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8/20/2019 Saldarriaga Order: Letters and transcripts
1/38
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
ERIC SALDARRIAGA,
Defendant.
RICHARD
J
SULLIVAN, District Judge:
- -
-
USDS SD1·r /
I O U N T
iE
LECT
F ONICAI r.
I
,,DOCi¥:
I
DATE
7 ~ < D j _ _
No. l 5-cr-136 (RJS)
ORDER
The Court is in receipt of the attached
joint
submission from the parties containing
proposed redactions to Defendant s sentencing submission and the sentencing transcript from June
26, 2015. After carefully reviewing the submission, the Court determines that the privacy interests
of Defendant and other individuals who submitted letters on behalf of Defendant outweigh the
presumption
in
favor of open records with respect to the proposed redactions. See United States
v
Amodeo 71 F.3d 1044, 1048- 51 (2d Cir. 1995). Accordingly, the Clerk
of
the Court is
respectfully directed to docket this submission. In addition, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED
THAT
the parties shall file unredacted versions
of
the submission under seal.
SO ORDERED.
Dated: July 6, 2015
New
York, New York
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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March 20
1
h 2015
Dear Honorable Judge Sullivan:
It is
with a heavy heart
that
I
write
this character letter on my husband Eric Saldarriaga. Eric and I started
dating on March 2
1996
and were married on June 3,
2006.
Eric and I met in high school and started
dating while I was in my college years. As Eric and I grew closer together I learned that he had a tough
childhood. Eric s parents divorced when he was
15
years old, his father left his mother for another
women because
his
mother Eric s father moved to Te xas and on Eric s first visit with his
father his father did not want to return Eric to his mother. Eric and his father always had a rocky
relationship.
Eric
always had anger toward
his
father for leaving them the way that he did. While
Eric
was in high school he had to work to help support his mother eventually forcing Eric to drop
out
of high
school so
that
he can
work
fulltime. Eric took a class called Auto Shop in high school and therefore
learned a
lot
and went to work for a mechanic. Eventually Eric could no longer work as a mechanic
because a piece of large machinery fell on his ba ck and therefore Eric had to find another way to
support himself and help
his
mother. Eric went to work for Macy s as a store detect ive and whi le he was
there
met
a Private Investigator that took him under his wing and tau
ght
Eric what he knew about the
busine
ss.
Aside from helping his
mother 15
years ago Eric s uncle passed away in Puerto Rico from
alcohol overdose and therefore
his
grandmother had to come live with Eric and
his
mother.
I
met
Eric
while
he
was working in Macy s. Eric had no clue how
to
work
a computer he couldn t even
afford to buy his own computer. I volunteered to purchase his first computer and he would pay me
monthly for it. Eventually Eric was able to finish paying the bill
off
as well as learn what he needed to
learn to work as a private investigator.
Eric and I married on June 3, 2006 and on December 19 2008 we had our first
son
Christopher William
and on June 24th2010 we had our second son Gabriel Alexander. Your Honor working as a private
investigator
is how Eric
helps support his immediate family (myself and
the
boys), helps his
mother who
continues and his grandmother. You re Honor over the years many people have told
Eric
to give up on his mother but he won t and for as long as he won t I will stand by his side because
it
is
his
mother and
she
did raise him on her own. Eric takes both
his
mother and grandmother to every
doctor appointments,
••••l nd
herapy appointments. Eric
has
had a rough life growing up and
aside from his mother and grandmother who depend on him on a daily basis Eric also helps his father
when needed. Eric s father suffered from about 5 years ago . Eric is constantly worried
about his father. There is not much his father
ca
n afford so Eric pays for his cell phone so that he
can
keep
in
touch with his father.
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Despite my husband's upbringing your Honor he turned
out to
be a good person
with
a tremendous
heart. He
is
a great husband and a fantastic father. Your Honor my husband shares all household and
parenting duties with me. There is nothing that I would do for my family that he would not. In the
morning once
the
four of us are ready to leave the house and start
our
day my husband drops me off at
the
train station and then proceeds to take
the
boys to school. He picks them up
at
2:10 and 2:30, makes
them lunch and does homework with them and on days where time permits he will prepare dinner
as
well. Eric stops by
his
mother's house when
time
permits and prepares meals
for
them
as
well. Your
Honor
if
my husband
is
taken
from us
I can't
do
the majority
of
what he does on my own. Financially I
cannot help
his
family and due to my work schedule and location I cannot pick up the boys from school.
Every free
moment that
my husband has
is
dedicated to his fami ly.
Your Honor my husband volunteers
for
many organizations aside from the organizations he
is
always
asked by the teachers at my son's school if he can attend the trips
or
volunteer at the school because
having him on the trips/school events truly is a big help for the teachers. Eric is always th inking
of
safety
first for
the
children, he is sometimes
the
only ma le
that
volunteers
for
the trips and
the
teachers really
need a ma le to stay in the boys restroom making sure every male child is accounted for.
My
husband
will go out
of
his way
to
help anyone
that
is
injured
or
needs help in the streets.
