Court filing
Transcript of Sentencing Hearing (September 15, 2023) — United States v. Denis Casseus
No. 2:23-cr-00009-KCD-DNF · Doc. 69 · Docket on CourtListener
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1 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
2 FORT MYERS DIVISION
3 TRANSCRIPT OF SENTENCING HEARING
__________________________________________________________
4
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, )
5 )
Plaintiff, )
6 )
vs. ) 2:23-cr-9 and
7 ) 2:23-cr-3
)
8 DENIS CASSEUS AND ISMAELLE )
MANUEL, )
9 )
Defendants. )
10 __________________________________________________________
11
12
BEFORE THE HONORABLE THOMAS P. BARBER
13 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT JUDGE
FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
14
15 2110 First Street North
Fort Myers, Florida 33901
16 1:31, Friday, September 15, 2023
17
18 Vonni R. Bray, RDR, CRR
Federal Official Court Reporter
19 2110 First Street North
Fort Myers, Florida 33901
20 vonni_bray@flmd.uscourts.gov
(239) 461-2033
21
22
23 Proceedings recorded by machine shorthand
Transcript produced by computer-assisted transcription
24
25
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1 APPEARANCES
2 FOR PLAINTIFF:
3 Ms. Yolande G. Viacava
Assistant U.S. Attorney
4 2110 First Street
Room 3-137
5 Ft. Myers, FL 33901
6
7 FOR DEFENDANTS:
8 Ms. Zeljka Bozanic
Bozanic Law
9 2847 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, FL 33020
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
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22
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25
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1 (Court called to order at 1:31 PM)
2 THE COURT: Good afternoon, everybody.
3 Welcome to court.
4 First case up, United States versus -- I
5 might do them both together. We'll talk about that in
6 a second.
7 We've got Ismaelle Manuel and Denis Casseus,
8 Case No. 23-cr-3 and 23-cr-9. Go ahead and introduce
9 yourselves, starting with the prosecutor, please.
10 MS. VIACAVA: Good afternoon. Yolande
11 Viacava for the Government. With me at counsel table
12 is United States Secret Service Special Agent Brian
13 Kirby.
14 THE COURT: Yeah. It's better to sit down
15 and just talk into the mic.
16 Come on down. I recognize him. That's him;
17 right?
18 MS. BOZANIC: Yes.
19 THE COURT: We're going to do both your cases
20 at the same time. Sort of.
21 For the record, in the courtroom, we've got
22 both defendants on these cases. Ms. Manuel and Mr. --
23 is it Casseus?
24 DEFENDANT CASSEUS: Casseus.
25 MS. BOZANIC: Casseus.
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1 THE COURT: Okay. Go ahead and introduce
2 yourself.
3 MS. BOZANIC: I'm so used to standing up,
4 Your Honor. Zeljka Bozanic on behalf of Ismaelle
5 Manuel and Denis Casseus.
6 THE COURT: Both of you raise your right hand
7 for me.
8 (Defendants sworn).
9 THE COURT: Good. They have been both been
10 sworn. Some of this we'll do together. Some of it
11 we'll spread out. They have the same lawyer. They're
12 charged with the same type of crime, and they are
13 together how many years? Have kids together? I mean,
14 they function like a married couple, although they've
15 never been married. So we'll try to do this together.
16 So we got PPP fraud going on here. They pled
17 guilty; we're at the sentencing. Looks like both
18 pled -- they had the same charges or different charges?
19 MS. VIACAVA: Your Honor, they are different
20 charges. They are both -- submitted separate PPP --
21 sorry. They both submitted separate PPP applications.
22 In addition, when they entered their plea, Defendant
23 Mr. Casseus, he also entered a plea involving illegal
24 money -- a monetary transaction.
25 THE COURT: All right. So Ms. Manuel pled
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1 guilty on May 23rd to Counts 1 through 3 of an
2 indictment charging her with bank fraud, in violation
3 of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1344 and 2. I
4 accepted a guilty plea and adjudicated her guilty.
5 And Mr. Casseus -- I'm going to mess it up;
6 I'm sorry -- he pled guilty to Counts 1 and 2 of an
7 indictment charging him with bank fraud, in violation
8 of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1344 and 2,
9 and Count 5 of an indictment charging him with illegal
10 monetary transactions, in violation of Title 18, United
11 States Code, Sections 1957 and 2.
12 First thing we need to do in a sentencing
13 case in federal court is address the sentencing
14 guidelines, and that's done with the presentence
15 report.
