Pandemic Darlings The pandemic economy, in original documents
Home Source documents Letter to Magistrate Judge Elizabeth A. Pascal — United States v. Eric Rivera, et al. (D.N.J., Document 30)

Letter to Magistrate Judge Elizabeth A. Pascal — United States v. Eric Rivera, et al. (D.N.J., Document 30)

Summary

Letter from Assistant United States Attorney Daniel A. Friedman to Magistrate Judge Elizabeth A. Pascal, District of New Jersey, dated May 30, 2024, in United States v. Eric Rivera, et al., Crim. No. 24-267 (KMW). It says defendants Eric Rivera, Adrienne Ponzo, and James Wessels were indicted on April 17, 2024, and that Rivera has not complied with the deadline in the Court's text order for verification of employment and entry of private counsel's appearance. It adds that no hard drives for discovery were provided as the scheduling order required, so the Government has been unable to provide discovery to Rivera. The Government asks the Court to set a status conference.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Cite this document

“Letter to Magistrate Judge Elizabeth A. Pascal — United States v. Eric Rivera, et al. (D.N.J., Document 30).” Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/court-filing-united-states-v-eric-rivera-et-al-dkt-30-d-n-j-7da76c200a/, SHA-256 f0bcd46d17681eff5fc069967cf497518d9f582a567b855d8da68f901d84083c.

Full text

    Case 1:24-cr-00267-KMW             Document 30     Filed 05/30/24   Page 1 of 2 PageID: 232




                                                                         U.S. Department of Justice
                                                                               United States Attorney
                                                                               District of New Jersey

PHILIP R. SELLINGER                                                         401 Market Street, Fourth Floor
United States Attorney                                                      Camden, New Jersey 08101-2098

DANIEL A. FRIEDMAN                                                          Direct Dial: 856.968.4867
Assistant United States Attorney                                            Email: Daniel.friedman2@usdoj.gov


May 30, 2024

Honorable Elizabeth A. Pascal
United States Magistrate Judge
Mitchell H. Cohen Federal Courthouse
One John F. Gerry Plaza, Fourth & Cooper Streets
Camden, New Jersey 08101

           Re:        United States v. Eric Rivera, et al. Crim. No. 24-267 (KMW)

Dear Judge Pascal:

       Defendants Eric Rivera, Adrienne Ponzo, and James Wessels were indicted on
April 17, 2024. On April 23, 2024, this Court conducted an arraignment of Eric Rivera.
At the conclusion of the arraignment, the Court issued the following order:

           TEXT ORDER: Having conducted an arraignment with Defendant Eric
           Rivera, and the Court noting that Pretrial Services has not received
           verification of employment from Defendant since July 21, 2023, as required
           by his conditions of release, the Court ORDERS Defendant to submit
           verification of employment to Pretrial Services no later than April 30, 2024.
           In addition, Defendant having notified the Court that he has retained private
           counsel, private counsel shall enter his appearance on the docket no later
           than May 7, 2024. So Ordered by Magistrate Judge Elizabeth A. Pascal on
           4/24/2024.

ECF No. 27.

      Rivera has not complied with the deadline ordered by the Court. Private counsel
has not entered an appearance on the docket, and on May 30, 2024, Rivera’s anticipated
private counsel communicated to the undersigned that they had not yet been retained by
Rivera.1

1 On May 30, 2024, Rivera’s Pretrial Services officer advised the undersigned that Rivera

had not yet provided satisfactory verification of employment to Pretrial Services.
Pretrial Services has given Rivera a new deadline of June 3, 2024 to provide the
necessary materials.
      Case 1:24-cr-00267-KMW     Document 30         Filed 05/30/24   Page 2 of 2 PageID: 233



       In addition, the scheduling order agreed to by the parties and signed by Judge
Williams required each defendant to provide hard drives capable of receiving discovery to
the Government on or before May 8, 2024. ECF No. 29. Neither Rivera nor his counsel
of record has provided hard drives to the Government; accordingly, the Government has
been unable to provide discovery to Rivera.

       The Government respectfully requests the Court set a status conference to address
these issues.


                                                    Respectfully submitted,

                                                    PHILIP R. SELLINGER
                                                    United States Attorney

                                                    /s/ Daniel A. Friedman
                                          By:       DANIEL A. FRIEDMAN
                                                    JASON M. RICHARDSON
                                                    Assistant U.S. Attorneys

cc:      Thomas Burke, Esq. (Via ECF)
         Nicholas Zotti, U.S. Pretrial Services Officer (Via Email)




                                                2

File and source

File
30.pdf
Size
147,652 bytes
SHA-256
f0bcd46d17681eff5fc069967cf497518d9f582a567b855d8da68f901d84083c
Our copy
30.pdf
Original
No public link identified.
Back to top