My
husband and I took
our boys sledding at the loca l park during the first big snow storm of the year 2015 when a boy who was
sledding
with his
friends crashed into the wall.
My
husband helped pull the boy up the hill took full
control of the situation by putting the boy on a cardboard, covered him with a warm blanket, sp linted
his leg the best he could whi le someone called 911. When EMS got there they asked
who
did this he said
he did and they asked him if he was an
EMS
worker
Eric
responded no he just wanted
to
help.
The EMS
workers told him he did a good job and they took the boy.
Your Honor since my husband's case with the government bega n he has been an emotional mess. The
day after our apartment was raided my husband thought he was hearing noises that
the FED s
were
coming to take him. He began to say his good byes to myself and the children.
My
children were terrified
and my
brother
in
law had
to
come hold him until
he
would
ca
lm down. I remember all he would repeat
is what
the FEDS said to him when they first raided our apartment
how
would you like for
your
children's first plane ride to
be
to come see you in orange (at this time my children had never been on a
plane and
we
had booked
our
first trip on a plane
as
a family to Disney). Eventually
we
spoke with his
doctors and they agreed
that
he had
to
be medicated. Your Honor my husband
has
several medical
conditions but we had to treat the situation on hand at the moment which was causing all those medical
issues
to worsen. Once my husband was medicated
he
was calm but would fall asleep and I could not
get him up. There were times I had to leave him on the couch because he would
not
wake up, there
were times in the middle
of
the night that I would try to wake him up to help me
with
the boys and he
could
not
wake up. This
is
very unusual
for
my husband because since day one
that
we had
our
boys he
has always been hands on. There were many times that my children would ask me if daddy was ok.
There were times when my husband had
to
work
late due
to
a federal assignment and my children
would cry and ask if daddy was coming home.
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Your Honor when
my
husband made the choice to cooperate
with
the government he gave them 110
of his loyalty and time when asked. There were several times that my husband went to their office for a
meeting and they would cancel just
as
he was walking into the building. There is one situation my
husband still lives in fear of, the FED s told my husband to reach out to these particular clients that from
my understanding are very dangerous and powerfu l clients. My husband explain
to
the
FED
' s
that
these
are powerful people and
that
he would rather not reach because they are oversees and the FED s would
have no jurisdiction in and the only thing that they would
be
doing
is
creating an enemy
for
my husband
and endangering his and his families lives. The FED s insisted that he do as he was told because they
could do anything and would definitely get approval from
their
higher ups to get these folks.
My
husband did as he was told and
was
then told by the
FE
D s
that
they would not
be
able to peruse these
people because they were oversees and my husband was right.
My
husband was in tears because he
looked suspicious
to
these people who kept following up
with
him and he was not responding as well as
endangering our lives. There were several times that they would schedule a meeting with my husband
and then cancel when he was already there. It would break my heart to hear the tone in
is
voice when
he was stood up by them because he lost a day of work especially now when he could not afford to lose
any days of work. He was told by the FED s to tell me
that
there may be things he would have to do
that
I would
not
agree
with
but
for
the sake
of
my husband I dealt
with
it.
My
husband expressed many concerns
with
the FED s and once was he did not want the media to get
involved. While my husband was cooperating with the FED s a friend of my husband who lives in Canada
saw an article in
the
paper
that
mentioned that a
Pl
in
NY
was expected to plead guilty in the coming
months. My husband's name was not mentioned but it was clear that it was about him because of how
the article was written.
My
husband was in tears and all he kept saying was why they would endanger
my family and my life when I
am
cooperating. It seems like when the FED 's were done using my
husband and realized he was not who they thought he was all bets were of f. Things turned very quickly
it then became a rush for him to make a decision if he was going to take a plea. They were in a rush to
close
their case
and did
not
want
to
waste any more
of the
government's money
so
they gave him
the
option
to
plead guilty.
On
Friday March 6
1
h after my husband pleaded guilty in your courtroom around 9:00pm my husband
began receiving calls from fellow people in
his
industry
that
they saw
the
paper and
that
he pleaded
guilty to hacking. The worst part was that i t said my husband was cooperating with the government.
Once again putting him and his family's life in danger my husband was in tears and petrified.
Your Honor my husband really is a good person that made a mistake.
He
has never hurt anyone and
would never
hurt anyone. I am begging that you look at this situation as a onetime offense and grant my
husband his freedom to be with his children. I am begging you to please grant him a second chance and
let him work to provide for
his
family. It would destroy him if he could not provide for his family and
continue to help his parents and grandmother, we honestly
don t
know where it would leave them
without
Eric, not to mention to take care of his health. Your Honor my husband has learned a big lesion
in
a way that none
of
us could even imagine.
You
Honor I know
that
if you grant my husband
his
freedom and if possible an opportunity to work again you would never see him in your court room
again.
Thanking you in advance
for
your time in reading my letter
Anna Saldarriaga
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April 23, 2015
Honorable Richard
J
Sullivan
United States Distr ict Judge
Your Honor:
y
name is Enio Bencosme, I am a retired 1
5
grade Detective of the New York City Police
Department. I
am
writing to you on the behalf of Eric Saldarriaga.
