Transcript of Arraignment, January 21, 2021 — United States v. Keith Berman (No. 1:20-cr-00278)
Summary
Transcript of arraignment in United States of America v. Keith Berman, CR No. 20-0278 (TNM), in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, held Thursday, January 21, 2021, at 2:14 p.m. by videoconference before the Honorable Zia M. Faruqui, United States Magistrate Judge, filed as Document 201 on May 19, 2024. The deputy clerk calls the matter for initial Rule 5 appearance and arraignment, with Christopher Fenton for the government and Walter Loughlin and Ronald Herzog for the defendant. The transcript records that the defense waives reading of the indictment and enters a plea of not guilty, and that the government is agreeable to continue the conditions of release set in California. Proceedings adjourn at 2:21 p.m.
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“Transcript of Arraignment, January 21, 2021 — United States v. Keith Berman (No. 1:20-cr-00278).”
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Case 1:20-cr-00278-TNM Document 201 Filed 05/19/24 Page 1 of 8
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, .
.
Plaintiff, . CR No. 20-0278 (TNM)
.
v. .
.
KEITH BERMAN, . Washington, D.C.
. Thursday, January 21, 2021
Defendant. . 2:14 p.m.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
TRANSCRIPT OF ARRAIGNMENT
BEFORE THE HONORABLE ZIA M. FARUQUI
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
APPEARANCES:
For the Government: CHRISTOPHER R. FENTON, ESQ.
U.S. Department of Justice
1400 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530
For Defendant: WALTER P. LOUGHLIN, ESQ.
Walter P. Loughlin, Atty. at Law
340 West 57th Street
Suite 5d
New York, NY 10019
RONALD S. HERZOG, ESQ.
Goldberg Sagalla LLP
50 Main Street
Suite 425
White Plains, NY 10606
Court Reporter: BRYAN A. WAYNE, RPR, CRR
U.S. Courthouse, Room 4704-A
333 Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20001
Proceedings reported by stenotype shorthand.
Transcript produced by computer-aided transcription.
Case 1:20-cr-00278-TNM Document 201 Filed 05/19/24 Page 2 of 8
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1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 (Via Videoconference)
3 THE DEPUTY CLERK: This is criminal case 20-278, the
4 United States versus Keith Berman. The defendant is present by
5 video. Christopher Fenton is representing the government;
6 Walter Loughlin and Ronald Herzog are representing the defendant.
7 This matter is set for initial Rule 5 appearance and arraignment.
8 THE COURT: Thanks so much, Ms. Lavigne-Rhodes.
9 Mr. Loughlin, Mr. Herzog, good afternoon. Mr. Fenton.
10 Mr. Berman, good afternoon as well. I want to start with -- I
11 want to make sure that your client consents to going forward in
12 the manner of a video hearing. We have attempted to keep things
13 moving by video hearings. The chief judge's standing order
14 allows us to do that, as does the CARES Act, but I want to
15 confirm that you and your client are fine going forward.
16 MR. LOUGHLIN: Yes, Your Honor Loughlin.
17 .MR. HERZOG: We are, Your Honor. Thank you.
18 THE COURT: Thanks so much.
19 So, Mr. Berman, as you heard you counsel agree, we are
20 going forward with a video appearance.
21 Mr. Loughlin and Mr. Herzog, were one of you present at the
22 initial appearance in California?
23 MR. LOUGHLIN: Yes, Your Honor. We were on a similar
24 Zoom appearance.
25 THE COURT: Okay, great. I can only assume I have a
Case 1:20-cr-00278-TNM Document 201 Filed 05/19/24 Page 3 of 8
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1 better background than they do. But can you just confirm that
2 your client was advised of his right to remain silent and his
3 other initial-appearance rights? Is that accurate? I believe,
4 looking at the docket, that's right, but I just want to make
5 sure.
6 MR. LOUGHLIN: Yes, Your Honor.
7 THE COURT: Okay, great.
8 And so, Mr. Fenton, I'll go back to you, then. I will
9 then arraign the defendant today is my plan and to talk about
10 conditions of release. I'm hopeful that we'll be able to stick
11 with whatever California has in place, but if you want to
12 change, modify any of that, I'm happy to hear that as well.
13 Ms. Lavigne-Rhodes, is Pretrial on the line?
14 THE DEPUTY CLERK: I don't think so, Your Honor.
15 THE COURT: Mr. Fenton, is that right? Anything else
16 you're hoping to cover today?
17 MR. FENTON: No, Your Honor. And I can just preview
18 for you that the government is agreeable to continue the
19 conditions of release that were set in California.
20 THE COURT: Okay. Let's start with that.
21 Mr. Berman, there are conditions of release that you've
22 been advised on. We're just going to stick with those, what has
23 already been put in place.
24 Mr. Loughlin, I presume your client has been advised of
25 those conditions of release, is that right, by the Pretrial
Case 1:20-cr-00278-TNM Document 201 Filed 05/19/24 Page 4 of 8
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1 folks over there?
2 MR. LOUGHLIN: Yes, Your Honor. He's met the
3 condition, which was the securing of a surety and the other
4 sort of normal conditions.
