Securities and Exchange Commission v. Bhardwaj et al

Filing 101

FINAL JUDGMENT AS TO DEFENDANT RAMESH CHITOR. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that Defendant is permanently restrained and enjoined from violating, directly or indirectly, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Excha nge Act) [15 U.S.C. § 78j(b)] and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder [17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5], by using any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce, or of the mails, or of any facility of any national securities exchange, in connec tion with the purchase or sale of any security: (a) to employ any device, scheme, or artifice to defraud; (b) to make any untrue statement of a material fact or to omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading and as further set forth in this Judgment. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that, pursuant to Section 21(d)(2) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78u(d)(2)], Defen dant is prohibited, for seven years and six months following the date of entry of this Final Judgment, from acting as an officer or director of any issuer that has a class of securities registered pursuant to Section 12 of the Exchange Act [15 U.S .C. § 78l] or that is required to file reports pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78o(d)]. IT IS HEREBY FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that Defendant is liable for disgorgement of $1,244,801, represent ing his ill-gotten gains as a result of the conduct alleged in the Complaint, together with prejudgment interest in the amount of $24,941, for a total of $1,269,742. The obligation to pay this amount of disgorgement and prejudgment inter est is deemed satisfied by entry of the order of forfeiture against Defendant in the related criminal case, United States v. Chitor, 22 Cr. 370 (LGS) (S.D.N.Y.) (Dkt. No. 22). IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that this Court shall retai n jurisdiction of this matter for the purposes of enforcing the terms of this Final Judgment. There being no just reason for delay, pursuant to Rule 54(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Clerk is ordered to enter this Final Judgment forthwith and without further notice. (Signed by Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr on 9/24/24) (yv)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, Plaintiff, -againstAMIT BHARDWAJ, DHIRENKUMAR PATEL, SRINIVASA KAKKERA, ABBAS SAEEDI, and RAMESH CHITOR, 1:22-cv-06277 (ALC) Defendants. [PROPOSED] FINAL JUDGMENT AS TO DEFENDANT RAMESH CHITOR The Securities and Exchange Commission having filed a Complaint and Defendant Ramesh Chitor (“Defendant”) having entered a general appearance; consented to the Court’s jurisdiction over Defendant and the subject matter of this action; consented to entry of this Final Judgment; waived findings of fact and conclusions of law; and waived any right to appeal from this Final Judgment: I. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that Defendant is permanently restrained and enjoined from violating, directly or indirectly, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) [15 U.S.C. § 78j(b)] and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder [17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5], by using any means or instrumentality of 1 interstate commerce, or of the mails, or of any facility of any national securities exchange, in connection with the purchase or sale of any security: (a) to employ any device, scheme, or artifice to defraud; (b) to make any untrue statement of a material fact or to omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; or (c) to engage in any act, practice, or course of business which operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon any person. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that, as provided in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(d)(2), the foregoing paragraph also binds the following who receive actual notice of this Final Judgment by personal service or otherwise: (a) Defendant’s officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys; and (b) other persons in active concert or participation with Defendant or with anyone described in (a). II. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that, pursuant to Section 21(d)(2) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78u(d)(2)], Defendant is prohibited, for seven years and six months following the date of entry of this Final Judgment, from acting as an officer or director of any issuer that has a class of securities registered pursuant to Section 12 of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78l] or that is required to file reports pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78o(d)]. III. IT IS HEREBY FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that Defendant is liable for disgorgement of $1,244,801, representing his ill-gotten gains as a result of the 2 conduct alleged in the Complaint, together with prejudgment interest in the amount of $24,941, for a total of $1,269,742. The obligation to pay this amount of disgorgement and prejudgment interest is deemed satisfied by entry of the order of forfeiture against Defendant in the related criminal case, United States v. Chitor, 22 Cr. 370 (LGS) (S.D.N.Y.) (Dkt. No. 22). IV. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the Consent is incorporated herein with the same force and effect as if fully set forth herein, and that Defendant shall comply with all of the undertakings and agreements set forth therein. V. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that, for purposes of exceptions to discharge set forth in Section 523 of the Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. § 523, the allegations in the complaint are true and admitted by Defendant, and further, any debt for disgorgement, prejudgment interest, civil penalty or other amounts due by Defendant under this Final Judgment or any other judgment, order, consent order, decree or settlement agreement entered in connection with this proceeding, is a debt for the violation by Defendant of the federal securities laws or any regulation or order issued under such laws, as set forth in Section 523(a)(19) of the Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(19). VI. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that this Court shall retain jurisdiction of this matter for the purposes of enforcing the terms of this Final Judgment. 3 VII. There being no just reason for delay, pursuant to Rule 54(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Clerk is ordered to enter this Final Judgment forthwith and without further notice. September 24 2024 Dated: ______________, ____________________________________ UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE Andrew L. Carter, Jr. 4 EXHIBIT A 1 M771CHIP 2 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK ------------------------------x 3 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 1 4 v. 5 RAMESH CHITOR, 6 Defendant. ------------------------------x 7 July 7, 2022 3:37 p.m. 