I have known Eric for over 40 years, since we were young boys growing up around
the
block from
each other. Eric has always been a good hearted individual, who was always there to help anyone who
needed his help. One
of
the great things about Eric
is that
he always goes above and beyond to help
someone
without
expecting anything in return. I have seen this selfless
trait
throughout
the
years in
both his personal and business life.
Eric
is
a family man who
is
dedicated to his family.
He has
always
put
his wife and two sons above
all. He
has worked hard
to
teach his boys,
to
be respectful and honest. He
is
also dedicated
to
supporting his mother and grandmother both financially and emotionally. He
has
also been there
for
his
brother, a retired New York City Police Officer.
His
brother was forced to retire and get a heart
transplant in order to live a productive life. I saw how Eric dropped everything to
go
and
be
with
his
brother, to support him and his wife. He has always been there for them through the good and bad
putting his family before anything else.
This pending issue has put
an
enormous stress on Eric and
his
family. This is something that Eric
regrets getting himself involved in and
is
embarrassed that his family has had to go through this. There is
not one day that he
is
sorry for what he has put his family through and would anything to change this. I
know Eric has seen his errors and is truly sorry for his lack of udgement. I am confident that he will
never find himself in this position again.
I know Eric has some medical issues that have worsened with this situation. He has been depressed
and is being treated for it. He also has a heredity heart disease which needs to be treated, which lead
his
brother to have a heart transplant.
Your Honor, Eric has cooperated with the FBI and United States Attorney s office from the time of
his
arrest. He has done all they have asked him to do. I believe
that
this was one of the ways he believes
he could start his path of correcting his mistake. I ask you that you take into consideration his family and
Eric s medical condition when imposing your sentence. I am pleading
that
you be lenient when deciding
your sentencing. I believe this
is
a onetime error
in
judgement and that Eric has learned from his
mistake. It
is
something that I am confident that he will not commit again. I thank you for your time.
Case 1:15-cr-00136-RJS Document 26 Filed 07/06/15 Page 5 of 38
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Sincerely
Enio Bencosme
1
Grade Detective New York Police Department
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June 17 20 15
Honorable Judge Richard
J.
Sullivan
U.S District Cou1t Southern Di stri ct
of New York
40 Foley Square
New
York NY I
0007
Dear Judge
Su
llivan:
I write to you today with great
humility
and remorse to ask that for the sake
of
my beloved
family whom I care for with all my hea1t you show leniency in my se ntenc ing. I have pied
guilty
to a felony and for
the
past
15
months, have ca1Tied
on
my s houlders the heavy burden
of
the
crimes
that I committed. Every
day
I lo
ok back at
the
poor
choices that I made and how
the
y
have
negatively
impacted my family the investigations industry my clients and myself. The
pain
and
suffering
that
I h
ave ca
used m y loved o
ne
s
and anyone
affected is irreversible.
The
ramifications
of what
I have done can never be
taken
back
and
I am ashamed that my two young
sons
have had to witness their
father s
helple
ssnes
s
and
hopele
ss
ne
ss
during my dark
time
s.
Although
I think
they are too young
to
understand
my
(6) year
o ld son no lo nge r
asks
me
..
why
are you crying . but just hugs and ki sses me . Unfortunately he does unders tand my pain to some
degree
. I hope that my acceptance
of
responsibility for
the
c
rime
s I
committed
serves as a n
example to
my
children
and
an impo1tant life lesson
for
them. My kids like to role play as
..cops' talks about being a Police Onicer and following in my brother·s footsteps.
It will be so difficult to one
day
exp lain
to my
kids that I am a
convicted
felon.
My children (age 6) and 4 - turning 5 on June are my
life.
My
wife
Anna, who
has bee n my b
es
t fri end since high
sc
h
oo
l
works
full time in
the
co
rporat e
wo
rld so I have been the ir
primary
caregiver since their birth. I
vo
lunteer at my
children s schoo l as v,1ell as with
organizations
like the laas
Fo datio
to help find
missing children attend PTA meetings chaperone school trips and accompany my
so
ns to
almost all
of
the ir afterschool ac tivities . is a December baby mak ing him one
of
the
yo
unges
t students in hi s class whi ch causes
him
to stru
gg
le
wi
th lea rning
and
adapting to thin
gs
like ..co mmon
core
ma th .. and reading. o father wa nts to see hi s c hild fall behind
so
I spend at
least an hour a day practicing and studying w ith him. I want nothing more than to g ive my boys
the nu1turing parenting that I never rece ived. Now, I feel like an endless failure to them due to
my c rimes resulting in my felony plea. How
co
uld I lead by example whe n I am now a fe lon? I
s
uppose that the bes t lesson I ca n pass on to them is that ..
no
one is
exe
mpt from the law and
the re are serious
co
nseq uences for those who fee l th
ey
are ..