16 So we'll start with the prosecutor. Have you
17 had the opportunity to read and discuss the presentence
18 reports -- plural -- and do you have any objections to
19 the factual accuracy or guideline calculations?
20 MS. VIACAVA: The Government has reviewed
21 both presentence reports, and the Government has no
22 objections to guideline calculation.
23 THE COURT: All right. Defense, one question
24 at a time for one defendant at a time.
25 Start with Ms. Manuel; have you had the
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1 opportunity to read and discuss her presentence report
2 with her?
3 MS. BOZANIC: Yes, Your Honor.
4 THE COURT: And how about Mr. Casseus?
5 MS. BOZANIC: Yes, Your Honor.
6 THE COURT: Okay. With regard to
7 Ms. Manuel -- Ms. Manuel, you speak English okay;
8 right?
9 DEFENDANT MANUEL: Yes, Your Honor.
10 THE COURT: So this presentence report is a
11 long document. It tells me everything about you you
12 could even imagine. Tells me, you know, you've got
13 kids. It tells me you were depressed during pregnancy.
14 You name it, it tells me all this stuff.
15 Have you had a chance to read that yourself?
16 DEFENDANT MANUEL: Yes, Your Honor.
17 THE COURT: And you went over it with your
18 lawyer?
19 DEFENDANT MANUEL: Yes, Your Honor.
20 THE COURT: Questions for her or me about
21 anything in that document?
22 DEFENDANT MANUEL: No, Your Honor.
23 THE COURT: Mr. Casseus, same thing. This
24 presentence report -- you can read English okay; right?
25 DEFENDANT CASSEUS: Yes, Your Honor.
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1 THE COURT: Did you read it?
2 DEFENDANT CASSEUS: Yes, Your Honor.
3 THE COURT: Any questions for your lawyer or
4 me about anything in the presentence report?
5 DEFENDANT CASSEUS: No, Your Honor.
6 THE COURT: All right. So now, Defense
7 Counsel, do you have any objections to the guideline
8 calculations on either client?
9 MS. BOZANIC: Yes, Your Honor. I did file
10 written objections; there are two different objections.
11 THE COURT: Yeah, I know. But I'm saying --
12 go ahead and talk to me about those.
13 MS. BOZANIC: Okay. So, Judge, one, it's an
14 objection, but I understand that the new guidelines
15 haven't been passed, and it's going to be effective in
16 November. And I did not file a motion to continue;
17 thought about it, but I didn't.
18 I can say that in the Southern District of
19 Florida, the judges are normally giving variances. But
20 the judges are granting variances with the
21 understanding, and letting the defendants know on the
22 record, that they are not to come back to file a
23 motion.
24 So while this poses an objection, I guess, it
25 could be treated as a variance request in each one of
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1 their cases, for both Ms. Manuel and Mr. Casseus.
2 THE COURT: I'm going to ask you what
3 sentence you think they deserve here at some point.
4 You can build that in to what you're saying. I kind of
5 do the same thing. But -- sort of informally and
6 generally. Just give people the sentence.
7 To me, the sentencing guidelines are
8 advisory, because that's what the law tells us. So if
9 they are going to change it next month, that just means
10 the advisory piece is different. Might not affect my
11 sentence. So I can hear all of that.
12 Do you have other objections besides that?
13 MS. BOZANIC: Yes, Your Honor. The other
14 objection was two-level upward adjustment pursuant to a
15 Robert T. Stafford Major Disaster Reparation. Pursuant
16 to United States Sentencing Guidelines 2B1.1(b)(12),
17 the provision added two additional levels in both
18 cases. And they are arguing that this fraud, or the
19 offense involved conduct, is described in 18 U.S.C.
20 1040.
21 My argument -- I mean, I did try to look up
22 case law. Obviously, there is nothing on this point.
23 I can tell you that I probably had between 5 and 10 of
24 these cases in the Southern District, where I practice
25 mostly. I've never seen it before, and I was a little
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1 surprised to see this. I spoke to the Government.
2 They have seen it before; I haven't.
3 So my argument is, Judge, that under the
4 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief -- the PPP loan
5 wasn't passed as a result of Robert T. Stafford
6 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance. It was
7 passed -- there are two different acts that were
8 passed.
