendants with similar records who have been found
guilty of similar conduct, and the need to provide restitution
to any victims of the offense.
The Court is also required to follow the parsimony
principle, which means that I am required to impose a sentence
sufficient but not greater than necessary to comply with the
purposes set out above, and I do find that the sentence I am
about to pronounce is consistent with the parsimony principle
and is sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to satisfy
the purposes of sentencing I have just mentioned.
I have given a lot of thought and attention to the
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appropriate sentence in this case over the months in light of
the Section 3553(a) factors and the appropriate purposes of
sentencing as reflected in the statute. The following are my
thoughts:
I start with the guidelines. The range of 51 to 63
months is a starting point. It is an initial benchmark. It is
not entitled to any presumption, but it is the product of work
of the Sentencing Commission. It is something that I consider
and it does help me think through the appropriate sentencing
decision in the case.
I next consider the factors under Section 3553(a). In
my view, all of the factors, save perhaps that of
rehabilitation, are relevant here.
With respect to the seriousness of the offense and the
need for the sentence to promote respect for the law,
Mr. Ilori, your crime was a serious one. It involved
sophistication in terms of the manufacturing of IDs and the
planning of it. It involved an intent to defraud our financial
system, which would have been successful, but for the fact that
it turns out your coconspirators were people who were either
members of law enforcement or working with law enforcement. It
occurred over a lengthy period of time, and it swept in or had
the potential to sweep in others. If successful, it would have
defrauded lenders of over a million dollars. I can't find any
mitigating factors in the conduct.
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Your lawyer has argued that you were not directly
involved in the eight fraudulent loan applications and not
directly involved in the loan applications submitted in
February 2020, and you seek to blame or the papers seek to
blame Mr. Chancy or the confidential source or the cooperating
witness for your involvement in this scheme. But the evidence
as set forth in the presentence report and in the transcripts
are to the contrary.
You were an active participant in this scheme from the
beginning to the end. At the beginning, in April 2019, it was
you and Mr. Chancy who discussed the documents and information
you would need in order to facilitate the scheme and to obtain
the loans. You were making suggestions as to the preferred
industry to use. You also claimed enthusiastically that you
could gather the necessary documentation by the following
weekend. No one dragged you into this. You wanted to make
money illegally and to defraud people.
The evidence also supports that, as of July of 2019,
you had been able to open up bank accounts at three different
banks with real identifying information that had been altered
with different photographs. Your lawyer mentions that you were
not on all of the calls and at all of the meetings, but I find
it telling and significant that nothing happened in the scheme
really except for talk during the time period after June and
July of 2019, while you were incarcerated on the state arrest,
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and that it was only after your release and in November 2019
that the scheme for which you had made preparations earlier was
really launched.
You met with Mr. Chancy and the undercover source
right after you were released. In the November conversations,
you and Mr. Chancy discussed with the two persons you believed
were your coconspirators but were either law enforcement or
working with law enforcement the scheme would start small, in
essence, but then go big with a second round of loans with
drivers licenses that you would help obtain. You were, I find,
directly involved in the second round of loans.
And in the February call, after the first rounds of
loans had been successful, you stated you wanted to do another
rounds of loans. Your fingerprints as well as those of
Mr. Chancy were found on the loan applications. While the
government considers you to be the author of only three of the
fraudulent loan applications—two in the first tranche and one
in the second—all of them would have been reasonably
foreseeable to you. At one point you even suggested more.
You were the source of two of the stolen identities for the
three loan applications and prepared those three loan
applications.
In short, although Mr. Chancy took the lead and was
the central point of contact with the cooperating witness and
the undercover, you played every bit of a critical role as
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Mr. Chancy. He put it in one of the coconspirator
conversations in some ways his role was easy. He had access to
the bank. But you were able to obtain identification
information and help arrange for the manufacture of fake
documents and to arrange for bank accounts to be opened to
execute the loan scheme. As I said before, you executed -- you
engaged in this crime because -- not because anybody forced you
to but because you wanted to make money and you thought you
would get away with it.