There is absolutely nothing I wo uld not
do
for m y boys . I have made every effort to be an
exemplary
a
nd
in
vo
lved fathe r pa1ticularly s in
ce
my
own
father l
eft
wh
en
I was
4
yea
rs old .
know
what
it is like to be a young Hispanic man
growing
up in
New
York
City
without a
fathe
r. It
is terrible that I have b
eco
me
yet anothe
r statisti
c a minor
ity father from a broken
home raised by a single alcohol ic mother and
now
facing incarcera tion
reparing to mi ss out
on the important days of hi s young ch ildr
en s
lives. I a lso fear that I will not be
there
for
my
mo
ther and 93-year-old grandmother
both
of whom are
in
poor
health
and
rely on me so le ly for
their care and financial support. I am their on ly next of kin living in New York. But the
Case 1:15-cr-00136-RJS Document 26 Filed 07/06/15 Page 7 of 38
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8/38
Letter to Judge Rich rd Sullivan
From Eric Saldarr i ga
circumstances I am in are no one·s fau lt but my own. and I am struggling mentally and
physically to prepare to face the consequences, whatever
th
ey may be.
Over the past 15 months, I have been consum ed with guilt, extreme anxiety and hum ili
at
i
on
over
th
e actions that have led
me to thi
s point. The mental anguish that I feel has led me
to
seek
wee
kl
y counseling and psychiatric he
lp.
For the past months, I have relied on the a
id of
a
nt
i
depression and anti-anxiety medi ca
ti
ons, to get through
th
e day.
In
additi
on to
a decline in my
me
nt
al health, I feel my ph
ys
ical heal
th
problems worsen. I have a history
of
hypertension for
over ten years, and I also suffer from cond
iti
on that makes
everal years ago, I underwent a
procedure to remedy this , but it was not successfu l. I am diligent wit h my
medications, and I exercise carefu lly to avoid any - episodes, but this is a problem that I wi ll
have to deal with for the rest
of
my li f
e.
I also have a my
ith my heightened anxiety, I blood pressure has been difficult to manage. I am currently
wo rking with several doctors to keep these medical issues under control, but my overa
ll
health
has declined and I fear to fall ill to the heredity hea11 di sease which wa rran
te
d by brother s hea
transplant at the age
of
40.
With an intended goal to help people in need, I far overstepped what was legal. I should have
known better, and yet I chose
th
e wrong path. Although my actions did not cause anyone any
monetary losses, I still violated the trust of my communit
y
the people who respected me, the
government, a
nd
the law. I
am
e
mb
arrassed by my lack of good judgement and take full
responsibility fo r my action
s.
Although I deeply regret the decisions I made, I know
in
my h
ea11
that under many
circ
um
stances I
co
mmitted crimes in an effo
rt
to do something good for those in need. For
example, in one pa1ticular case, a man contacted
me
after having hired
two well-known private investigators who fai led to produce positive results. Mr. - did
a convincing
job
of po11raying himself as a helpless victim who had been scammed out
of
$150,000 by
hi
s ex-fiance. In an effort to help this vict im , I intrnded into Mr. ex-
fiance s email account without
hi
s knowledg
e.
Upon reviewing the mate
ri
als that I came across,
I quickly realized that Mr. - had not been truthful with me and was,
in
fact, a stalker
and dangerous. I felt that the information in my hands would have caused hann to
hi
s ex-fiance.
Therefore, I made the decision to cease the
in
ves
ti
gation, never shared any
in
fonnation with him
~ h t I did
or
found and I never requested nor accepted any compensation from Mr.
·
In
stead, I sent an anonymous letter to
hi
s ex-fiance warning her
of
hi
s attempts to
stalk her and to obtain her new residential address. I later found out that my instincts about this
case had been
correct-Acco
rd ing to the ew York Post, Mr. - was arrested in 20 15
fo
r threatening
hi
s girlfriend
wi
th a butcher knife. Desp
it
e the illegal ity ofmy actions, I take
solace
in
the fact that I may have protect
ed
a pote
nti al
victim from serious harm.
ge 2 o
f
Case 1:15-cr-00136-RJS Document 26 Filed 07/06/15 Page 8 of 38
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9/38
Le
tt r
to Judge Richard Sullivan
From Eric Saldarriaga
On
mo
st occasions, I spent
my
own resources to obtain informat ion that never had potential for
financial gain.
For
instance, several
cases came
across my
desk
that involved child
moles
t
at
i
on
and abuse. When conventional
method
s failed , I did reso1t to using hacking se rvices, and some
of these services aided in the protection of children . The gain for me in these cases was not
financial; it was personal , as I thought of my own children and their vulnerabil ity. It was this
type of thinking,
howe
ver, that clouded
my
judgement and allowed me to begin using these
se
rvices in the first place. Now I am left
with
a li fetime of regret as I cope
wit
h the fa ll
ou
t of my
actions.