9 A PPP loan was passed under the CARES Act.
10 The statute 18 U.S.C. 1040 states that anybody who
11 makes any material false, fictitious, or fraudulent
12 statement or representation with Robert T. Stafford
13 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance, and it talks
14 about receiving a benefit. I've looked at other cases
15 in the past, what this benefit meant. I found that
16 benefit usually represented, for example, if you have a
17 major flood and there's a benefit where the Government
18 gives money to the states to give people to fix their
19 house. It's something as a benefit. Something that's
20 not to be repaid. It's pretty much a gift.
21 I don't think that's what's meant -- I don't
22 think it's similar to a PPP loan. First of all, PPP
23 loan is not a gift. I would argue it's not a benefit.
24 THE COURT: It's a loan -- quote, loan you
25 don't have to pay back. We'd all like to get those;
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1 right?
2 MS. BOZANIC: Well, Judge, first of all, when
3 PPP loans first came out, nobody knew that you were not
4 going to have to pay them back. Sometime later, the
5 Government came out with the guideline that if your
6 loan is under $150,000, you don't have to pay it back.
7 But at the time people were taking these
8 loans out, I don't think there was something set in
9 stone that you don't have to pay it back. As a matter
10 of fact, many businesses didn't know there was going to
11 be any threshold of 150,000. There were business that
12 took out loans for 160- and couldn't ask for
13 forgiveness.
14 So I don't think this was a benefit. I think
15 that this application was -- I don't think it applies
16 in this case. President Biden -- well, the president;
17 I'm not sure which president. Anyway, the president at
18 the time passed the CARES Act; I think that was in
19 March. They invoked the emergency in February, the
20 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief Emergency, in
21 February. And the actual loans, the PPP and EIDL
22 loans, were authorized in March by the CARES Act.
23 THE COURT: Okay. Interesting conversation
24 on this. They do things differently. Just driving
25 across the Alligator Alley, it's a very different
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1 world. I have many friends down there, grew up in
2 Fort Lauderdale. So it's sort of home to me in some
3 ways, although I haven't lived there in a long time.
4 But in any event, what do you think about
5 this, Madam Probation Officer?
6 PROBATION OFFICER: Your Honor, we've looked
7 into -- we've all had this discussion. And at this
8 point, we believe because -- that the loan -- that it
9 was, like you said, a gift at some point. They made it
10 where you wouldn't have to pay it back. And we feel
11 like it qualifies under the Stafford Act.
12 THE COURT: Yeah. This hadn't made it to the
13 Court of Appeals yet to have any kind of answer on
14 this.
15 PROBATION OFFICER: No, sir.
16 THE COURT: All right. I'll overrule the
17 objection on that, but I'll take it into consideration,
18 of course, on the idea that these guidelines are
19 advisory. And so that's that.
20 Anything else on the guidelines?
21 MS. BOZANIC: No, Your Honor.
22 THE COURT: All right. So before we move
23 forward, we'll -- on Ms. Manuel, she's at level 18,
24 Criminal History Category I, advisory range of 27 to 33
25 months, two to five years supervised release,
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1 restitution $411,417, possible fine of 10 grand to
2 3 million, $300 special assessment.
3 Mr. Casseus is in a situation of -- he's a
4 level 19, 'cause his charges were a little different --
5 Criminal History Category I, advisory guideline range
6 of 30 to 37 months. Counts 1 and 2, 2 to 5 years.
7 Supervised release: Count 1, only three years
8 supervised release. Restitution, 298,875. Possible
9 fine of 10 grand to 2 million, $300 special assessment.
10 That's where we are on the sentencing guidelines.
11 There's no victims here?
12 MS. VIACAVA: No, Your Honor.
13 THE COURT: So what sentence does the
14 Government recommend, starting with Ms. Manuel? Then
15 we'll talk about Mr. Casseus. Then we'll go to defense
16 and maybe back to the Government briefly at the end.
17 MS. VIACAVA: Your Honor, in terms of
18 Ms. Manuel, the Government would be recommending a
19 sentence to the low end of the advisory guideline
20 range, as we agreed to in the plea agreement. So that
21 would be 27 months. We'd be recommending 3 years
22 supervised release. We would ask that the forfeiture
23 that has been ordered in Docket 53 be included as part
24 of the judgment in this case.