Second, the interests in general deterrence also
support a significant sentence in this case. Financial frauds
of the type that you and Mr. Chancy and Mr. Albarella engaged
in are difficult to detect. Conspirators here took steps to
make sure that their scheme would be difficult to detect. The
scheme was foiled because, unbeknownst to you, one of the
people -- two of the people who were part of the conspiracy
were working with the government. But there are limits to law
enforcement resources and not every scheme can be detected. It
is thus particularly important to send a message when the
schemes are detected that there is a great risk to anybody who
is thinking about engaging in this kind of conduct that if you
are caught and if your scheme is detected, then you will be
severely punished.
Third, the government argues this, and I credit it,
there is a need in your case for the sentence to serve the
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purposes of specific deterrence. Unlike for Mr. Chancy, who
had never been convicted of a crime and where there was no
evidence he had previously engaged in criminal conduct, this is
not your first go-round with the criminal justice system. You
have five prior convictions for conduct relating to fraud and
forgery, which range from 1997 at the age of 18 to 2006. On
those convictions, you were sentenced to terms of imprisonment
of 15 months, 24 months, 42 months to seven years, and 30
months to five years.
I credit that, from your record, it appears that you
were not involved in criminal activity for a span of time after
those convictions. But when the opportunity arose here, the
evidence shows that you did not exercise any hesitation at all
in terms of jumping in and using the kinds of skills you had
used before to engage in what, if it had been successful, would
have been a significant fraud.
And even while you were on supervised release in this
case and while you were awaiting sentencing, while your lawyer
was urging a sentence of home confinement and no imprisonment,
you engaged in four separate violations involving stolen
identities and fraud. I agree with the government's statement
in its papers that the fact that you committed these violations
while awaiting sentencing in this case and while on home
confinement demonstrates your lack of respect for the law and
your lack of remorse for criminal conduct.
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I specifically am not considering your involvement in
the paycheck protection program fraud scheme that is the
subject of the case before Judge Vyskocil. That charge and the
facts underlying it have no impact on the sentence I am going
to impose.
I have also not counted and am not taking into
consideration your other arrest for fraud which did not result
or have not yet resulted in convictions, including the case
that's pending in state court. Your conduct -- the previous
sentences were not sufficient to deter you from criminal
conduct, and I think under the facts here, a longer sentence is
necessary to try to hope that it will deter you from criminal
conduct.
Finally and an important factor in my sentence are the
interests of the public and the community and the need to
protect the public from the risk of further crimes by you.
This factor distinguishes your case from that of your
codefendants.
In your sentencing letter to me back in September of
2021, you represented that you wanted to disassociate yourself
from all elements of criminality and that you wanted to avoid
peer pressure to engage in illegal activities and wanted to
transform people into a better version of themselves through
fitness. You repeatedly blamed peer pressure. If only you had
devoted yourself to that avowed goal of bettering people
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through physical fitness. But you didn't do that, and your
criminal history record, your conduct in this case, the length
of time the conduct took place, and your conduct while on
supervised release give me no reason to believe that once you
are released and when the opportunity arises if you don't
create the opportunity yourself you will not return to your
ways of crime.
I'm going to impose a term of supervised release and
it's my hope that that term of supervised release and the
sentence in this case will be sufficient to ensure that you
don't go back to your ways of crime. But your history while
on supervision gives me no great confidence in that respect
and, for that reason, a term of imprisonment also is necessary
to serve the purposes of incapacitation and to protect the
public.
Now, I have thought about a point that your lawyer has
stressed in terms of your childhood, the abuse that you
suffered in your childhood, and the lack of a stable family or
a father figure, and I have read your expert's report. I,
frankly, don't credit the expert's report; and, even if I did,
it wouldn't change my sentence. Your family and your
upbringing is not responsible for your criminal behavior. Many
people who appear before this Court frequently as victims or
civil litigants also have had difficult lives. They have not
turned to crime. Their difficult lives have not caused them to
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turn to crime. A lot of times they are the victims of crime.
You could have made the choice to live a law-abiding
life. You have got skills. It's quite apparent that you would
be -- you were able to. But you made choices and you made a
choice not to live a law-abiding life, and that choice has to
have consequences.