Following the events of March I3, 2014, when the FBI ca
me
to my door, I
did
everything that I
could to cooperate with
th
e
gove
rnment. I followed instructions diligently, attended
eve
ry
meeting, and was very eager
to
assist. I provided any and all information that I
coul
d regarding
persons of interest and received prai
se
from the Special
Agents
for my effo1ts. In one such case,
I was able to connect , the
head
of the , to
a private investigator who has co nducted illega l invest igations for I recorded ca lls
between and m
yse
lf during which - confinned that he had requested
hacking services in the
pa
st. I secured hours o f records in which - discussed
confidential matters that were troubling to the - · I conducted pro-bono su rvei llances in
order
to lure - into so
mething
fruitfu l for the FBI.
In
another case,
on Apr
il 8, 2014, I informed the
Spe
c ia l
Ag
ents that a perso n
of
interest to them
had reached out to me and asked me
to ob
tain a pa
sswo
rd for
another
individual.
The
agents felt
strongly about me following up on this lead and advised me to use very specific language with
this person of interest so that the recordings and
text
messages obtained wo uld c learly capture
the illegality
of th
e interact ion.
Although
I felt that u
se of
this lan
guage wo
uld raise eyebrows
and cau
se
suspicion
to
the person of interest, I
did
as I was told . I co ntinued to mislead and sta ll
the person of interest (pursuant to instructions from the FBI . I was, therefore, surpri
se
d and
al
armed when
the FB I began can
ce
li
ng
meeting
s
with me
and avoiding me for
weeks
to follow.
Eventually, the FB I mentioned that they
..dropp
ed the ba ll in following up with the mater ia ls I
provided and did not plan to pursue that person of inte rest.
Soon after this, I was fu1ther di s
tresse
d to di
scove
r that
my case
had
been
lea ked to the press and
that the deta ils of my c
ase
and cooperati
on
had been
pub
lished in
th
e
Nell York Times.
The
unintended consequences from this turn of events are quite serious for my family and me. We
are n
ow
in dan
ger
for no o th
er
reason
th
an
th
e fact that my
coo
peration
was
l
eake
d to the m
ed
ia.
H
ow
can the FBI kn
ow
where a threat will be
co
ming from and how
can
they assess that threa t
when it is no longer narrowed to the Persons of Interest ? I now fear for the safety of my
family. The person of inter
es
t w ith w
hom
I
was
interacting has
sig
nifi
can
t and di rect ti
es
to
international
governm
ents.
The
person
who
se
infonnation he requ
es
ted I intrude up
on
appears to
have been a
key
pl
aye
r in a recently repo1ted
..
inte
rn
ationa l he i
st
..
It
is fully possible (and
probable) that the
per
son of inte r
es
t with whom I interacted kno
ws about
my coopera tion with
the U.S. government.
The
non-expiring danger that this presents for m y family is rea l, and I wi ll
have to live with the fact that I put myse lf and my fa mi ly in harm
s way
in an effort to clear my
own name
and pro
ve
my l
oya
lty to the
governm
ent.
Page of
Case 1:15-cr-00136-RJS Document 26 Filed 07/06/15 Page 9 of 38
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Letter
to
Judge Richard Sullivan
From Eric Saldarriaga
The
stress and shame that Jhave caused
my
family peers and extended loved ones is
irreparable and the ramifications of
what
I
have
done are
permanen t.
Pleading to a felony will
forever alter my life. Th e loss of my private investigator· s li
ce
n
se
has diminished
my
oppo11unities to financially support
my
fami ly.
The
decreased viability
of
my busi
nes
s and
the
lack of trust from colleagues are
ju
st a few of the consequences of my actions. What hur1s just as
much
is the stigma I will feel in
my
community.
J va
lue
my
position as a volu
nteer
for
my
children· s schoo ls
and
spo11ing activities and the
Astoria Hom
eow
ners
and
Tenants
s
sociation
and now I must wi thdraw myse
lf
from many of the pos itions I hold. I am embarrassed and
saddened by the lifelong consequences
I ve
brought upon
my
se lf by committing a fel ony. I am
emba1nssed and very remorseful to the victims whose privacy I violated. I wish I cou ld undo
any
distress they
may
fee l
once
they learn of my actions.
A client of mine a single father recently asked me for
advice
regarding the purchase of
online
spyware which he
intended to u
se
on his new girlfriend.
This man
had
just
gone through a
horrible divorce and had lost a ll trust in women. I hegged him to please think of the
consequences that any illegal actions could have on him and to think of his son I shared my
story with him telling him that this happened to a ··friend
of
mine·
,
as I was too ashamed to
divulge the truth to him.
I humbly pray that you will provide me with the oppo11unity to redeem myself.
If
I am granted
freedom I promise to coach those with less guidance. Such freedom even while under
supervision wou
ld
permit me to pick up the piec
es of my
life and move forward to wo rk harder
and provide for my family in a leg itimate fashion. I have a lot to make up for and I am eager to
rebuild my life. I want nothing more than to be a better example to my children each and every
day. I will use every moment have with them to steer them
away
from any unlawfu l activity
and guide them to a better life than
1
ha
ve
led . My wife mother grandmother and children ha
ve
suffered tremen
dously
fo r no reason
other
than
my
own ignorance and any period
of
incarceration wou ld destroy them. I leave it in
God s
hands and in your hands to please sentence
me to no period of incarceration and give me the opportunity to continue to be present for my
family.