25 THE COURT: Is that the house?
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1 MS. VIACAVA: Yes, Your Honor. The house --
2 well, there was a money judgment that's included in
3 there as well.
4 In addition, we're asking for restitution in
5 the amount of $411,417 that should be payable to the
6 Small Business Association, or the SBA, as they were
7 free PPP loans that Ms. Manuel had fraudulently applied
8 for that have been forgiven.
9 We'd also recommend mental health treatment
10 as being appropriate in this case. It's the
11 information contained within the pretrial services
12 report. That would be the Government's recommendation
13 in this case based on the fact that she purported to be
14 in charge of owning two businesses.
15 And then between July 24, 2020, through
16 March 4, 2021, she submitted three fraudulent PPP loan
17 applications for the total of $411,417. And she used
18 money from those proceeds towards the purchase of a
19 home in Cape Coral, Florida.
20 THE COURT: Do you have any information about
21 what they did with the money besides buy this house?
22 The house is worth roughly 4- or 500-. The math
23 doesn't work. Let's see, the loss amount.
24 MS. VIACAVA: Your Honor, talking with the
25 case agent who looked over the bank records, it
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1 appeared that the rest of the money went towards living
2 expenses, things of that nature.
3 THE COURT: Just a second. Let me set this
4 question up, because it matters a lot to me in this
5 case what they did with the money. Because according
6 to what -- Ms. Manuel stole, roughly, $411,417; and
7 Mr. Casseus, 298,875. My math is not great, but I have
8 that at $710,292. I hope somebody here can crunch the
9 numbers and make sure I'm doing that right. But that's
10 around 700,000.
11 The house -- what's the number value of the
12 house? 4- or 500-, as I recall?
13 MS. VIACAVA: I have it close to 500,000.
14 THE COURT: So there's another 310 grand
15 sitting on the table. It matters to me -- when people
16 steal money in white-collar scenario, it matters to me
17 what they do with it. And I don't know that I could
18 spend it in the two or three years before they got
19 caught -- $300,000 -- if I tried. That's the
20 difference between a house and the total amount stolen.
21 So what were they doing with this money?
22 Does anybody know?
23 MS. VIACAVA: Your Honor, just to be clear --
24 THE COURT: Just a second. I'm going to ask
25 them what they say, and then you can tell me what you
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1 think. I mean, the investigator is here. Somebody
2 should have looked at this. What do you think they
3 were doing with the money?
4 MS. VIACAVA: Your Honor, also just to be
5 clear, the purchase of the house -- the house is now
6 worth almost 500,000. But at the time they purchased
7 it, it was under 300,000.
8 THE COURT: So let's just take 3- off 7-,
9 that's 500,000. That makes my question even more
10 pressing. What did they do with the rest of the money?
11 MS. VIACAVA: Your Honor, from looking at the
12 bank records that the agent reviewed, it appeared as
13 though they were using it for living expenses. There
14 were purchases made, things of that nature. But the
15 house was the biggest purchase with the money going
16 directly to that.
17 THE COURT: That's not that much money,
18 frankly, to spend on a house in the current Florida
19 real estate market. $500,000 house is not that super
20 fancy in the current price structure we're living in.
21 But still -- or 300,000, you said; right? That was the
22 purchase price? That's probably not even a very nice
23 house for the current prices.
24 MS. VIACAVA: If you give me one moment, Your
25 Honor, I'll be able to answer that question.
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1 THE COURT: Related to my question -- on the
2 defense side of things, related to my question is going
3 to be, I have historically sentenced people to lower
4 sentences who pay the money back.
5 MS. BOZANIC: Yes, Your Honor, and I have an
6 answer for you.
7 THE COURT: Yeah. Now if it's going to be
8 that they spend it all and they can't pay it back,
9 well, then they don't have that option. But I've
10 always, when people have stolen money, that they can
11 get, you know, a decent amount of that paid back right
12 up front, they get a more favorable sentence from me
13 than people saying, well, I spent it.
14 I treat those cases a little differently. So
15 if your clients have the ability to pay that back, I'd
16 like to know that because it will benefit them in their
17 sentence.