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Plea (Remote) Before: HON. LORNA G. SCHOFIELD, District Judge APPEARANCES DAMIAN WILLIAMS United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York BY: RICHARD A. COOPER, ESQ. Assistant United States Attorney TILEM & ASSOCIATES PC Attorneys for Defendant BY: PETER H. TILEM, ESQ. ROBERT M. SCHECHTER, ESQ. ALSO PRESENT: VIOSANNY HARRISON, Pretrial Services Officer ALSO PRESENT: JORDAN AVERY, Special Agent, FBI 22 23 24 25 SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 2 M771CHIP 1 (Case called) 2 THE DEPUTY CLERK: 3 Would counsel please state your name for the record. 4 MR. COOPER: Yes. Good afternoon, your Honor. 5 Richard Cooper for the government. Also on the line is Special 6 Agent Jordan Avery from the FBI. 7 THE COURT: 8 MR. TILEM: All right. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, your Honor. On behalf of 9 Mr. Chitor, Peter Tilem, T-I-L-E-M, Tilem & Associates, and 10 with me in the room but not on the screen is my associate 11 Robert Schechter. 12 THE COURT: 13 MR. TILEM: 14 MS. HARRISON: All right. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, your Honor. Pretrial 15 officer Viosanny Harrison from pretrial on the line, your 16 Honor. 17 THE COURT: 18 THE DEFENDANT: 19 Okay. Thank you for joining us. Good afternoon, your Honor. Ramesh Chitor. 20 THE COURT: 21 So Mr. Tilem, I understand you have an application 22 Okay. Good afternoon, Mr. Chitor. today? 23 MR. TILEM: 24 THE COURT: 25 MR. TILEM: I do, your Honor. And what is it? My application is to change -- my client SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 3 M771CHIP 1 has agreed to actually proceed by information and he wishes to 2 enter a plea of guilty today to an information that's before 3 the Court. 4 THE COURT: All right. So before we do that, 5 Mr. Chitor, there are a few preliminary things I need to deal 6 with. 7 First, obviously, we're proceeding by videoconference, 8 and I myself am outside the district. So I want to be sure 9 that you can see and hear me. Can you? 10 THE DEFENDANT: 11 THE COURT: I can see and hear you. Thank you. All right. If at any point in the 12 proceedings you're unable to see or hear me or anyone else who 13 you should be able to see, would you please let us know right 14 away so that we can fix that. 15 THE DEFENDANT: 16 THE COURT: Will do, and thank you again. Okay. You have the right to be physically 17 present for this proceeding. I have an email from your lawyer 18 requesting that we proceed remotely. I want to confirm with 19 you that you waive your right to be physically present and that 20 you'd like us to proceed in this way. 21 THE DEFENDANT: 22 THE COURT: Yes, ma'am. I find that the proceeding cannot be 23 further delayed without serious harm to the interests of 24 justice because Mr. Chitor is located in California. I think 25 that's right. Are you in California? SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 4 M771CHIP 1 THE DEFENDANT: 2 THE COURT: Yes, ma'am, that is correct. All right. And he and the government wish 3 for him to proceed with his guilty plea expeditiously so that 4 he can take responsibility and move on with the next chapter of 5 his life, and we're still in the midst of a coronavirus 6 pandemic, which makes travel challenging. So we'll proceed 7 here by videoconference. 8 Mr. Chitor, I understand from your lawyer that you 9 wish to waive indictment and plead guilty to an information, 10 which contains four counts; is that right? 11 THE DEFENDANT: 12 THE COURT: That is correct, your Honor. Before I do that, I'm going to ask you 13 some questions, and it's important that you answer the 14 questions honestly and completely. The purpose of the 15 questions is to make sure you understand your rights and that 16 you are waiving indictment and pleading guilty of your own free 17 will, and I also want to be sure that you're pleading guilty 18 because you are guilty and that you fully understand what will 19 happen as a result of your plea. Also, it's important that you 20 understand every question before you answer it, so please tell 21 me if there's anything you don't understand and either I or 22 your lawyer will explain it to you. 23 24 25 Before we do that, I'd like Mr. Street, my deputy clerk, to administer the oath to the defendant. (Defendant sworn) SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 5 M771CHIP 1 THE COURT: Okay. Mr. Chitor, do you understand that 2 you're now under oath and that if you answer my questions 3 falsely, your untrue answers may be used against you later in 4 another proceeding, for example, a prosecution for perjury or 5 for making false statements? 6 THE DEFENDANT: 7 THE COURT: 8 All right. So first of all, please tell me your full name. 9 THE DEFENDANT: 10 THE COURT: 11 THE DEFENDANT: 12 THE COURT: 13 THE DEFENDANT: 14 THE COURT: 15 Ramesh Venkat Chitor. How old are you? I am 45 years and two months old. How far did you go in school? A master's in business. And where did you get your master's degree? 16 17 I understand, your Honor. THE DEFENDANT: California State University, Hayward, East Bay. 18 THE COURT: 19 THE DEFENDANT: 20 THE COURT: And how long ago was that? That was in the year 2005. Mr. Chitor, are you now or have you 21 recently been under the care or treatment of a doctor or a 22 psychiatrist? 23 THE DEFENDANT: 24 THE COURT: 25 No, your Honor. And have you ever been treated or hospitalized for any mental illness or any type of addiction, SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 6 M771CHIP 1 including drug or alcohol addiction? 2 THE DEFENDANT: 3 THE COURT: 4 No, your Honor. In the past 24 hours have you taken any drugs or medicine or pills or drunk any alcohol? 5 THE DEFENDANT: 6 THE COURT: 7 THE DEFENDANT: 8 THE COURT: 9 THE DEFENDANT: 10 THE COURT: No, your Honor. And is your mind clear today? Yes, your Honor. Do you understand what we're doing? Yes, your Honor. Okay. Let me ask Mr. Tilem first, do you 11 have any doubt as to Mr. Chitor's competence to enter a plea 12 today? 13 MR. TILEM: 14 THE COURT: 15 MR. COOPER: 16 I do not, your Honor. Mr. Cooper, do you? I do not. Although one procedural point, your Honor. 17 THE COURT: 18 MR. COOPER: Yes. This is Mr. Chitor's first judicial 19 appearance, so I wasn't sure the order that the Court was going 20 to proceed, but it may also make sense to provide Mr. Chitor 21 with the Rule 5 cautions before proceeding further, including 22 his right not to make a statement and any statement may be used 23 against him. 24 25 THE COURT: Okay. Give me a second. I'm just going to excuse myself for a minute and get another piece of paper or SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 7 M771CHIP 1 another thing on my screen and I'll join you in just one sec, 2 okay? 3 MR. COOPER: 4 (Pause) 5 THE COURT: 6 Thank you, your Honor. All right. So I want to be sure you can hear me. I'm not sure if you can see me. Can you hear me? 7 THE DEFENDANT: 8 THE COURT: I can hear and see you, your Honor. All right. So since this is your first 9 appearance in court, one of the things I need to do is inform 10 you of certain rights you have, and the first is -- I'll tell 11 you all of them, make sure you understand. You have the right 12 to remain silent, and you're not required to make any 13 statements; second, even if you have made any statements to the 14 authorities, you need not make any further statements; and 15 finally, anything you say can be used against you. Do you 16 understand that those are your rights? 