1
want to be a productive member of society. I humbl y beg for your forgiveness and
consideration.
With Gratitude
Eric Saldarriaga
Page 4
o
4
Case 1:15-cr-00136-RJS Document 26 Filed 07/06/15 Page 10 of 38
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COMPUTER EVIDENCE RECOVERY INC
Canada s Premier Computer Investigation Agency
Suite 300, 160 Quarry Park Blvd SE, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2C 3G3 www.computerpi.com
Tel: (403) 703-4846 Toll Free: (866) 703-4846 Fax: (403) 770-8158 [email protected]
May 28, 2015
Honorable Richard J. Sullivan
United States District Judge
Dear Judge Sullivan,
My name is Kevin Ripa, and I am writing this letter in support
of
Eric Saldarriaga for the
benefit of his Honor.
I have known Eric both professionally and personally for approximately 15 years now,
and w s completely shocked t the charges levied against him recently, and his
subsequent guilty plea.
This transgression notwithstanding, Eric and I have consulted each other in many
matters throughout North America, and I have noted Eric to always be involved closely
with his community and his family. He is actively engaged with the PTA t his school,
and has used his knowledge
of
security and safety to bring about positive change
in
more than one area.
Eric has a wonderful family with two young boys, and they would suffer considerably
more than they already have, if Eric was to be incarcerated.
n
talking with him at length
since this episode came to light, I can categorically state that he fully understands the
gravity of his error and the situation it has created for him, and I know that he would
never attempt such an offence again . It is my belief that any period of incarceration
would serve no purpose in terms of sending a strong message to him. He already fully
understands what he has done, and remanding him would severely negatively affect not
only his already poor health, but also his family, who has already suffered greatly
through no fault of their own.
Case 1:15-cr-00136-RJS Document 26 Filed 07/06/15 Page 11 of 38
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In
addition, in contravention of the agreed upon terms of his guilty plea , the government
has now notified not only victims, but individuals that were never victimized in the
offence. This is sure to cause Eric further harm for the long te rm, both in the civil legal
arena , and I don t think it can
be
overstated,
in
terms
of
the safety and security
of
his
family.
It has been clear from the beginning that the government thought they had caught a
major league criminal when they caught Eric, and as the investigation proceeded, it
became quickly obvious that Eric is by no means an organized hacker, or computer
threat
on
any level. I don t say that to minimize the negative affects
of
Eric s actions, or
make excuses for his lack of judgment in this case, however, I plead with his Honor to
please consider all of the good that Eric has done, both publ icly and for his family
when considering incarceration. Eric will already suffer greatly due to the felony
conviction and losing the license that gave him the ability to practice his livelihood.
Sincerely,
Kevin J Ripa, Pl , EnCE, CORP, CEH
Director
of
Investigations
Alberta Department
of
Justice
P
23266.19.2011
2
Case 1:15-cr-00136-RJS Document 26 Filed 07/06/15 Page 12 of 38
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March 4.
~ O J
5
I Ionorablc Richard I Sul
Ii\
an
l 'nitcd States t r i t Judge
B
hand
Re: Lric Saldarriaga
My name is Michael
Pini.
I am a retired l nitcd State::, Vlarshal. \\ riting on behalf
of
hie
Saldarriaga who I understand is facing a sentence before ynur honor in the near future.
I
am \\riling the court in Lhc hope
that
the court \\ill
be as
lenient
as
possible regarding
hric·s sentence as I bclil·ve Lric has suffered tremendous ) as a result
of
hi: . lapse or
judgment in commilting this crime and will continue
to
suffer in the future
as
hi s chances
of'
finding gainful employment'' ill diminish with this felony com iction.
I retired in J991 as
Chief
Dcput) CS \1arshal in
SDl\Y
:rnd returned as l \ilarshal in
EDNY alter being appointed b) President Clinton in 1994. After retiring again in 1997. I
went into pri\'ate imestigativc \\Ork and in 1998 started my O\\n invcstigativl' firm in the
otfo.:es ofLaura Brevet i who is a former
.t
\USA and Strike Force
Chief
from l:DNY.
\\here I
was
introduced
to
Eric.
I got to knO\\ Eric \\ell enough to like him. trust him and work\\ ith him. knc\\
hie
to
be a hard
w o r l ~ i n g
honest and law abiding individual as well as a good pro\'idcr and good
famil) man. Committing
a
crime i::i
so
out of character for Eric that I am honest I
stunncJ
by his admission to the c1 imc but confident in the belief that Eric has seen the error
of
his
judgment and
is
repentant for what he did.
I
am confident that Eric will
neYer
be
im
oh
cd
in any illegal activit) again.