5 THE COURT: Sure. Of course. Great. Perfect.
6 So, Mr. Berman, those conditions of release remain
7 in place. It's critical that you follow through on those
8 conditions. You know, one of the most important standard
9 conditions is not to violate any state or federal laws, continue
10 to report to Pretrial Services. Through your counsel, they'll
11 be contacting the appropriate folks and making sure you're
12 checking in with Pretrial; that is really not traveling wherever
13 you are -- where is Mr. Berman now, may I ask?
14 MR. LOUGHLIN: Mr. Berman lives and works in
15 Los Angeles.
16 THE COURT: Okay, great. So follow the geographical
17 travel restrictions. If you do need to travel, just let us know
18 and we will work with that, and obviously you'll just need to
19 appear for all future hearings. They'll be held similarly to
20 this.
21 The arraignment is a brief proceeding but an important one.
22 It's an opportunity for you to enter your plea of not guilty, as
23 well as understand formally what the charges are brought against
24 you.
25 I saw, Mr. Fenton -- is the docket still sealed, or has it
Case 1:20-cr-00278-TNM Document 201 Filed 05/19/24 Page 5 of 8
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1 been unsealed?
2 MR. FENTON: It has been unsealed, Your Honor.
3 THE COURT: So, Mr. Loughlin, Mr. Herzog, have you
4 received a copy of the indictment in this matter?
5 MR. LOUGHLIN: We have, Your Honor.
6 MR. HERZOG: We've shared it with Mr. Berman.
7 THE COURT: Great. Thank you so much. I appreciate
8 that. So, Mr. Berman, you should have received a copy of the
9 indictment. Your counsels have also received a copy of it. I
10 don't know who I should ask of defense counsel. Mr. Loughlin,
11 Mr. Herzog, who would like to speak?
12 MR. LOUGHLIN: I think maybe I'll speak, unless Ron
13 wants to chime in. We waive reading of the indictment.
14 THE COURT: Great. Thank you.
15 MR. LOUGHLIN: And Mr. Berman enters a plea of not
16 guilty.
17 THE COURT: Great. Thanks so much.
18 So, Mr. Berman, your counsels have waived formal reading of
19 the indictment, and they also directed me to enter a plea of not
20 guilty as to the counts of the indictment. We will go ahead and
21 enter that plea of not guilty.
22 You will next be before Judge McFadden. He is the district
23 judge on this case. So he's just going to go through with you
24 and have your opportunity to set a trial date in the matter.
25 Right now that's still a little speculative of when that might
Case 1:20-cr-00278-TNM Document 201 Filed 05/19/24 Page 6 of 8
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1 be because of the pandemic, but you will get your day in court
2 should you seek it.
3 You're also going to have the opportunity to suppress
4 evidence, exercise your constitutional rights. All of those
5 things will be done in front of the district judge who is, as
6 I said, Judge McFadden in this matter.
7 Ms. Lavigne-Rhodes, do we have a date for the next court
8 hearing?
9 THE DEPUTY CLERK: Yes, Your Honor. February 1 at
10 10 a.m. in front of Judge McFadden.
11 THE COURT: Thank you. So the next court date is
12 February 1, Mr. Berman. You got that? And counsel, Mr. Loughlin?
13 MR. LOUGHLIN: I actually think that Mr. Fenton
14 arranged for a status conference before Judge McFadden at an
15 earlier date, which is just next week.
16 THE COURT: Mr. Fenton, anything on your end?
17 MR. FENTON: That's correct, Your Honor. So the date
18 that Judge McFadden's deputy has proposed to us is Tuesday,
19 January 26. We have not confirmed that date. We expect to
20 confirm it soon, but we'll follow up with chambers.
21 THE COURT: Okay. Mr. Berman, the main thing is
22 please stay in touch with your counsel and make sure you get
23 that date. It sounds like it's a little bit in flux right now.
24 I'm sure Judge McFadden would like to get you sooner rather than
25 later before him. So it sounds like your counsel and the
Case 1:20-cr-00278-TNM Document 201 Filed 05/19/24 Page 7 of 8
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1 government's counsel are on that.
2 Anything else from your end, Mr. Fenton?
3 MR. FENTON: No, Your Honor.
4 THE COURT: Great.
5 Mr. Loughlin, anything else from the defense end?
6 MR. LOUGHLIN: We have no applications, Your Honor.
7 THE COURT: All right. Thanks so much.
8 Ms. Lavigne-Rhodes, everything good on your end?
9 THE DEPUTY CLERK: We're good. Thank you, Your Honor.
10 THE COURT: All right. Thank you, everyone.
11 Have a good day. Take care.
12 (Proceedings adjourned at 2:21 p.m.)
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Case 1:20-cr-00278-TNM Document 201 Filed 05/19/24 Page 8 of 8
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* * * * * *
CERTIFICATE
I, BRYAN A. WAYNE, Official Court Reporter, certify
that the foregoing pages are a correct transcript from the
record of proceedings in the above-entitled matter.
/s/ Bryan A. Wayne
Bryan A. Wayne
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