Deaf Studio 29 Trio Sentenced

After a series of legal postponements, the Deaf Studio 29 defendants, Doris Martinez, Ellen Thompson, and Marc Velasquez Verson, have been handed their sentences.  Based on previous sentences given out to other VRS Fraud defendants, these were typical.

Ms. Martinez was sentenced to 2 years of probation with standard conditions, pay a restitution of $2.5 million dollars, with a special assessment of $100 payable immediately.

Ms. Thompson was sentenced to 3 years of probation with special conditions, pay a restitution of $2.5 million dollars, with a special assessment of $100 payable immediately.

Mr Velasquez Verson was sentenced to 3 years of probation with special conditions, pay a restitution of $2.5 million dollars, with a special assessment of $100 payable immediately.

With their sentencings behind them, the VRS Fraud Tally now stands at:

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Terminated	Pending Sentencing	Guilty Verdict (Plea/Jury)	Not Guilty/Dismissed	Prison	Released from Prison
31	0	29 – Plea Bargain 1 – Guilty by Jury Trial (Benjamin Pena)	1 – Dismissed/charges dropped (Kathleen Valle)	4 – In Prison (John Yeh, Joseph Yeh, Benjamin Pena and Samuel Hawk)	1 – Larry Berke

Martinez Minutes is here
Martinez Judgment is here
Thompson Minutes is here
Thompson Judgment is here
Velasquez Verson Minutes is here
Velasquez Verson Judgment is here

Two more convictions, and yet another two more postponements

Greetings,

On Monday, July 15, 2013, Irma Azrelyant and Alfia Iskandarova were handed down their sentences. Ms. Azrelyant received nearly the same sentence that Mr. Joshua Finkle received — 5 years of probation, with the first year of home confinement and location monitoring, along with $7,000,000 restitution with $100 payable immediately. Ms. Azrelyant will pay the restitution in monthly installments of $100, which if you did your math is twice Mr. Finkle’s $50 monthly installment.

Ms. Iskandarova received 3 years probation, no home confinement, along with $2,500,000 dollars restitution and $100 special assessment which was payable immediately.

The two postponements, as expected, belonged to Bridget Bonheyo and Jerome Bonheyo. According to PACER, no date has been recorded for their next sentencing date.

This concludes two defendants’ downfall from upstanding citizens to convicts, thus leaving five more defendants to be sentenced.  Three are coming up next Monday, July 22nd.

On to other news, back in May, the Honorable Judge Pisano granted both Bonheyos’ request for their passports and release from their “Bail conditions” in order to attend the Deaflympics and the World Sports Congress. The orders were granted with the stipulation that they surrender their passports upon their return to the USA.

As per is usual, here are the documents from PACER.

Azrelyant Judgment is here
Azrelyant Minutes is here
Iskandarova Judgment is here
Iskandarova Minutes is here
Bonheyos Order Release 1 is here
Bonheyos Order Release 2 is here

Still Alive and Watching…

Greetings VRSJustice.com readers:

A quick blurb to let you all know that I am still on the watch for further updates regarding these VRS Fraud cases. There have been no court date changes for the remaining seven defendants. There were two new documents checked into PACER.

These documents are for the Bonheyo and Bonheyo defendants. The new orders signed by the Honorable Judge Pisano for Bridget Bonheyo and Jerome Bonheyo are to allow them to travel throughout the USA, rather than restrict their travel to certain few states.

Attached are the PDFs for both orders, and they do make for interesting reading. Number 8 on both orders state:

“Have no contact with Bonheyo and Bonheyo, LLC, Hawk and Ray, LLC, The complete listings and Communication Access Center; except for social/child contact for Robert Monroe”

Three names in that statement are quite telling — in that the US Government may not be done with the prosecution of the VRS Fraud cases. Those names are: Hawk and Ray, LLC (I will not state the actual name since it is not mentioned explicitly, but suffice to say, this may very well be a bad typo on the clerk’s end); Communication Access Center and the vague “The complete listings”.