I am en>. arc that Eric
\\as
a most )
self
taught computer
smm1
indi' idual
\\ho
came
to
my
rescue a few times \Vhcn
I
\\as hacked or having trouble \\ith
my
limih:d kno\\ ledge of
computers as he
\\a'>
that kind
of
helpful person.
l lrno\\ Eric has ~ o m e scriou" medical issues ' 'hich includes some J'\.)rm of bleeding nn
the brain anJ is in trcalrm:nt for depression and an:...:ict) as
it
appl'ars lo me that he
11la)
have some llcreditai') heart disease issues hieh caused his brother a retired l\'YPD
ofliccr to hm can ac
tual
heart tran
i
plant.
I also knm\ that b"ic cares for hi s elckrl) grandmother and mother both ph) si.1 understanding is thm 1-ric cooperated ith the I Bl and l S attorney· s office from the
time of his arrest until prl'Sent and did all that
\\as
asked of him and more. I :1lso
understand that l.ric· s alleged c r i m ~ hau nothing to do\\ ith
an>
inl orrnatiL>n regarding
Case 1:15-cr-00136-RJS Document 26 Filed 07/06/15 Page 13 of 38
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an) department
or
agcnC)
of
the l inited States
\\hen
he committed the offense.
Since Lric·s pica in open court \\here he \\as unfortunate ) dcscrihccl as a gO\ernment
cooperator I fear that J:ric could he in some form of jeopard) from an) one \\ho ma) just
d c ~ p i s c
a
g \
crnment cooperator and certain )
from
people'"
ho
hie
had hccn in conwct
,,·ith in the im ~ t i g a t i v c
"orld.
especial]) from an) one
who
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May14,20
5
Honorable Richard J. Sullivan
United States District Judge, Southern District of New York
My name is Peter Ortega, I am a retired 2
c
grade Detective of the New York City Police De
pa m
ent. I
am
writing to you on the behalf
of
Eric Saldarriaga.
I have known Eric for over
5
years and I ve kn
ow
n him to be a thoughtful , considerate, giving person. Eric
has always been a good
hea ed
individual ,
who was
always there to help anyone who needed his help. 1 have
seen this altruistic trait throughout the years generally.
On
several occasions he had recruited in assisting him to
with difficult investigations in
effo
to obtain positive outcomes. Eric has always gone above and beyond to
help others. He clearly made a mistake and this time, he
we
nt '·beyond
of
what was legal.
Eric has confided in me expressing his regret and emba1rnssment, which he and his family are now suffering
for. I know Eric has seen his errors and is truly sorry for his lack of udgment. I
am
confident that he will never
find himself in this position again.
Eric is dedicated to his family. In my opinion, as one
of
former 114 Precinct
dome
stic violence investigators,
Eric
is
an exemplary family and community man . His two sons, (Ages four and six) are well mannered and well
behaved, which
is
a testament to his dedication to them and his Wife. Eric is extremely invo l
ve
d in his
children ·s school and
is
devoted in helping them with their education. Eric lives nearby his mother and
grandmother, who depend on him financially and
as
a healthcare guardian; he is their
only
adult, family
member living in NY.
This pending issue has put an enonnous stress
on
Eric and his family
I
know Eric has medical issues, some that
have worsened with this situation. I understand that he being treated for Anxiety attacks, due to this legal issue .
He told
me
that has been taken Xanax for his Anxiety, I
pray
that
he
will not
become
dep
ende
nt on this drug, as
long term u
se
of it, could ha
ve
negative effects
on
him and his family. He also has a heredity hea
disease, the
same as which lead his brother to have a heai1 transplant a few years ago. His brother developed
ca
rdiomyopathy, while he was a police officer in the NYPD, ultimately causing his retirement.
Your Honor, Eric has cooperated with the FBI and United States Attorney's office throughout this process.
He
has done all they have asked him to do . I believe that this was
one
of the ways he beli
eve
d to make amends for
his mistakes. I ask you that you take into consideration his family, and his medical conditions when imposing
your
sentence. I am pleading that you
do
not incarcerate Eric Saldarriaga. I believe this is a onetime error in
judgment
and that Eric has learned from this negative experience. I believe that Eric will never
commit
this
error in
judgment
again.
Thank
You
very much for yo
ur
time.
Sincerely Peter Ortega
2nd Grade Detective New York Police Department
age of
Case 1:15-cr-00136-RJS Document 26 Filed 07/06/15 Page 15 of 38
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Honorable Richard J. Sullivan,
United States District Judge,
Thurgood
Marshall U.S. Courthouse
40 Foley Square
New
York, NY I0007
Dear
Judge Sullivan
Thomas J. Bridges
June 2, 2015
I am writing
this letter on
behalf of
Eric Saldarriaga whom 1 have known for the last ten years. 1am a
former federal officer in the Eastern District
of
New
York and currently a
New
York State licensed
private investigator. I was introduced to Eric when 1 was beginning
my career
as a private investigator.
As I worked for and with Eric, I found him to be a diligent, hard-working and thorough investigator. In
the time that I have worked with Eric, we became
not
only trusted associates, but also close friends. He is
a very supportive and loyal individual and I am proud to call him a friend.
