Transcript of Proceedings — United States v. Sutton et al. (Dkt. 347, S.D. W. Va.)

Record facts

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia · No. 2:24-cr-00192 · Doc. 347 · 2025-07-28 · Docket on CourtListener

Full text

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA 
AT CHARLESTON 
 
PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS 
 
 
-----------------------------x 
                             : 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,    :         CRIMINAL ACTION 
                             :         NO. 2:24-cr-00192 
vs.                          : 
                             :          
KISHA SUTTON,                :         July 15, 2025 
                             : 
          Defendant.         ; 
                             : 
-----------------------------x 
 
 
REBUTTAL CLOSING ARGUMENT BY MS. GORDON 
 
BEFORE THE HONORABLE IRENE C. BERGER 
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 
 
 
APPEARANCES: 
 
For the United States:       MR. JONATHAN TYLER STORAGE 
                             MS. JENNIFER DOWDY GORDON 
                             United States Attorney's Office 
                             Suite 4000 
                             300 Virginia Street, East 
                             Charleston, WV  25301 
 
For the Defendant:           MR. CONNOR D. ROBERTSON 
                             Robertson Law 
                             2702 Main Street 
                             Hurricane, WV  25526 
 
 
 
Court Reporter:              Lisa A. Cook, RPR-RMR-CRR-FCRR 
 
Proceedings recorded by mechanical stenography; transcript 
produced by computer. 
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Case 2:24-cr-00192     Document 347     Filed 07/28/25     Page 1 of 7 PageID #: 2331

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I N D E X 
 
                                                  PAGE 
REBUTTAL CLOSING BY MS. GORDON . . . . . . . 3 - 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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P R O C E E D I N G S 
* * * * * 
THE COURT:  Will the Government go forward with
rebuttal argument?
MS. GORDON:  Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT:  You have five minutes, counsel.
MS. GORDON:  Thank you, Your Honor.
Ladies and gentlemen, as I told you in opening, at its
heart this is a simple case.  It doesn't matter -- frankly,
it doesn't matter what defense counsel thinks about how the
Government presented its case.  What matters is what you all
think of how the Government presented its case and whether
you all think with the exhibits and the testimony, testimony
of the, the cohorts in this scheme, the testimony of Agent
Lipari, and all the documents and the summary evidence that
I told you we were going to present in opening, that all
that is that whether you find that the Government has proved
its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Reasonable doubt, doubt based on reason and common
sense.  You didn't leave your common sense when you walked
through the courthouse doors.  We want you to have that
common sense when you're looking at this case.  Ladies and
gentlemen, I submit that the Government has met that burden.
Despite the defense's attempt to make this complicated,
this is about Kisha Sutton and Shamiese Wright aiding and
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abetting each other to execute a scheme against a financial
institution.
Whether Kisha Sutton knew that Benworth Capital was
going to be that financial institution is irrelevant.
Whether she knew that Benworth Capital was a mortgage
lending business under the Federal Code and, therefore, is
a -- meets the definition of a financial institution, that's
irrelevant.
She and Shamiese Wright had the intent and knowingly
executed this scheme to defraud a financial institution.
The conclusion otherwise that the defense wants you to
draw reaches pretty much an absurd result.  Kisha Sutton
knowingly created the false application for Shamiese Wright
to obtain that PPP loan that she was not entitled to.
Kisha Sutton knowingly created fraudulent Schedule C
tax documents for the sole purpose to get that loan approved
for Shamiese Wright.
And Shamiese Wright knowingly submitted these false
documents that contained material representations that got
that loan approved.  And we know that from the testimony and
from the document evidence, Shamiese Wright's tax records,
Shamiese Wright's unemployment records.  Those -- that's
pretty much not in dispute.  She did not meet the minimum
requirements for this loan.
There's plenty of evidence that this was going to be
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funded by lenders.  And you heard evidence that Kisha
Sutton, and you'll see it on the summary chart, that she did
six of these applications here in the Southern District of
West Virginia.
She knew these were loan applications that were going
to be funded by lenders, lenders that -- in this case,
Benworth Capital meets the definition of a mortgage lending
business.  How do you know that?  You saw three mortgage
loan documents for Benworth Capital that occurred both
before, during, and after the time period.
Defense counsel talked about interstate commerce and
that these mortgages were all employed by a Florida company.
It doesn't matter.  They were a mortgage lending business
whose business activities affect interstate commerce.  Their
business activities included funding PPP loans, including
ones here in the Southern District of West Virginia.  That's
interstate commerce.
The money laundering.  The defense wants to paint money
laundering as something that can only happen a certain way.
I'm going to call that the TV movie version of money
laundering; shell corporations, criminal enterprises, Mafia.
That is the only way money laundering can be, can be
committed.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, you see a lot of courtroom
dramas on TV and you know that the TV and the movie way that
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things work aren't always the reality.  Money laundering can
be concealing the true nature of the payment.
Shamiese Wright did not put in the transaction line
"payment for submitting PPP loan application."  She was
hiding the true nature of the payment, and that is money
laundering.  It doesn't have to be -- it doesn't have to be
complicated.
And in this case, you heard from other witnesses who
talked to you about the scheme, their role in the scheme,
and Kisha Sutton's role in the scheme, including that none
of them put in the note line the true nature of the payment.
THE COURT:  Your time is up, counsel.
MS. GORDON:  Thank you, Your Honor.
* * * * * 
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          I, Lisa A. Cook, Official Reporter of the United 
States District Court for the Southern District of West 
Virginia, do hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and 
correct transcript, to the best of my ability, from the 
record of proceedings in the above-entitled matter.            
 
 
       s\Lisa A. Cook                     July 28, 2025 
           Reporter                                Date 
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Case 2:24-cr-00192     Document 347     Filed 07/28/25     Page 7 of 7 PageID #: 2337

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