17 THE DEFENDANT: 18 THE COURT: 19 THE DEFENDANT: 20 THE COURT: I do, your Honor. Okay. Do you still want to proceed today? Yes, your Honor. All right. And I understand you have your 21 counsel here for you, Mr. Tilem. Are you satisfied with his 22 representation of you? 23 THE DEFENDANT: 24 THE COURT: 25 Very satisfied, yes. Thank you. All right. And one of the other things I need to do is inform you of the charges against you. We'll SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 8 M771CHIP 1 actually discuss them in a greater amount of detail, but you 2 understand that you are charged in a document called an 3 information and that there are four separate charges in that 4 document? Do you understand that? 5 THE DEFENDANT: 6 THE COURT: I do, your Honor. All right. So why don't we then proceed 7 and let me make my finding that on the basis of Mr. Chitor's 8 responses to my questions and my observations of his demeanor, 9 I find that he's fully competent to participate in our 10 proceedings today. 11 So the first matter that I'd like to deal with, now 12 that we have covered the preliminary matters, is the waiver of 13 indictment. I want to explain to you certain rights that 14 you'll be giving up if you decide to proceed by information—in 15 other words, this document that has been produced by the 16 prosecutor with charges—instead of proceeding by an indictment, 17 which is returned by a grand jury. So what I'm going to do now 18 is explain to you various rights, and if at any point you don't 19 understand, just stop me and I'll explain, okay? 20 You have a constitutional right to be charged by 21 indictment, presented by a grand jury, but you can waive that 22 right and consent to being charged by a document called an 23 information returned by the prosecutor. Instead of an 24 indictment, the charge against you in the information has been 25 brought by the prosecutor in the document called the SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 9 M771CHIP 1 information. Have you had a chance to look at the information? 2 THE DEFENDANT: 3 THE COURT: Yes, your Honor. Unless you waive indictment, you may not 4 be charged with a felony unless a grand jury finds that there 5 was probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed 6 and that you committed it. If you do not waive indictment, the 7 government may present the case to a grand jury and ask the 8 grand jury to indict you. A grand jury consists of at least 16 9 and not more than 23 people, and at least 12 grand jurors must 10 find that there is probable cause to believe that you committed 11 the crime with which you're charged before you may be indicted. 12 And the grand jury might or might not indict you. But if you 13 waive indictment by the grand jury, the case will proceed 14 against you on the prosecutor's information just as though you 15 had been indicted. Do you understand all that I just told you? 16 17 THE DEFENDANT: Thank you, your Honor. 18 19 THE COURT: And have you discussed waiving your right to indictment by the grand jury with your lawyer? 20 THE DEFENDANT: 21 THE COURT: 22 Yes, your Honor. Have any threats or promises been made to you to induce you to waive your right to indictment? 23 THE DEFENDANT: 24 THE COURT: 25 I do. I do, and I appreciate it. Absolutely none. And do you wish to waive indictment by a grand jury? SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 10 M771CHIP 1 THE DEFENDANT: 2 THE COURT: Yes, your Honor. And let me ask Mr. Tilem, is there any 3 reason that Mr. Chitor should not be permitted to waive 4 indictment? 5 MR. TILEM: 6 THE COURT: None that I'm aware of, your Honor. And are you satisfied that his waiver is 7 knowing, voluntary, and intelligent? 8 MR. TILEM: 9 THE COURT: I am, your Honor. All right. And I've been given a waiver 10 of indictment form that appears to have been signed by you, 11 Mr. Chitor. Did you sign a waiver of indictment form? 12 THE DEFENDANT: 13 THE COURT: 14 Yes, your Honor. And did you read the document before you signed it? 15 THE DEFENDANT: 16 THE COURT: Yes, your Honor. Based on everything you've said to me, I 17 find that you, Mr. Chitor, are fully competent and aware of the 18 nature of your right to require the government to proceed by 19 way of an indictment, I find that your waiver of indictment is 20 freely, intelligently, and voluntarily made, and therefore the 21 waiver is accepted and so ordered. 22 So with that finished, I would now like to turn to the 23 issue of a guilty plea. And similarly, I'm going to explain 24 some rights to you. You'll be giving up those rights if you 25 decide to plead guilty. Again, please stop me if there's SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 11 M771CHIP 1 anything you don't understand, or if you want to ask about it. 2 If you pleaded not guilty, you would be entitled to a 3 speedy and public trial before a jury of 12 people. Do you 4 understand that? 5 THE DEFENDANT: 6 THE COURT: I do, your Honor. And if there were a trial, you would be 7 presumed innocent and the government would be required to prove 8 your guilt by competent evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. 9 You would not have to prove that you were innocent if you went 10 to trial. 11 If there were a jury trial, you could not be convicted 12 unless a jury of 12 people all agreed that you were guilty 13 beyond a reasonable doubt. 14 You'd have the right to be represented by an attorney 15 throughout all the proceedings, including trial, if there is 16 one, and if you could not afford an attorney, one would be 17 provided for you free of cost. 18 If there were a trial, you would have the right to see 19 and hear all of the witnesses against you, and your attorney 20 could cross-examine them. You'd have the right to have your 21 attorney object to the government's evidence and to offer 22 evidence on your own behalf if you wanted. And you'd have the 23 right to have subpoenas issued or other process used to compel 24 witnesses to come to court and testify in your defense. 25 If there were a trial, you would have the right to SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 12 M771CHIP 1 testify if you wanted, but no one could force you to testify if 2 you did not want to, and no inference or suggestion of guilt 3 could be drawn if you chose not to testify at trial. But if 4 you do plead guilty and I accept your plea, you'll be giving up 5 your right to trial and all the other related rights that I 6 just explained. If you plead guilty, there will be no trial, 7 and I will enter a judgment of guilty and sentence you on 8 another day. 9 Finally, if you plead guilty, you'll be giving up your 10 right not to incriminate yourself and I'll ask you questions 11 today about what you did in order to satisfy myself that you're 12 guilty as charged. 