So, Mr. Ilori, I'm now going to state the sentence I
intend to impose. The attorneys will have a final opportunity
to make legal objections before the sentence is finally
imposed. Would you please rise, sir.
Mr. Ilori, after assessing the particular facts of
your case and the factors under Section 3553(a), including the
sentencing guidelines, it is the judgment of the Court that you
are to serve a sentence of 63 months of imprisonment in the
custody of the Bureau of Prisons to be followed by a period of
three years of supervised release.
As to supervised release, the mandatory conditions of
supervised release as set forth at page 34 in the presentence
report shall apply.
You must not commit another federal, state, or local
crime.
You must not unlawfully possess a controlled
substance.
You must refrain from any unlawful use of a controlled
substance and must submit to one drug test within 15 days of
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release from imprisonment and at least two periodic drug tests
thereafter as determined by the Court.
The standard conditions as set forth at pages 34 to 35
of the presentence report shall also apply.
I also impose the special condition as set forth at
pages 35 to 36 of the presentence report, namely, that you
submit to a search by the U.S. probation officer of your
property. Given your violation of the conditions of pretrial
release by engaging in conduct that involved fake
identifications, the search condition is necessary to ensure
that you comply with the mandatory and standard conditions of
release.
I am waiving a fine based on the ability to pay.
As I understand it, restitution is not applicable in
this case. Is that right?
MS. VOGEL: That is correct.
THE COURT: Restitution is not applicable in this
case.
I also imposing a mandatory special assessment of
$100, which shall be due immediately.
In terms of forfeiture, as a result of committing the
instant offense, you shall forfeit to the United States any and
all property constituting or derived from the proceeds obtained
directly or indirectly as a result of the violations. And I
understand that that sum is $10,000, is that correct?
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MS. VOGEL: That is correct.
THE COURT: So an order of forfeiture of $10,000 is
also imposed.
Ms. Vogel, do you know of any legal reason other than
those -- any legal reason why the sentence as stated shall not
be imposed?
MS. VOGEL: I do not.
THE COURT: Ms. Cucinella, do you know of any legal
reason why the sentence as stated shall not be imposed?
MS. CUCINELLA: No, your Honor.
THE COURT: Okay. The sentence as stated is imposed.
You may be seated.
Are there any open counts, Ms. Vogel?
MS. VOGEL: There are, your Honor, and I move to
dismiss them.
THE COURT: The open counts are dismissed.
Mr. Ilori, let me advise you, to the extent you have
not given up your right to appeal your conviction and sentence
through your plea of guilty and the agreement you entered into
with the government in connection with that plea, you have the
right to appeal your conviction and your sentence. If you are
unable to pay the cost of an appeal, you may apply for leave to
appeal in forma pauperis. The notice of appeal must be filed
within 14 days of the judgment of conviction.
Are there any suggests with respect to the location of
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incarceration?
MS. CUCINELLA: Your Honor, given that he has a
pending case, I'm not sure if he will be housed at the MDC. If
they are going to move him, we would request that it be in the
New York area to facilitate visitation with his wife and
children as well as to help prepare for his other case.
THE COURT: Ms. Vogel, any view on that?
MS. VOGEL: No. I mean, I anticipate that defense
counsel is probably correct that the defendant will be
continued to be detained in pretrial given -- in a pretrial
facility.
THE COURT: I will recommend that when Mr. Ilori is
finally designated that he be designated to a facility in or
near New York City to facilitate his visits with his wife and
his daughter.
MS. CUCINELLA: Thank you, your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. The defendant has been -- is
in custody, so I don't think I need to do anything with respect
to that.
Anything further from the government?
MS. VOGEL: No. Thank you.
THE COURT: Ms. Cucinella, anything further from you?
MS. CUCINELLA: No, your Honor.
THE COURT: Mr. Ilori, good luck to you. I mean it
when I say it that I hope this sentence of imprisonment is
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sufficient to deter you and that you never engage in conduct
again. You do have many skills. Put them to lawful use and
not illegal use.
We are adjourned.
oOo
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