Boy george obsession trial

Weasel rarely lifted his head or his eyes but he was malleable and seemed eager to please. The product sold well and George rented another apartment as a mill. Five bundles, wrapped in newspaper, made a brick. Older women, often the mothers or grandmothers of workers, could stamp the bags with the Obsession logo from their own project apartments, while they baby-sat the children.

Six-O kept very good records. Sinbad stepped into a duplex and left through a rear exit with the money. Boy George had not cased the meeting point himself, but the problem was his. By the end of May, Sinbad was dead and Cong earned a full-time place as a son of bouncer. Hear Boy George brief him:. You say, Listen homie, I want to eat today. I want to ear right now. Pay up dude. When he arrived at 7 p. In other words, it was live. There were fights and there was flirting.

The seating arrangement was carefully planned, by location. There were lots of pictures taken — guys leaning forward, toasting, bloodshot eyes, abundant tables; groups of girls in off-the-shoulder taffeta swirls. All paid dearly for the pictures later, though, when federal prosecutors pinned enlarged reproductions of them on the courtroom bulletin boards for the Judge and jury to see. And like a little boy, Boy George had a Christmas wish: A half hour before the ship docked, he asked if he could visit the captain, and up he went.

He remembers crying for the dead cat. I tried to keep dogs, but they were always getting hit too. Indio learned a lot from George.

You got to be serious when you do things. You have to stop being a little faggot boy. Break it down. My own heart gets broken quick. But when it comes to heartbreaking matter, George knows how to deal with it professionally. He was the bravest in the family. He was the one who had the balls. Soon after, he was sent to the Pleasantville Diagnostic Center, where he spent three months, then to St.

The eight Cabrini kids all lived together in a one-family, brick-front corner home with four bedrooms, a lawn, fruit trees, skunks and racoons. They felt the normal pressure to assimilate, but, since all of them were poor, most of them withdrew from the New Rochelle kids instead. To play, he had to quit his nighttime job stocking shelves at a nearby Shopwell.

The police caught up with George at the local pawnshop. George never forgot that his friends were his friends. George says that Cabrini made him into a man. I got hip to everything that I would need to get hip to and I started analyzing and analyzing. They drove to the restaurant in a brand-new Mercedes. He was a flashy guy. He had class — unfortunately, the wrong kind of class. He knew how to present himself to talk to people of a higher stature and knew when people were playing a con game on him.

George kept in touch with Al Bowman, too. It was in the things he asked for. It would be this way: Can you get me a gun? Things like that. He was into petty stuff. Then finally he hooked into something, and from there … Well. You watch someone you care for get caught up in a whirlwind and all you can do is say, Take care, man. Insulate yourself. We would request that the Court have Cebollero sequestered from the court room pursuant to Rule 15 of the Federal Rules of Evidence so as to prevent him from hearing the testimony of the other witnesses.

Alternatively, we request that Cebollero be precluded from sitting at the government counsel table and be placed at the rear of the courtroom and replaced at counsel table by the other agent. It is our contention that Cebollero's presence at the government table, coupled with the fact that he will be testifying for the government at various points during the trial, will have the effect of prejudicing the jury with respect to its perception of Cebollero's role in the prosecution of the instant matter as well as its evaluation of his credibility.

In a conference the same day, Judge Kram declined to preclude Cebollero from sitting at the counsel table, but stated that she would provide a limiting instruction to the jury concerning the matter. The government disclosed during the conference that Helbock, as well as Cebollero, would testify at trial. Rivera argues on appeal that the presence in the courtroom during trial of two agent-witnesses was reversible error as a violation of Fed. At the request of a party the court shall order witnesses excluded so that they cannot hear the testimony of other witnesses, and it may make the order of its own motion.

This rule does not authorize exclusion of 1 a party who is a natural person, or 2 an officer or employee of a party which is not a natural person designated as its representative by its attorney, or 3 a person whose presence is shown by a party to be essential to the presentation of the party's cause. While the district court made no specific reference to Rule in refusing Rivera's request to exclude Cebollero, the refusal was fully justified under the exemptions provided therein.

