The Southern District federal courthouses were mostly quiet Thursday and Friday as the Federal Public Defenders and CJA lawyers had their annual conference, this time in Naples. (Were you there Rumpole?)
The U.S. Attorney's Office was still working though, indicting this high-profile case (via the AP):
A 22-year-old Miami Beach man whose company had a contract to supply the U.S. military with ammunition for forces in Afghanistan has been charged along with three others with providing prohibited Chinese-made ammunition and saying it came from Albania.
Efraim Diveroli and two others charged in the case made their first appearance Friday afternoon in federal court in Miami. A fourth man was being charged in Utah.
Diveroli's company, AEY Inc., was paid more than $10 million for 35 shipments of ammunition that prosecutors say was manufactured in China.
Prosecutors contend AEY Inc. removed markings from containers to hide the fact they were manufactured in China. In each instance, Diveroli certified that the ammunition was manufactured in Albania and submitted an invoice for it, they said.
Diveroli's company was given a $298 million contract by the U.S. Army in 2007 to provide several types of ammunition. It was not clear how much of that contract had been paid, but the first shipment of ammunition listed in court documents was from June 2007.
Here's Alex Acosta, who is getting pretty good at the soundbite:
At a news conference, U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta said that quality control is one reason the government wants to know the manufacturer and origin of ammunition.
He said Diveroli's company "intentionally cut corners" and that it was "risking the lives of our troops and allies." He also said that the ammunition was "old" but did not say when it was manufactured. He said the defendants could face more than ten years in prison if convicted.
Defense lawyer Howard Srebnick (he is co-counsel with Hy Shapiro) responds:
Diveroli's attorney, Howard Srebnick, said in an e-mail that the government has "misconstrued" the law his client is accused of breaking. He said the government knew Diveroli bought the ammunition from the Albanian government and that it was made in China before a munitions embargo.
If you are looking for some time to kill on Monday morning, check out EW's top 100 movies, TV shows, books, videogames, tech, (and others) of the past 25 years here. Pulp Fiction is a fair choice for #1, but my top TV show is Seinfeld. As for video games, I agree with Tetris, but you gotta move Tecmo Bowl way up...
The SDFLA Blog is dedicated to providing news and notes regarding federal practice in the Southern District of Florida. The New Times calls the blog "the definitive source on South Florida's federal court system." All tips on court happenings are welcome and will remain anonymous. Please email David Markus at dmarkus@markuslaw.com
11 comments:
Hawaiian Shirt (red). Shorts (blue) Tequilla (gold). And flip flops.
I never liked the movie Pulp Fiction
but I like Seinfeld.
I may be mistaken, but I thought there was a S.D. Fla. Rule that limited what attorneys could say to the press about ongoing prosecutions. Putting aside the First Amendment, I wonder if Mr. Acosta abides by the rule in his constant post-indictment press conference. The guy seems to like the camera too much. JMO.
9:40, newbie you shouldn't be in this forum, you may hurt yourself thinking.
1:32, good point. The guy does like the camera.
Ok, I went and checked; it is Local Rule 77.2(A)(3). Mr. Acosta should read it.
The guy's looking for a job. Give him a break.
Ya all assume too much. First that he knows there are local rules, and second, that he can read. Nice guy, but...
Rumpole, I don't think you were there...
On a separate note, what do we do about all these anonymous haters in the comments? Hating is so unbecoming!
I think most of them are in good fun, so I leave them.... Thoughts?
Davey-Boy there are no haters! We banter back and forth it's what classy lawyers like us do.
This is what happens when I don't read your blog on a daily basis – I end up leaving a late comment.
In any event, I do agree that it is definitely a high profile case, and I truly hope that the media refrains from turning this into a circus, although, I do think it's far too much to hope for ... Especially after reading Jay Weaver's article last Friday, he is usually quite fair and informative, but it appears that he did not have sufficient material to write about – since he opted to regurgitate what the online blogs have generated about Mr. Diveroli’s myspace. I don't see how his myspace (which is not active) is relevant to his case, if anything, he was nineteen year’s old in 2005 – what nineteen year old doesn’t have a myspace/facebook?
Anyhow, he is very fortunate to have the most exceptional defense team on his side ... Howard Srebnick is AMAZING!
8:26, Valentina? Yet another lawyer crushing on the sweet princess?
BTW, excellent comment!
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