Bond Hearing Transcript — US v. Price

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U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division · No. 4:20-cr-00522 · Doc. 67 · 2021-03-16 · Docket on CourtListener

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS 
HOUSTON DIVISION 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA       .  4:20-mj-01366-1            
                               .  HOUSTON, TEXAS 
VS.                            .     
                               .  AUGUST 27, 2020 
LEE PRICE, III                 .  3:22 P.M. to 3:31 P.M. 
 
TRANSCRIPT of DETENTION/PRELIMINARY HEARING 
BEFORE THE HONORABLE SAM S. SHELDON 
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 
 
APPEARANCES: (All participants appearing by video/Zoom 
FOR THE GOVERNMENT:
TIMOTHY ADAM DUREE                 
U.S. Department of Justice         
Criminal Division                  
Fraud Section                      
1400 New York Ave NW               
Third Floor                        
     
Washington, DC  20530 
 
 
FOR THE DEFENDANT:
JAMES M. KENNEDY                   
Bires Schaffer DeBorde             
712 Main Street                    
Suite 2400                         
Houston, Texas  77002              
 
 
 
OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER:          KATHY L. METZGER 
                                  U.S. Courthouse 
                                  515 Rusk 
                                  Room 8004 
                                  Houston, Texas  77002 
                                  713-250-5208 
 
 
 