It is within a trial court's discretion to exempt the government's chief investigative agent from sequestration, United States v. Pellegrino, F. See, e. Pulley, F. Accordingly, we conclude that the trial court properly allowed Cebollero to remain in the courtroom during trial. Rivera cites authority for the proposition that only a single case agent may be exempted under 2 from a request for exclusion of witnesses. See id.

Kosko, F. Farnham, F. That issue does not arise, however, in the instant case. Rule operates " [a]t the request of a party" or when the court "make [s] the order of its own motion. The only request for witness exclusion was directed solely and specifically at Cebollero. As we concluded above, he was properly exempted from exclusion, and was the only witness exempted under any provision of Rule Further, the letter seeking sequestration of Cebollero explicitly revealed Rivera's knowledge that the government intended to have both Cebollero and Helbock assisting in the courtroom throughout the trial, and the government made clear in the simultaneous conference concerning this issue that both would be witnesses.

If a request to exclude Helbock, or to allow only one of the detectives to be present in the courtroom, had been made, the government could have attempted to exempt Helbock from exclusion under Rule 3 as "a person whose presence is shown by a party to be essential to the presentation of the party's cause.

Alvarado, F. Unit A June same. Rivera contends that the government failed to meet its "burden" on this issue. Because no pertinent request was ever made, however, no showing by the government was necessary.

The government contends that because this issue is raised for the first time on appeal, Rivera could obtain relief only if he could demonstrate "plain error [ ] or [a] defect [ ] affecting substantial rights" within the meaning of Fed. This is clearly correct, and we note that even when a proper request has been made and a trial court has erred by allowing the presence of two agents in the courtroom, courts have ruled that not even Rule 52 a harmless error, much less Rule 52 b plain error, occurred.

See Pulley, F. In any event, because of the absence of any request by the defense directed to the presence of two agents during trial, no error of any description is presented by this record. Delgado contends that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction for conspiracy to distribute heroin and that the government impermissibly changed its theory as to his criminal behavior during trial from regarding Delgado as a manager of a street spot to portraying him as merely a worker in the conspiracy.

Nusraty, F. Cervone, F. In reviewing sufficiency claims, we "view the evidence in the light most favorable to the government and construe all possible inferences in its favor. Badalamenti, F. Chang An-Lo, F. Grubczak, F. In addition, " [t]he government is not required 'to preclude every reasonable hypothesis which is consistent with innocence.

Puzzo, F. Thus, " ' [i]f "any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime," the conviction must stand. Virginia, U. Further, " [s]ince 'conspiracy by its very nature is a secretive operation,' the elements of a conspiracy may be established through circumstantial evidence.

Provenzano, F. Rubin, F. Wardy, F. Finally, " ' [o]nce a conspiracy is shown to exist, the "evidence sufficient to link another defendant to it need not be overwhelming. Tutino, F. Ciambrone, F. Viewed in light of these standards, the evidence sufficiently linked Delgado to the heroin conspiracy. Gautier testified that Delgado was a worker and later the main assistant to Cruz at the th St. Johnson testified that he was introduced to Delgado at the Christmas party as one of the people running the th St.

Photographs from the Christmas party show Delgado and Cruz sitting together at the th St. Police officers testified regarding three separate occasions, on September 5, , October 25, , and January 5, , on which Delgado was arrested in connection with heroin transactions near th Street and Courtlandt Avenue. The arresting officer on October 25, testified that the heroin seized on that occasion was contained in glassine envelopes bearing the "Obsession" logo. In sum, the evidence easily sufficed to support the jury's verdict as to Delgado.

Delgado also argues that the government improperly changed the theory of its case against him, first contending that he was a "manager" of East th St. The indictment alleged that Delgado "worked at the store located in the vicinity of th Street and Courtlandt Avenue. In its main summation, the government explained participation in a conspiracy as follows:.

The question is whether or not you were on the team, not whether you are a starter or a star. If someone joins a conspiracy, if they are a minor It's just like a roster for a baseball team, you are on the list or you are not The government emphasized this point specifically with respect to Delgado, stating that "you don't have to make a fortune, you don't have to have fancy cars, if you join the team you are responsible. At the same time that he made the quoted reference to Delgado, however, the prosecutor also referred to Delgado as "more the street manager than the owner," consistent with the government's opening statement.