13 14 Do you understand the rights that I've just explained to you? 15 THE DEFENDANT: 16 THE COURT: I do, your Honor. And even now you have the right to change 17 your mind; you're entitled to plead not guilty and go to trial. 18 Do you understand that? 19 THE DEFENDANT: 20 THE COURT: 21 22 23 Yes, your Honor. Okay. So now I'd like to review the charges and penalties. You told me that you had received a copy of the information. Did you read it and review it with your lawyer? 24 THE DEFENDANT: 25 THE COURT: Yes, your Honor, I did. Do you understand that you're charged with SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 13 M771CHIP 1 four counts—one for conspiracy to commit securities fraud; two, 2 conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud; three, 3 securities fraud; and four, making false statements? 4 THE DEFENDANT: 5 THE COURT: Yes, your Honor. Okay. So now I'm going to ask Mr. Cooper, 6 and why don't we take each charge separately, unless you have 7 prepared yourself in a different way. So let's begin with 8 Count One. Could you explain to us what the elements of that 9 offense are. 10 MR. COOPER: Yes, your Honor. Count One charges 11 conspiracy to commit securities fraud, in violation of Title 18 12 U.S. Code Section 371. There are three elements to that 13 charge: 14 First, that the charged conspiracy existed; 15 Second, that the defendant intentionally joined and 16 participated in the conspiracy during the applicable time 17 period; and 18 19 20 Third, that at least one of the co-conspirators committed an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy. The object of the conspiracy in Count One is 21 securities fraud, in violation of Title 15 U.S. Code Sections 22 78j(b) and 78ff, and Title 17 of the Code of Federal 23 Regulations, Section 240.10b-5. That offense has the following 24 three elements: 25 First, that in connection with a purchase or sale of SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 14 M771CHIP 1 securities, the defendant employed a device, scheme, or 2 artifice to defraud, or engaged in an act, practice, or course 3 of business that operated or would operate as fraud or deceit 4 upon a purchaser or seller of the specified security; 5 Second, that when he engaged in this scheme, the 6 defendant acted knowingly, wilfully, and with an intent to 7 defraud; and 8 Third, that in furtherance of the scheme, there 9 occurred at least one use of any means or instrument of 10 transportation or communication in interstate commerce, or the 11 use of the mails, or the use of any facility of any national 12 securities exchange. 13 THE COURT: Okay. So do you understand that if you 14 did not plead guilty to Count One, the government would have to 15 prove each and every element of the charge beyond a reasonable 16 doubt at trial? 17 THE DEFENDANT: 18 THE COURT: I do understand, your Honor. And I want to be sure that you understand 19 the maximum penalty for Count One, which is five years' 20 imprisonment, a maximum term of supervised release of three 21 years, a maximum fine of the greater of $250,000, twice the 22 gross pecuniary gain derived from the offense, or twice the 23 gross pecuniary loss to a person other than yourself as a 24 result of the offense, plus a $100 mandatory special 25 assessment. Do you understand that's the maximum penalty for SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 15 M771CHIP 1 Count One? 2 THE DEFENDANT: 3 THE COURT: 4 I do, your Honor. Okay. Let's turn to Count Two. Mr. Cooper, could you tell us the elements for that count. 5 THE DEFENDANT: 6 Count Two charges conspiracy to commit securities Yes, your Honor. 7 fraud and wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S. Code 8 Section 1349. That offense has two elements: 9 First, that the charged conspiracy existed; and 10 Second, that the defendant intentionally joined and 11 participated in the conspiracy during the applicable time 12 period. 13 There are two objects of this conspiracy charged in 14 Count Two. First is securities fraud, in violation of 18 U.S. 15 Code Section 1348. That offense has the following three 16 elements: 17 First, that the defendant executed a scheme to defraud 18 a person or to obtain money or property by materially false or 19 fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises; 20 21 22 Second, that the defendant participated in the scheme knowingly, wilfully, and with an intent to defraud; and Third, that the scheme to defraud was connected to the 23 purchase or sale of stock in a company whose securities were 24 registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 25 1934 or was otherwise required to file reports under that act. SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 16 M771CHIP 1 The second object of the conspiracy charged in Count 2 Two was wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S. Code Section 1343. 3 There are three elements to that offense: 4 First, that there was a scheme or artifice to defraud 5 or to obtain money or property by materially false and 6 fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises; 7 Second, that the defendant knowingly and wilfully 8 participated in the scheme or artifice to defraud, with 9 knowledge of its fraudulent nature and with specific intent to 10 defraud; and 11 12 13 Third, that in execution of that scheme, the defendant used or caused the use of interstate or international wires. THE COURT: All right. And again, Mr. Chitor, do you 14 understand that if you did not plead guilty, the government 15 would have to prove each of those elements beyond a reasonable 16 doubt at trial? 17 THE DEFENDANT: 18 THE COURT: I do understand, your Honor. Okay. And let me explain the maximum 19 penalty for Count Two, which we've just heard about, and that 20 is 20 years' imprisonment, a maximum term of supervised release 21 of three years, a maximum fine of the greatest of $250,000 or 22 twice the gross pecuniary gain derived from the offense or 23 twice the gross pecuniary loss to someone other than yourself 24 as a result of the offense, plus there's a $100 mandatory 25 special assessment. SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 17 M771CHIP 1 Let's turn to Count Three. Mr. Cooper? 2 MR. COOPER: Yes. Count Three charges securities 3 fraud, in violation of 15 U.S. Code Section 78j(b) and 78ff and 4 17 Code of Federal Regulations Section 240.10b-5. This charge 5 has the same elements as the object of the securities fraud 6 conspiracy charged in Count One that I described a few moments 7 ago. Would the Court like me to repeat those? 8 THE COURT: I don't think it's necessary. Let me just 9 make sure that Mr. Chitor is comfortable having heard them 10 already. 