Proceedings recorded by mechanical stenography, transcript 
produced by computer-aided transcription.   
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P R O C E E D I N G S 
THE COURT:  Good afternoon.  
MR. DUREE:  Good afternoon, Judge.
MR. KENNEDY:  Good afternoon.
THE COURT:  We're all here.  Let me call the case.
United States of America versus Lee Price, III, 20-mj-1366.  My
name is Sam Sheldon.  I'm the magistrate judge.  I see
Mr. Duree is here on behalf of the United States government and
Mr. Kennedy is here on behalf of the defendant.
Mr. Price, you're muted.  
Could Joe Corley unmute Mr. Price?  There you go.  
Can you hear me, Mr. Price?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT:  Good afternoon, sir.
THE DEFENDANT:  Good afternoon.
THE COURT:  We're here -- first, normally we would
conduct this hearing in person in a courtroom, but we're doing
this by video this afternoon because of the pandemic.  It's not
safe for all of us to be in the courtroom together.  We could
continue this hearing until it is safe or we could go forward
with this hearing my video.  Do we have your permission to go
forward with this hearing by video?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT:  Mr. Price, a bond has been -- your
attorney and the United States agreed upon a bond.  I issued
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that bond.  The order has been issued.  Your co-surety has
signed.  The only thing remaining is for me to -- I'm going to
go over the conditions and then my case manager, Shannon, is
going to swear you to those conditions and then you're going to
be released today from Joe Corley.
It's really important though that by noon
tomorrow you go to the courthouse and that you sign -- you
actually sign -- you're going to swear orally so we can get you
released, but by noon tomorrow you'll go to the Federal
Courthouse, the clerk's office.  You'll sign your conditions.
Before you leave the courthouse, you'll need to go to probation
and they're going to fit you with a GPS monitor.  So those are
the two things I need you to do before noon tomorrow.  Any
issue with that?
THE DEFENDANT:  No, Your Honor.
THE COURT:  Okay.  So I'm going to go over the
conditions now and Shannon will swear you in.  I'll ask you
then if you understand the conditions, if you have any
questions for me, and that you agree to follow these conditions
and if you violate any of these conditions, that you understand
that your bond can be revoked.
So these are the conditions of your bond.  It's
$50,000 unsecured.  You don't have to pay any money.  Your
grandmother is serving as a co-surety.  Her name is Rudell
Teresa Comeaux.
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You must report to Pretrial Services on a regular
basis.  Tomorrow sometime you'll need to make contact with the
pretrial officer that is supervising you.
You must maintain or actively seek employment.
Surrender U.S. passport or any foreign passport
to the U.S. Pretrial Services agency.  Obtain no passport.
Your travel is restricted to Harris County and
the surrounding areas.  Outside travel to be preapproved by
U.S. probation.  You're going to be living in Beaumont.  So
your travel is allowed in Beaumont, Jefferson County and all
counties connected to Harris and Jefferson Counties.
You're to avoid all contact, directly or
indirectly, with the person who is a victim or potential
victim -- sorry, potential victim or potential witness or
victim in the investigation or prosecution of this case.  And
that means don't have any contact with the codefendants or
potential codefendants.
You must refrain from possessing a firearm,
destructive device, or other dangerous weapons.
Refrain from any use of alcohol.  
Refrain from use or unlawful possession of a
narcotic drug or other controlled substances unless prescribed
by a licensed medical practitioner.
You must submit to any testing required by
Pretrial Services regarding whether you're using a prohibited
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substance.
You must participate in a program of inpatient or
outpatient substance abuse therapy and counseling, if the
Pretrial Services office or supervising officer considers it
advisable.
You must comply with all court obligations in
Harris County.  And you will incur the costs associated with
any services related to drug testing, treatment, housing
placement or any location monitoring based on your ability to
pay.
You're going to be on home detention.  That means
that you're restricted to your residence at all times except
for employment, education, religious services, medical,
substance abuse or mental health treatment, attorney visits,
court appearances, court-ordered obligations, or other
activities preapproved by the Pretrial Services officer.
You must submit to the location monitoring
indicated, abide by all the programs for monitoring.  And this
is the monitoring that's active global positioning satellite,
GPS, monitoring, including hybrid, active/passive, GPS.
Immediately report contact with law enforcement
to Pretrial Services.  
And then there's attached agreed upon conditions
that you've agreed to follow.  I'm going to read those.  
You're to reside with Rudell Comeaux, your
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grandmother, in Beaumont, Texas.  
No contact in person, by phone, text, Facebook
messenger, through a third party, et cetera, with Rose Price,
that's your mom; Clarence Comeaux; or Derronce Allen.
You may have contact with Raenette Jones only to
discuss matters related to care or support of your child.  You
shall not discuss any issues related to the present case 
with Ms. Jones unless such communications happen in the
presence of counsel for both parties.  You may not contact 
Ms. Jones for any other purpose.
No contact with any witnesses or potential
witnesses.
Do not engage in any financial transactions over
$300 without prior approval of the Court.  
Do not open or apply for any new bank accounts
without prior approval of the Court.  
Do not open or apply for any new credit cards
without prior approval of the Court.  
Do not open or apply for any new lines of credit
without prior approval of the Court.
Do not discuss any new DBAs, LLCs, or the like
without prior approval of the Court.
As we already discussed, you'll be on house
arrest, which is called home detention, and I already went over
the terms of your home detention.  
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And, again, your travel is allowed to Beaumont,
Jefferson County, and all counties connecting to Harris and
Jefferson Counties.
Did I get all of that right, Mr. Duree? 
MR. DUREE:  Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT:  And Mr. Kennedy?
MR. KENNEDY:  That's correct, Judge.  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  And, Mr. Price, do you understand all of
the conditions I just went over?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT:  And when you sign tomorrow, everything I
just said to you, the long list, you're going to get those
conditions in writing.  Do you have any questions regarding
these conditions?
THE DEFENDANT:  No, Your Honor.
THE COURT:  And do you agree to follow all these
conditions?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT:  And do you understand that if you violate
any of these conditions, your bond can be revoked?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT:  Okay.  So, Shannon, now you'll let Joe
Corley know to release him?
THE CASE MANAGER:  Yes, I'm going to send the
paperwork after this hearing.
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THE COURT:  Okay.  Do you have any questions for me,
Mr. Price?  
THE DEFENDANT:  No, Your Honor.  Thank you.
THE COURT:  Anything else --
THE CASE MANAGER:  I need to swear him in, Judge.
THE COURT:  Oh, yeah.
THE CASE MANAGER:  Can you raise your right hand, sir?  
(Defendant complies) 
THE CASE MANAGER:  Do you acknowledge that you are
bound to the United States an amount of $50,000; that you will
abide by the conditions of this bond and make all court
appearances wherever so ordered; do you acknowledge these
conditions and will you abide by them, so help you God?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes.
THE COURT:  Shannon, anything else I need to cover?
THE CASE MANAGER:  I think that's it.
THE COURT:  Okay.  Mr. Duree?  
MR. DUREE:  Nothing from the government, Judge.
THE COURT:  All right.  Anything else, Mr. Kennedy?
MR. KENNEDY:  No, sir, Judge.  Thank you for your
time.
THE COURT:  Okay.  Okay.  Good luck, Mr. Price.  You
should be released.  
THE MARSHAL:  Judge, this is the Marshal Service.  I
just want to make sure he is to be released before the ankle
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monitor and all that, released today?
THE COURT:  Yes.  
THE MARSHAL:  Okay.  
THE COURT:  He knows the ankle monitor is going to be
put on tomorrow before noon.  He knows he needs to go to the
courthouse, sign his paperwork, and then go to probation to get
fitted for the monitor.  
THE MARSHAL:  Okay.  Thank you, Judge.  We'll take
care of it.
THE COURT:  Okay.  Thank you.  Okay.  
Good luck to you, sir.
THE DEFENDANT:  Thank you, Your Honor.
(Concluded at 3:31 p.m.)   
* * * 
I certify that the foregoing is a correct transcript from the  
record of proceedings in the above-entitled cause, to the best   
of my ability.     
 
/s/
                  
 
Kathy L. Metzger                         Date 
Official Court Reporter 
 
 
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