In its rebuttal summation, as well, the government asserted "that the proof shows that Delgado was a street manager. Several defendants-appellants contend that the sentences imposed upon them were improper. Before turning to their specific claims, we note several generally applicable principles.

It is settled that "disputed sentencing factors need only be proved by a preponderance of the evidence. Rodriguez-Gonzalez, F. Guerra, F. In reviewing a sentence imposed under the Sentencing Guidelines, we must "accept the findings of fact of the district court unless they are clearly erroneous and Thus, " [w]e will not overturn the [district] court's application of the Guidelines to the facts before it unless we conclude that there has been an abuse of discretion. Santiago, F.

Perrone, F. Ibanez, F. Shoulberg, F. The presentence reports of Cruz and Delgado calculated their base offense levels at 36, corresponding to distribution of ten kilograms or more of heroin under the then-applicable guideline. Cruz and Delgado argue that the evidence does not support holding them responsible for this amount.

Schaper, F. Cousineau, F. In addition, relevant conduct in the context of criminal activity undertaken in concert with others, such as a narcotics conspiracy, "includes conduct of others in furtherance of the execution of the jointly-undertaken criminal activity that was reasonably foreseeable by the defendant.

Joyner, F. Relevant conduct for sentencing need only be established by a preponderance of the evidence, Guerra, F. Vazzano, F. The evidence at trial showed that Cruz and Delgado were workers at the th St.

During the time Cruz and Delgado were members of the Rivera organization, they attended several organization-wide social events hosted by Rivera, including in the case of Cruz a fall party at a restaurant and dance club and in the case of both Cruz and Delgado the Christmas yacht party. The government calculated that the Rivera organization distributed approximately twenty-eight kilograms of heroin in alone. The government argued that Cruz and Delgado knew about the other "Obsession" spots through their attendance at the social events and their general knowledge regarding the Rivera operation, and thus knew that they were members of an organization which distributed over ten kilograms of heroin.

At sentencing, the judge held that Cruz and Delgado either knew or reasonably should have known that the organization distributed over ten kilograms during their participation in its affairs.

Cruz and Delgado contend that they had no knowledge of any other "Obsession" sales, and Cruz points out that many people other than drug dealers were present at the social events. This is true, but many coconspirators were also present. Rivera paid for the parties and gave out elaborate gifts to many in attendance.

In addition, Cruz and Delgado knew or should have known of the extent of the Rivera operation because of the professionally packaged nature of the heroin sold, the percentage basis on which they sold it, and the central management team to which they reported. Taking all these factors into account, we conclude that the district court's determination that Cruz and Delgado were responsible for ten kilograms or more of heroin was not clearly erroneous.

The district court increased Cruz' base offense level by two levels for his managerial role at the th St. The court also sentenced Cruz at the top of the resulting range of to months. Cruz challenges all these rulings.

As to the enhancement for a managerial role, Cruz stresses that he never received a gold belt buckle with his name inscribed in diamonds, or any of the other expensive gifts that Rivera lavished upon his managers. Merry Griftmas From the Trump Faithful. The Grand Theft Party is still hoping to re-crown Trump in Ward Sutton took a trip down to Florida to see what the wise men and wise guys have in store for the rest of us.

The Secret Life of Broadway Costumes. Flying High: Remembering Greg Tate. Funk, jazz, rap, painting, literature, sci-fi, race, film, history—the extraordinary writer could explicate and elevate any subject under the sun. Fill 1. All rights reserved. Site map. Boy George was a dispicable killer who sold drugs to thousands of minority people which in turn lead to their deaths using the poison he peddled!

Obtaining "blood" money is a cop out and Boy George will have the rest of his natural life to think about all the murders he ordered just so he could have a E Mercedes Benz and wear the piece of shit jewelry so many of these low life hoodlums wear! Unknown October 18, at AM.

Unknown October 13, at AM. Unknown February 8, at AM. Unknown April 5, at PM. Unknown August 24, at PM. Unknown October 3, at AM. Lou October 29, at PM.