18 Let me just finish up over here.
19 MS. VIACAVA: Your Honor, speaking to the
20 agent, he indicated that there were a lot of purchases
21 that were being made. In addition to travel to Haiti,
22 there was money being sent down to Haiti presumably to
23 other family members. There is a bank account that the
24 Government located; still had the money sitting in it,
25 otherwise, we'd have seizure warrants and have the
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1 money in hand.
2 We do know that money went toward the
3 purchase of a house; the final purchase price of the
4 house was $275,000. They each used a portion of the
5 PPP funds that they received towards the purchase of
6 the house.
7 THE COURT: So if the total stolen is 710-;
8 they spent 275- on a house, that's 425- left over,
9 roughly. And we think that was spent just in general
10 and sending money to Haiti?
11 MS. VIACAVA: I'm being told the purchases
12 were -- personal purchases were made, just lifestyle
13 living, everyday living. In addition, money was being
14 sent down to Haiti. There was also travel to Haiti.
15 THE COURT: Haiti is not that expensive to go
16 to. Maybe it is to get there. But you couldn't spend
17 money in Haiti, because it's the poorest country in the
18 Western Hemisphere. I don't know if you could spend
19 425,000.
20 All right. What -- what do you guys got?
21 MS. BOZANIC: Judge, I know that the bank
22 froze assets. And at some point, they had no access to
23 their accounts. I know there was one account --
24 THE COURT: Remember what we said about
25 speaking slowly?
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1 MS. BOZANIC: Ms. Manuel -- one of
2 Ms. Manuel's accounts had $60,000.
3 THE COURT: 60-?
4 MS. BOZANIC: 60,000.
5 For Mr. Casseus, it was about $198,000.
6 THE COURT: So there's 260 grand sitting out
7 there plus a house?
8 MS. BOZANIC: Yes, Judge. And I can tell you
9 that the house, obviously, had closing costs. So even
10 though the purchase would maybe be this, we should put
11 another 5 percent or more. I don't know how much
12 closing costs are.
13 THE COURT: Let's forget about the house. By
14 my math, after they -- the 710- that they stole, 275-
15 to the house is roughly 425-. What's the total amount
16 that's in those accounts?
17 MS. BOZANIC: 198- plus 60- would be 258-.
18 THE COURT: Okay. Subtract that off the
19 425-. We're now down -- okay. That's under 200-,
20 then, that's left over that they went through over two
21 and a half years. That's a lot more reasonable.
22 Now, do you have that money? Do you have
23 those accounts froze for that amount?
24 MS. VIACAVA: The Government did not seize
25 any accounts in this case.
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1 THE COURT: So where are we?
2 MS. BOZANIC: The bank froze it. They have
3 no access to it. I know that banks, especially the
4 Fifth Third Bank, I've seen them -- they will freeze it
5 and close the accounts. I am not sure why the
6 Government -- I don't know how the Government actually
7 gets their hands on that money. And I'm not sure -- I
8 think that Fifth Third Bank returned some of the money
9 to the SBA possibly, but I cannot guarantee on the
10 process of what happens when the banks freeze money.
11 They just basically close an account where
12 they believe there's fraud or they believe -- this case
13 even started with the Fifth Third Bank, and it was odd
14 they were buying a house --
15 THE COURT: Yeah, the Fifth Third Bank or the
16 Sixth Fourth Bank -- who cares what bank it is -- it's
17 not allowed to just freeze somebody's accounts and keep
18 250 grand of stolen money and nobody ever sees it
19 again.
20 PROBATION OFFICER: Your Honor, for the
21 record, when -- the defendant reported to us that her
22 personal checking account had $25 in it and a vehicle
23 worth 9,000. So that's all we had for her report
24 financially.
25 THE COURT: Well, I don't know what I'm
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1 supposed to do with this information. 'Cause I'm
2 hearing that they told the authorities they had $25 and
3 no money. They are here now in court telling me that
4 there's frozen accounts worth about what, 258-?
5 MS. BOZANIC: Yes, Your Honor.
6 THE COURT: Let's get to the bottom of this,
7 because it matters to me. I think my sentence would be
8 very different if they can pay back, roughly, you
9 know -- I don't know. What's the house going to sell
10 for with closing costs and stuff like that? If they
11 can pay back a big chunk of this, then that's a
12 different sentence for me than if we just hear, oh,
13 gone to Haiti and spent it.
14 MS. BOZANIC: Judge, I would suggest if you
15 would continue the sentencing hearing, I will work with
16 the Government. We'll figure out where this money
17 went.