11 THE DEFENDANT: 12 THE COURT: 13 14 I am, your Honor. I am comfortable. All right. So you don't have to repeat them, Mr. Cooper. So again, you understand that if you didn't plead 15 guilty, the government would have to prove those elements with 16 respect to Counts Three at trial? 17 THE DEFENDANT: 18 THE COURT: I do, your Honor. So the maximum penalty for Count Three is 19 20 years' imprisonment, a maximum term of supervised release of 20 three years, a maximum fine of the greatest of $5 million or 21 twice the gross pecuniary gain derived from the offense or 22 twice the gross pecuniary loss to someone other than yourself 23 from the offense, plus there's a $100 mandatory special 24 assessment. 25 Mr. Cooper, finally, can you tell us the elements of SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 18 M771CHIP 1 Count Four. 2 MR. COOPER: Yes. Count Four charges false 3 statements, in violation of Title 18 U.S. Code Section 1001. 4 The elements are as follows: 5 6 First, the defendant made a statement or representation; 7 8 Second, the statement was false, fictitious, or fraudulent; 9 Third, the statement or representation was material; 10 Fourth, the defendant acted knowingly and wilfully; 11 and 12 Fifth, the statement pertained to a matter within the 13 jurisdiction of the Executive Branch of the United States 14 government. 15 THE COURT: Okay. And you understand, Mr. Chitor, 16 that with respect to that count, like all the other ones, if 17 you did not plead guilty to it, the government would have to 18 prove each of those elements beyond a reasonable doubt at 19 trial? 20 THE DEFENDANT: 21 THE COURT: I do, your Honor. Okay. So the maximum penalty for Count 22 Four is five years' imprisonment, a maximum term of supervised 23 release of three years, a maximum fine of the greatest of 24 $250,000 or twice the gross pecuniary gain derived from the 25 offense or twice the gross pecuniary loss to someone other than SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 19 M771CHIP 1 yourself as a result of the offense, plus for this count as 2 well, there's a $100 mandatory special assessment. 3 So just to recap, in terms of the maximum penalty, you 4 would be pleading to four different counts of the information, 5 and you should understand that I will impose a separate 6 sentence on each count. Is that clear to you? 7 THE DEFENDANT: 8 THE COURT: Yes, your Honor. You should also understand that I may 9 order you to serve the sentence either concurrently, meaning 10 all the sentences at the same time, or consecutively, meaning 11 one after another, and that if I imposed consecutive sentences, 12 your maximum total sentence could be as much as 50 years. Do 13 you understand that? 14 THE DEFENDANT: 15 THE COURT: 16 So let me explain a little bit about supervised I do, your Honor. Okay. Now give me just a minute here. 17 release. And there is a maximum term of supervised release for 18 each of those counts of three years, and I would impose those 19 concurrently, and during that period you'd be subject to 20 monitoring after you're released from any term of imprisonment, 21 and there are rules that you'd have to follow, and if you 22 violated those rules, you could be sent to prison or returned 23 to prison without a jury trial to serve additional time even 24 beyond your original sentence, and if that happened, you would 25 not be given credit for time served in prison on any original SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 20 M771CHIP 1 sentence and no credit for any time spent on supervised 2 release. Do you understand that? 3 THE DEFENDANT: 4 THE COURT: I do, your Honor. So being on supervised release is a little 5 bit like being on parole, only it comes after any prison 6 sentence and there's no possibility of being released early. 7 In fact, you should understand that parole has been abolished 8 in the federal system and that if you were sentenced to prison, 9 you would not be released early on parole. Do you understand 10 that? 11 THE DEFENDANT: 12 THE COURT: 13 I do, your Honor. And I understand, Mr. Chitor, that you are a United States citizen; is that right? 14 THE DEFENDANT: 15 THE COURT: That is correct, your Honor. All right. So I won't discuss with you 16 the various immigration consequences that could occur as a 17 result of your pleading guilty. You should just know that if 18 you were not a citizen, that there would certainly be 19 consequences. 20 Your plea agreement also provides that you will make 21 restitution to any person injured as a result of your criminal 22 conduct in an amount to be specified by the Court. Do you 23 understand that? 24 THE DEFENDANT: 25 THE COURT: I do, your Honor. And your plea agreement also provides that SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 21 M771CHIP 1 you admit the forfeiture allegation for Counts One through 2 Three of the information and that you agree to forfeit to the 3 United States an amount of money equal to the proceeds 4 traceable to the offenses in Counts One, Two, and Three. Do 5 you understand that? 6 THE DEFENDANT: 7 THE COURT: I do, your Honor. And do you also understand that the 8 forfeiture amount that you would be required to pay is separate 9 from any fine or separate from any restitution order? 10 THE DEFENDANT: 11 THE COURT: 12 You should also understand that since you're a I do, your Honor. Okay. Give me just a second here. 13 citizen, you have various civil rights, but if I accept your 14 guilty plea and I adjudge you guilty, that may deprive you of 15 valuable civil rights, like the right to vote, the right to 16 hold public office, the right to serve on a jury, the right to 17 possess any kind of firearm, and the right to hold certain 18 professional licenses. Do you understand that? 19 THE DEFENDANT: 20 THE COURT: I understand that, your Honor. And have you talked to your lawyer about 21 the federal sentencing guidelines and how they apply to your 22 case? 23 THE DEFENDANT: 24 THE COURT: 25 In imposing sentence, I'm required to consider the Yes, your Honor, at length. Okay. Let me review some of that. SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 22 M771CHIP 1 recommendations of the sentencing guidelines. They're a set of 2 rules for determining an appropriate sentence. And I also have 3 to determine whether there should be any upward or downward 4 departure from the recommended guideline range. I must pay 5 attention to the guidelines in determining sentence, but in the 6 end, I'm required to impose a sentence that I believe has 7 satisfied the purposes of the criminal law based on various 8 factors that are set forth in a statute, even if the sentence 9 is higher or lower than what the guidelines recommend. Do you 10 understand that? 11 THE DEFENDANT: 12 THE COURT: I do, your Honor. And I won't be able to determine how the 13 guidelines apply to your case until much later, until after a 14 presentence report has been prepared by the probation office 15 and you and the government have had a chance to comment on it 16 or challenge it and after you have had a chance to do anything 17 else you intend to do in connection with the government. Do 18 you understand that? 19 THE DEFENDANT: 20 THE COURT: I do, your Honor. I do. So do you also understand that if 21 Mr. Tilem or anyone else has attempted to predict what your 22 sentence would be, they could be wrong? 