Bridget Bonheyo Travel Order is here
Jerome Bonheyo Travel Order is here

News Blurb: Hennadii Holovkin Case Terminated

Greetings,

One small update and that is to close one case that previously was TBD.  They went and had a sentencing hearing on December 27th.

Hennadii Holovkin finally had her day in court on December 27, 2012 and was sentenced on Count 4 to the following:

• 3 years of probation imposed with standard conditions.
• Fine: waived in lieu of restitution.
• Restitution: $2.5 million dollars (interest waived).
• Special assessment: $100.00 (due immediately).

Holokvin Judgment is here

News Blurb: Pena to Oklahoma FTC

As I promised, as soon as the Bureau of Prisons updated the Benjamin Pena inmate locator with a specific facility name, I would post a news blurb.  He is currently incarcerated at the Oklahoma City FTC. 

What I found interesting is that although Mr. Pena lived in Arizona at the time of sentencing, and there is a FTC nearby in Tucson (where Larry Berke along with a Deaf lifer are currently at), the BOP has determined that the Oklahoma City FTC is a better fit for Mr. Pena.

No further updates on the Hennadii Holovkin sentencing date.

Because I do not anticipate any further updates until 2013, VRSJustice would like to wish you all a happy and safe 2013!

UPDATE 2/28/2013:  Mr. Pena has been transferred once again to FCI La Tuna in Anthony, Texas.

Three sentenced, One Postponed, aaand Eight more to go

Greetings,

On December 14, 2012, Joshua Finkle and Oksana Strusa came up next in the sentencing order.  The Honorable Judge Pisano handed down one of the harshest restitution amounts since the Yehs to Mr. Finkle.

Mr. Finkle was sentenced to a restitution of seven million dollars, $7,000,000.00, along with a 12 month home confinement with location monitoring to be followed by four years on probation (12 month confinement is one year of probation plus four years after that which makes the total a five year probation period for Mr. Finkle — I may be wrong on this, corrections are welcomed).  Mr. Finkle is to start paying the restitution in monthly installments of $50, effective 30 days after the date of the judgment — which is on or around January 14, 2013.

Ms. Strusa was sentenced to a restitution of two point five million dollars, $2,500,000.00 along with three years on probation.  Ms. Strusa is to start paying the restitution in monthly installments of $75, effective 30 days after the date of the judgment — which is on or around January 14, 2013.

Then came December 17, 2012, where the day saw Anthony Mowl sentenced, with Mr. Mowl being the last of the Viable defendants to be sentenced.  Hennadii Holovkin‘s sentencing must have been postponed because there were absolutely no updates in PACER.

Mr. Mowl was sentenced to one year probation along with a restitution of two point five million dollars, $2,500,000.00.  Mr. Mowl is to start paying the restitution in monthly installments of $75, effective 30 days after the date of the judgment — which is on or around January 17, 2013.

Thus with Mr. Mowl’s sentencing complete, this closes the book on the Viable defendants — 3:09-cr-00856.  Ms. Holovkin’s delays continue to mount, but the day is growing nigh that she will come before the Honorable Judge Pisano to be sentenced for her crimes against the government and the Deaf community.

Finally, as of today, there are three more groups with defendants waiting to be sentenced — Deaf Studio 29, DHIS and Bonheyo & Bonheyo.  The tally has been updated — we now show eight more defendants waiting sentencing — with seven in July 2013, and Ms. Holovkin’s future sentencing date a TBD.

Here are the judgments:

Finkle Judgment is here
Strusa Judgment is here
Mowl Judgment is here

Edit: I forgot to attach the judgments.  Here they are above.

Updates: Sentencing Re-scheduled; Pena to Prison

Greetings,

Seven defendants had either a sentencing date of To Be Determined (TBD) or a date rescheduled to July next year, the defendants also include the Bonheyos.  The Deaf Studio 29 defendants finally got a sentencing date after being TBD for over a year.