18 THE COURT: I'd be happy to do that. I mean,
19 show me the money; right? If they can come up with
20 this money and pay it back, that's going to benefit
21 them.
22 I'll tell you the last time I had this
23 conversation was a case in Tampa. The defendant was
24 represented by Alec Hall, the public defender -- not
25 assistant public defender. This defendant was
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1 represented by the public defender. And everybody in
2 the room understood what I was saying. And she had a
3 house that she bought with stolen money. And she put
4 it into her husband's name, and she refused to sell it.
5 She just wouldn't do it, because she didn't think it
6 was fair she was going to prison and her husband didn't
7 have a house.
8 I know her attorney definitely told her to
9 sell it. She wouldn't listen to her attorney. She
10 didn't want to give up the money, and she's doing a
11 longer sentence than she needed to, 'cause she didn't
12 come up with the money.
13 So if they can come up with the money without
14 stealing it, don't do another crime or used -- you
15 know, do it legally, and maybe we can talk about
16 something a little different.
17 MS. BOZANIC: They have agreed to the
18 forfeiture. They're just basically waiting -- they are
19 going to go rent something.
20 THE COURT: So they are out of the house; the
21 house has gone to forfeiture. But you're telling us
22 there's another 250- out there; right?
23 SPECIAL AGENT KIRBY: Yeah.
24 THE COURT: Let's see what we can do here.
25 One thing I'm not going to trade is a real short jail
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1 sentence for 250 grand. Because a lot of people would
2 do that; right? I can find hundred people on the
3 street that would go to jail for six months if they can
4 keep 250 grand. So I got to balance all of that, you
5 know.
6 MS. BOZANIC: Yes, Your Honor. I would --
7 THE COURT: What do you think?
8 MS. VIACAVA: Your Honor, I will say, in
9 talking with the agent, they did trace the accounts
10 that the PPP loan money went into. They conceded those
11 accounts are empty. So if there's additional funds out
12 there, we're not sure where that came from.
13 THE COURT: I don't think we need to get
14 wrapped up into accounts. My point is paying back the
15 amount of money that was stolen. However they can come
16 up with it, as long as it's legal, that, I think, is a
17 good idea if we can. But go ahead.
18 MS. VIACAVA: I was going to say if there's
19 any money that's been frozen, it certainly has not been
20 done with a seizure warrant. It's not something the
21 Government has been involved with, because we did not
22 find any accounts that had money sitting in it. So,
23 therefore, we're not aware of which accounts --
24 THE COURT: Sounds like it was the Sixth
25 Fourth Bank; not the Fifth Third Bank. They are going
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1 to get into -- Juan, what's my next day?
2 THE DEPUTY CLERK: October 20.
3 THE COURT: October 20. Your cases will be
4 reset to October 20. Go find some money. See where we
5 are; all right?
6 MS. BOZANIC: Yes, Your Honor.
7 THE COURT: Thank you.
8 You guys out of jail; right?
9 MS. BOZANIC: Yes, Your Honor. They're out
10 on bond.
11 THE COURT: Don't do anything illegal while
12 you're out on bond. If you do, you go to jail. Good
13 luck.
14 THE DEFENDANT: Thank you, Your Honor.
15 (Recess taken 1:27 PM, September 15,
16 2023)
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Case 2:23-cr-00009-KCD-DNF Document 69 Filed 02/21/24 Page 24 of 24 PageID24
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1 REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE
2 I, Vonni R. Bray, a Certified Dipolmate and
3 Realtime Reporter, certify that the foregoing transcript,
4 consisting of 23 pages, is a true and correct record of
5 the proceedings given at the time and place hereinbefore
6 mentioned; that the proceedings were reported by me in
7 machine shorthand and thereafter reduced to typewriting
8 using computer-assisted transcription; that after being
9 reduced to typewriting, a certified copy of this
10 transcript will be filed electronically with the Court.
11 I further certify that I am not attorney for,
12 nor employed by, nor related to any of the parties or
13 attorneys to this action, nor financially interested in
14 this action.
15 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have set my hand at Fort
16 Myers, Florida, this 21st day of February, 2024.
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19 s/ Vonni R. Bray, RDR, CRR
Vonni R. Bray, RDR, CRR
20 United States Court Reporter
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