23 THE DEFENDANT: 24 THE COURT: 25 I do. I do, your Honor. And the reason I'm telling you this is because you need to understand that no one can be sure right SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 23 M771CHIP 1 now what your sentence will be. Even I don't know what your 2 sentence will be. It will be my job to decide that, and I'm 3 not in a position to do it now. As I said before, I'll wait 4 until I get much more information, both from the lawyers as 5 well as the probation department in preparing the presentence 6 report. I'll also have to calculate the guidelines 7 recommendation, I'll have to consider whether there are any 8 grounds to depart from the range, consider all the factors in 9 the statute that I'm required to consider, so please understand 10 that no one can predict what your sentence will be. Do you 11 understand that? 12 THE DEFENDANT: 13 THE COURT: I do, your Honor. I really do. Okay. Do you also understand that even if 14 your sentence is different from what your attorney or anyone 15 else told you it might be, or if it's different from what you 16 expect it to be, do you understand that once you plead guilty, 17 you will not be allowed to withdraw your plea? 18 THE DEFENDANT: 19 THE COURT: Yes, I do, your Honor. I do. Has anyone threatened or coerced you in 20 any way or tried to force you to plead guilty? 21 THE DEFENDANT: 22 THE COURT: No, your Honor, no. And has anyone, other than the government 23 in the plea agreement, promised you or offered you anything in 24 order to get you to plead guilty? 25 THE DEFENDANT: No, your Honor. No. SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 24 M771CHIP 1 THE COURT: So I have a copy of the plea agreement. 2 It's a letter dated June 29, 2022, from the prosecutor to your 3 attorney, and it will be marked as a Court exhibit. Did you 4 sign the plea agreement? 5 THE DEFENDANT: 6 THE COURT: 7 THE DEFENDANT: 8 THE COURT: 9 And did you read it before signing it? you signed it? THE DEFENDANT: 11 THE COURT: 12 THE DEFENDANT: 13 THE COURT: Yes, your Honor. And did you discuss every aspect of it? Yes, your Honor. And do you understand the agreement now and did you understand it when you signed it? 15 THE DEFENDANT: 16 THE COURT: 17 Yes, your Honor. Did you discuss it with your lawyer before 10 14 Yes, your Honor. Both, yes, your Honor. Okay. Is the plea agreement the entire agreement between you and the government? 18 THE DEFENDANT: 19 THE COURT: No. There's more to that. Okay. I actually don't think so. I think 20 that the plea agreement is the entire agreement between you and 21 the government at this point. But let me ask Mr. Cooper. 22 MR. COOPER: Your Honor, the plea agreement is the 23 entire agreement between the government and Mr. Chitor, but 24 perhaps the Court can also confirm that with Mr. Tilem and 25 Mr. Chitor. SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 25 M771CHIP 1 THE COURT: 2 MR. COOPER: 3 THE COURT: I will, of course. Thank you. Okay. It may be that there is some 4 misunderstanding on Mr. Chitor's part, so -- 5 THE DEFENDANT: Thank you. I can defer to Mr. Tilem. 6 I was thinking about the other agreement as well, but it's just 7 the plea. It's the same plea agreement. I defer to my defense 8 counsel. 9 THE COURT: You're right. There is a bail agreement 10 and there is I believe a sealing agreement, but let me just ask 11 Mr. Tilem. 12 MR. TILEM: Your Honor, it is my understanding that 13 this is the only agreement, that the plea agreement is the only 14 agreement between the government and Mr. Chitor, and the 15 agreement, the plea agreement that was signed by me and -- both 16 Mr. Chitor and myself indicates that it's the only agreement 17 between the parties. 18 THE COURT: All right. So Mr. Chitor, I want to be 19 sure you understand now that the plea agreement is the only 20 agreement between you and the government. Is that clear? 21 22 23 24 25 THE DEFENDANT: It is clear, your Honor. Thank you for that. I really appreciate it. THE COURT: Sure. Has anyone threatened or coerced you or forced you to enter into the plea agreement? THE DEFENDANT: No, your Honor, not at all. SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 26 M771CHIP 1 THE COURT: And other than what is contained in the 2 plea agreement, has anyone promised you anything or offered you 3 any inducement to plead guilty or to enter into the plea 4 agreement? 5 THE DEFENDANT: 6 THE COURT: 7 No, your Honor. It's all -- And has anyone made a promise to you as to what your sentence would be? 8 THE DEFENDANT: 9 THE COURT: No, your Honor. Okay. Now do you also understand that the 10 government could make a motion before your sentencing, called a 11 5K motion, that could influence me to give you a lower sentence 12 in light of your cooperation with the government? Do you 13 understand that that's a possibility? 14 THE DEFENDANT: 15 THE COURT: I do understand, your Honor. And do you also understand that it's up to 16 the government and not to me to decide whether your cooperation 17 has been good enough and productive enough to warrant the 18 government making that motion? 19 THE DEFENDANT: 20 THE COURT: I do understand, your Honor. And do you also understand that even if 21 the government decides to make the motion, it is still up to me 22 to decide whether to give you any credit for your cooperation 23 and how much? 24 THE DEFENDANT: 25 THE COURT: I do understand, your Honor. Do you also understand that under certain SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 27 M771CHIP 1 circumstances both you and the government have the right to 2 appeal any sentence that I might impose, subject to the terms 3 of the plea agreement? 4 THE DEFENDANT: 5 THE COURT: I do understand, your Honor. So in recap, have you clearly understood 6 everything so far that has happened today? 7 THE DEFENDANT: 8 THE COURT: Yes, your Honor. Thank you. And now that you've been advised of the 9 charges against you, the possible penalties you face, and the 10 rights you're giving up, is it still your wish to plead guilty 11 to Counts One, Two, Three, and Four of the information? 12 THE DEFENDANT: 13 THE COURT: Yes, your Honor. So I'd like to ask Mr. Cooper what the 14 government would expect to prove in this case if it went to 15 trial. 16 MR. COOPER: 17 If this case were to go to trial, the government would Yes, your Honor. 18 produce evidence, including materials obtained pursuant to a 19 judicially authorized search warrant on Mr. Chitor's telephone, 20 as well as electronic devices and electronic communications 21 accounts of co-conspirators, as well as trading records, 22 records of communications, and records of cell site locations 23 for Mr. Chitor and others. 