Two (Joshua Finkle and Oskana Strusa) are still scheduled to be sentenced tomorrow at 10:00 AM.  Another two (Hennadii Holovkin and Anthony Mowl) will be sentenced next Monday, December 17th.  As always, these dates may change anytime between now and gosh knows when.

Mr. Benjamin Pena has reported to prison as scheduled, however, the Federal Bureau of Prison inmate locator shows that he is still in transit.  I have been monitoring this for quite some time and this has yet to be changed to a facility name.  As soon as this changes, I will post a short news blurb.   Here is the link to the inmate locator for Mr. Pena:  Inmate Locator

The VRS Fraud Defendants Tally has been updated with the new information and is at this link.

VRS Justice

Current Count of Where VRS Fraud Defendants Stand

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Terminated	Pending Sentencing	Guilty Verdict (Plea/Jury)	Not Guilty/Dismissed	Prison	Released from Prison
31	0	29 – Plea Bargain 1 – Guilty by Jury Trial (Benjamin Pena)	1 – Dismissed/charges dropped (Kathleen Valle)	4 – In Prison (John Yeh, Joseph Yeh, Benjamin Pena and Samuel Hawk)	1 – Larry Berke

Two Sentenced, 11 More To Go…

As of October 16, 2012, two additional VRS Fraud defendants have been sentenced by the Honorable Judge Joel A. Pisano.

Benjamin Pena has been sentenced to 55 months of imprisonment on counts 1,2,3,5, and 6 of his indictment, all counts to run concurrently with certain recommendations to the Bureau of Prisons.  Mr. Pena has been ordered to surrender to prison or to the U.S. Marshal’s Service on 11/27/2012 by 9:00 AM.  After his release, Mr. Pena will have 3 years of supervised release with special conditions.  He is to pay back the U.S. Government $1,280,000.00 in restitution and $1,000,000 in forfeiture.  Until his report to prison, he is to be electronically monitored by the U.S. Probation Department — he will be allowed to leave home confinement to give his wife rides from/to work, attend his children’s school activities and for any medical appointments.

On the same day, Mr. Pena filed an appeal to the judgment handed down by the Honorable Judge Pisano.  However, all paperwork filed with the court must be accompanied with a filing fee.  Mr. Pena did not supply a filing fee, for which the clerk followed up with him about.  No updates on this since.   VRSJustice.com will depart from its policy of publishing every document here, and not attach them to this post.  The documents regarding the appeal and the follow up had Mr. Pena’s contact information.  Per PACER policy, anybody getting these documents are not to divulge that information to the public without redacting those out.  If you want a copy, let me know via private email at vrsjustice@gmail.com and I will provide one without the contact information.

Meanwhile, another defendant, Robert Z. Rubeck, known as Zach Rubeck in the deaf community, finally was sentenced.  The Honorable Judge Pisano handed down the following for Mr. Rubeck: 1 year of probation with standard conditions, and $1 million dollars in restitution with interest waived.

With these two sentencings, the number of defendants awaiting their judgments have gone down from 13 to 11.  Barring any schedule changes, six more will be sentenced later this week on 11/7 and 11/8, including Anthony Mowl, the last of the Viable defendants to be sentenced.   As a side note, the Deaf Studio 29 defendants have yet to have their sentencing information updated in PACER.  The last entry was late last year in 2011.

Pena Judgment is here
Pena Forfeiture is here
Pena Special Conditions Order is here
Rubeck Judgment is here

Buscaron and Fernandez Update

VRSJustice NOTE: My web hosting company had issues and vrsjustice.com went down for some time. It is now back. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. If this occurs again in the future, I am going to change web hosting companies.

Back to our regularly scheduled updates.

On October 15, 2012, Buscaron and Fernandez were each sentenced to 5 year probation with 1 year home confinement along with 200 hours of community service to be done over 5 years and pay a fine of $2,500,000. This now removes two more VRS Fraud defendants from the “Waiting to be sentenced” list. The Sentenced To page has been updated accordingly.

Buscaron Judgment is here
Fernandez Judgment is here