24 THE COURT: 25 And in addition to telling me the types of evidence, could you summarize for me what that evidence would SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 28 M771CHIP 1 2 show. MR. COOPER: Yes, your Honor. The evidence would show 3 that Mr. Chitor participated in an insider trading conspiracy 4 pursuant to which he received material nonpublic information 5 about a planned acquisition of a company named NeoPhotonics by 6 another company named Lumentum; that at the time Mr. Chitor 7 understood that the information was material nonpublic 8 information, and that he provided a benefit to the source of 9 that information—namely, a promise to share in the proceeds of 10 insider trading. 11 In addition, the evidence would show that the FBI 12 conducted an interview of Mr. Chitor in or about March 2022 and 13 that Mr. Chitor also participated in meetings with the FBI and 14 representatives of the United States government, the United 15 States Attorney's Office, in or about April 2022, and that 16 during those meetings, on certain occasions, and about certain 17 issues, Mr. Chitor provided materially false information. 18 THE COURT: Okay. So Mr. Chitor, you understand, 19 we've been through all four counts, you've heard what the 20 government has said. First of all, let me ask you, with 21 respect to what the government just said that you did, is that 22 in substance true? 23 THE DEFENDANT: 24 THE COURT: 25 It is true, your Honor. Okay. So I'd like you to tell me in your own words what you did that makes you believe that you're SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 29 M771CHIP 1 guilty of the four crimes to which you're pleading guilty. 2 THE DEFENDANT: 3 In October of last year, October of 2021, an Yes, your Honor. 4 acquaintance of mine, Mr. Amit Bhardwaj, who had a very high 5 position in this publicly traded company called Lumentum, 6 proposed that I buy stock of this company called NeoPhotonics 7 in my account based upon inside information that he had that 8 Lumentum was about to acquire this company NeoPhotonics. 9 Mr. Bhardwaj also proposed that we split the profits 50/50, in 10 exchange for using my account and him providing the 11 information. 12 I then bought stock and also exchanged traded call 13 options in NeoPhotonics with the intent of making a large 14 profit after the acquisition would be announced. 15 In November 2021, the following month, immediately 16 after the Lumentum acquisition of NeoPhotonics, I sold my 17 position, making a large profit. I then arranged for money to 18 be given to a relative of Mr. Bhardwaj in India as his share of 19 the profits. We both downloaded the Signal messaging app so 20 that we could communicate about the trading and profit-sharing 21 and so that our activities would be harder to detect. 22 In March and April of this year, 2022, I was 23 questioned about these activities by the FBI, the U.S. 24 Attorney's Office, and others. I made materially false 25 statements to law enforcement in an attempt to cover up the SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 30 M771CHIP 1 full extent of my activities in regard to these trades and the 2 sharing of these profits. 3 I knew this was wrong and that this was illegal. 4 THE COURT: 5 Did anyone threaten or coerce or force you to do these 6 Okay. Thank you. things? 7 THE DEFENDANT: 8 THE COURT: 9 10 11 No, your Honor. Okay. Mr. Cooper, are there any additional questions that you want me to ask? MR. COOPER: There are not, your Honor, although if it's all right, I can make a proffer on venue for the Court. 12 THE COURT: 13 MR. COOPER: Okay. Go ahead. With respect to venue, if this case 14 proceeded to trial, government would establish venue by a 15 preponderance of the evidence. With respect to Counts One, 16 Two, and Three, the government would demonstrate that certain 17 executing brokers for certain of the stock purchases that the 18 defendant made in NeoPhotonics were based in the Southern 19 District of New York; and second, that the entity that provided 20 the clearing services for most of the transactions at issue was 21 located in part in the Southern District of New York. 22 With respect to the false statements charge, Count 23 Four, we would prove venue by the fact that the defendant was 24 aware that the investigation was being conducted out of the 25 Southern District of New York and that certain of the false SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 31 M771CHIP 1 statements were made while the defendant was physically present 2 in the Southern District of New York. 3 THE COURT: 4 And Mr. Cooper, do you believe there is a sufficient 5 Okay. Thank you. factual predicate for a guilty plea? 6 MR. COOPER: 7 THE COURT: 8 MR. TILEM: 9 THE COURT: 10 Yes, your Honor. And Mr. Tilem, do you agree? I do agree. And Mr. Tilem, are there any additional questions that you would like me to ask of your client? 11 MR. TILEM: 12 THE COURT: No, your Honor. Do you know of any valid defense that 13 would prevail at trial or any reason why your client should not 14 be permitted to plead guilty? 15 MR. TILEM: 16 THE COURT: I do not, your Honor. So Mr. Chitor, I will take your plea now. 17 How do you plead to the charge in Count One of the information, 18 guilty or not guilty? 19 THE DEFENDANT: 20 THE COURT: 21 THE DEFENDANT: 22 THE COURT: 23 THE DEFENDANT: 24 THE COURT: 25 THE DEFENDANT: Guilty, your Honor. And in Count Two, guilty or not guilty? Guilty, your Honor. Count Three, guilty or not guilty? Guilty, your Honor. And Count Four, guilty or not guilty? I plead guilty, your Honor. SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 32 M771CHIP 1 2 THE COURT: And are you in fact guilty of all of those charges? 3 THE DEFENDANT: 4 THE COURT: 5 Yes, I am, your Honor. Are you pleading guilty voluntarily and of your own free will? 6 THE DEFENDANT: 7 THE COURT: Voluntarily, yes, your Honor. Do you admit the forfeiture allegations in 8 the information which require you to forfeit property 9 representing the proceeds traceable to the commission of the 10 crimes charged in Counts One through Three? 11 THE DEFENDANT: 12 THE COURT: 13 THE DEFENDANT: 14 THE COURT: Yes, your Honor. Was that a yes? Yes. Yes, your Honor. So Mr. Chitor, on the basis of your 15 responses to my questions and my observations of your demeanor, 16 I am satisfied that you understand your rights and that you're 17 waiving them knowingly, voluntarily, with an understanding of 18 the consequences of your plea, including potential sentences 19 that might be imposed, that you're voluntarily pleading guilty, 20 that you've admitted you're guilty as charged in Counts One 21 through Four of the information, that your plea is supported by 22 an independent factual basis as to each and every element, and 23 accordingly, I accept your guilty plea and adjudge you guilty 24 on the charges in Counts One, Two, Three, and Four. 25 Mr. Cooper, what would you like to do about a SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 33 M771CHIP 1 2 sentencing date and the presentence report? MR. COOPER: Your Honor, with respect to the 3 presentencing report, we'd request that the Court defer that, 4 and when it comes time, when the defendant's cooperation 5 attempt has completed, we can advise the Court and request that 6 the Court order a PSR at that time. 7 With respect to a sentencing date, our suggestion is 8 that the Court set a control date for six months out, at which 9 time the government will advise the Court as to the status of 10 the defendant's cooperation and whether a further adjournment 11 is necessary. 12 THE COURT: 13 MR. TILEM: 14 15 Mr. Tilem, is that acceptable to you? Yes, your Honor. I join in both of those applications. THE COURT: All right. Well, let's do this instead. 16 What I will do is order a letter just prior to our control date 17 so that we know whether we're proceeding then rather than 18 having a conference, and I will require the letter -- why don't 19 I just put that in a written order, but I'll require the letter 20 sufficiently before the six-month date so there is time for -- 21 well, actually, let's not do that at all. Why don't we do 22 this: In six months, which would be January 7th, if you could 23 give me a letter by January 7th updating me on the status. If 24 Mr. Chitor's cooperation is complete at that time, I'll set a 25 schedule for the preparation of the presentence report and for SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 34 M771CHIP 1 the parties' submissions, and I will also set a sentencing 2 date. 3 Mr. Street informs me that the date should be 4 January 9th, because January 7th is a Saturday, so I'll amend 5 my direction to ask for a letter on January 9th, or by 6 January 9th. Does that work for everyone? Mr. Tilem first. 7 MR. TILEM: 8 THE COURT: 9 MR. COOPER: 10 THE COURT: 11 I received a letter from the government yesterday Yes, it does, your Honor. And Mr. Cooper? Yes, your Honor. So let's turn to the question of bail now. 12 explaining that the parties are jointly proposing certain bail 13 conditions. And the letter from the government -- let me just 14 confirm with Mr. Tilem that that is the case and that the 15 letter was accurate. 16 17 18 MR. TILEM: It is the case, your Honor, and the letter is accurate. THE COURT: So based on my review of the information, 19 the pretrial services report, the government's letter, 20 Mr. Tilem's concurrence, I will accept the recommendation. I 21 am satisfied that the proposed conditions will reasonably 22 assure Mr. Chitor's appearance and the safety of others in the 23 community, and that these are the least restrictive conditions 24 that will satisfy these purposes. 25 So Mr. Chitor, I'm releasing you subject to the SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 35 M771CHIP 1 following conditions of release, which are the proposed 2 conditions: 3 4 5 6 7 First, a $250,000 personal recognizance bond signed by you and secured by $40,000 in cash; A second requirement is that the bond be signed or cosigned by two financially responsible persons; Third condition is that travel be limited to the 8 Continental United States—in other words, you can't travel 9 outside the Continental United States; 10 Fourth, you must surrender all passports and travel 11 documents and not apply for any new ones in any country or to 12 any country; and 13 Finally, I will impose regular pretrial supervision. 14 Do you understand that if you fail to return to court 15 for sentencing on the date and time that will be set, there are 16 various consequences, none of them good? And I'll explain them 17 in a minute, but you understand that you have a legal 18 obligation to come back to court for your sentencing? 19 THE DEFENDANT: 20 THE COURT: I do, your Honor. So if you fail to return for sentencing: 21 first, a warrant could be issued for your arrest; second, you 22 would be guilty of a separate crime called bail jumping for 23 which you could be sentenced to imprisonment and a fine 24 separate and apart from and in addition to whatever sentence 25 you might receive for the crimes to which you've just pleaded SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 36 M771CHIP 1 guilty; and third, in addition, anyone who signed the bond with 2 you would be responsible for paying the full amount or the full 3 unsecured amount, and that is 210,000. 4 In addition, if you commit any offense while you're 5 released, you could be sentenced on that additional offense, in 6 addition to whatever sentence would normally be imposed, to an 7 additional term of imprisonment of not more than ten years if 8 it is a felony and not more than one year if it is a 9 misdemeanor. And that would follow, as I said, any other 10 sentence of imprisonment. Do you understand that? 11 THE DEFENDANT: 12 THE COURT: 13 I do, your Honor. Okay. That concludes everything I have on my agenda. Is there anything else, Mr. Cooper? 14 MR. COOPER: 15 One is, with respect to bail -- and I apologize, I did Yes, your Honor, two brief things. 16 not include this in the letter -- we would request that the 17 defendant be provided with one week to post the cash security 18 and also be given 30 days to obtain the two co-signers. 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 THE COURT: Okay. Mr. Tilem, any objection to those courses of action? MR. TILEM: I thought we had discussed two weeks to post the cash bail. MR. COOPER: No, that's right. And I apologize, your Honor. I couldn't read my handwriting. Mr. Tilem is correct. THE COURT: All right. So any objection, Mr. Tilem, SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 37 M771CHIP 1 to two weeks to provide the cash security and 30 days to obtain 2 co-signers? 3 MR. TILEM: 4 THE COURT: 5 And Mr. Cooper, you had another item? 6 MR. COOPER: No objection, your Honor. So I'll add those additional conditions. Yes, your Honor. We had submitted to the 7 Court a sealed application to seal the various documents with 8 respect to today's proceeding, including the transcript, and 9 also to provide for delayed docketing of this case, with 10 certain exceptions to the sealing. I'm happy to discuss that 11 if the Court has any questions. 12 THE COURT: 13 MR. TILEM: 14 15 16 17 18 Any objections, Mr. Tilem? No, your Honor. In fact, I would join in that application. THE COURT: All right. I have reviewed the application and I will grant the application. Could I make one request of you. Could I ask one of you to order the transcript and have it sent to us. 19 MR. COOPER: 20 THE COURT: 21 MR. TILEM: 22 Yes, your Honor. Okay. Is there anything else, Mr. Tilem? Not on behalf of the defendant, your Honor. Thank you. 23 THE COURT: 24 MR. COOPER: 25 THE COURT: Sure. Mr. Cooper, anything else? No. Thank you very much, your Honor. All right. Mr. Chitor, best of luck to SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 38 M771CHIP 1 you, and I will see you again at the time of sentencing, if not 2 before. 3 THE DEFENDANT: 4 THE COURT: 5 MR. TILEM: 6 Thank you, your Honor. We're adjourned. Thank you. o0o 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300

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