The
conduct for which he
pleaded guilty to is totally out of character for him as 1 have always found him to be an honest, Jaw
abiding man.
t
is unfortunate that his error in
judgment
has led to his current legal situation.
In
addition to being a skilled investigator and trusted friend, 1 have
come
to
know
Eric to being a caring,
loving and devoted husband and father. He is completely dedicated to his wife, Anna and two young sons
and he is a true family man. Eric and Anna
have
done a great
job
raising their boys while providing a
caring and loving environment for them to
grow
up in. But Eric·s love and responsibilities for his family
doesn · tjust end there. Not only does Eric financially support and care for his wife and children, he is
also financially responsible for his own mother and grandmother, who reside near him. Eric s mother and
grandmother are unemployed and depend on him to pay their rent and utility bills.
i
s grandmother is 93
years old and his mother is 70 and they both are in poor health. I fear what would happen to his family -
his wife, children, mother and grandmother if the outcome of the pending matter against him would result
in him being incarcerated and unable to work and support his family. Aside from his immediate fami ly
responsibilities, Eric is very active in his community. He volunteers his time with the Poly Klass
Foundation (search/find missing children) as well as at his children
s
school and PTA.
Despite being a relatively young man, Eric has several concerning medical issues such as Cerebral
Cavernous Malforn1ation (bleeding in brain) , a cardiac condition
as
well as depression and anxiety. He is
under doctor s care for all these conditions that have been aggravated
by
nature of his contact with law
enforcement, activity while cooperating with the FBI , surrender, guilty plea and pending sentencing.
1 would like to bring to Your Honor' s attention that Eric is extremely remorseful and embarrassed
by
his
actions. His remorse and shame led him to voluntarily cooperating with FBI agents and the Assistant
U.S. Attorney.
Pur
suant to the direction of FBI
case
agents, Eric established contact with o
ther
targets.,,
Case 1:15-cr-00136-RJS Document 26 Filed 07/06/15 Page 16 of 38
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Re Eric Saldarriaga
locally and domestically. Eric expressed fear
of these
targets from the very beginning. In
one
case, the
FBI
pennitted
Eric to accept an arrangement for a
meeting
from
one
of the targets who was traveling from
overseas to meet him. When the
FB
I decided to ten11inate
Eric's
voluntary cooperation, the target
was
outraged that he spent in
exce
ss of
10,000
to travel to New
York City
only to learn that Eric had been
arrested
and
pleaded guilty the sa
me
day. Eric willfully maintained contact with said .. argets and
provided
infonnation
about these '·targets to FBI agents. He did this knowing that he
was
putting
himself
and
his fami ly at risk especially if his cooperation was
exposed
and the individuals he was
providing infonnation about to the FB I became aware of it. E
ri
c's fears became a reality when several
weeks before his surrender and initial arraignment, Robert
Golds
tein, a reporter for the New York Times,
expo
s
ed
the
computer
hacking offense, arrests and descriptions
of
the types
of
individuals involved. Eric
feels that his
po
sition has been
compromised and
he and his family
have
been put at risk. Nevertheless,
his intentions
and
efforts to provide
infonnation to the
FBI displayed his desire
to
initially
make amends
for his behavior.
As a result of Eric's arrest, gui lty plea and pending felony conviction, he will no longer be able to work in
the
capacity of a private investigator.
The New
York Department of State has
infonned
Eric that he
can
no longer apply for a private investigator·s license.
Word
of his arrest and pending sentencing has
resulted in him losing
many of
his clients. This has already resulted in financial hardship for himself
and
his family. In spite
of
the presentence r
epor
t
's
sentenc
in
g g uideline range, Eric is very
aware
that
Your
Honor
has the authority to imp
ose any
sentence -
even
a
se
ntence including a period of imprisonment. He
is fearful
of what
a sentence
of
imprisonment will
do
to him
and his
family
as
they
are
already suffering
from his poor judgment
and
illegal behav ior in so
many
ways. t is my humble opinion that if Eric, a
candidate for U.S. Probation supervision, would be a model probationer' as he is looking to put hi s life
back together.
In
closing
, I appreciate the time Your
Honor
has taken to read this letter regarding Eric Saldarriaga.
As
a
fonner
federal officer
of
the
co
urts, 1have a healthy understanding
and
respect for the Court. I h
ope
this
letter sheds
some
light on Eric Saldarriaga, a good, hard-working
and
devoted family man
who
made a
terrible mistake. I
also
hope you will cons
ider
the
se
rious
consequences
and hardship facing him and
those dependent upon him if the felony conviction, which will prohibit him from working in the same
capacity of
the only
career
he truly knows, also results in any tenn
of
imprisonment. Your
under
s
tanding
and any leniency will be sincer
ely
apprec iated.
Very truly yours,
Thomas
J. Bridges
Page
of
3
Case 1:15-cr-00136-RJS Document 26 Filed 07/06/15 Page 17 of 38
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e
Eric
a
ldarriaga
Page of
Case 1:15-cr-00136-RJS Document 26 Filed 07/06/15 Page 18 of 38
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19/38
Social Work Counseling Services
PLLL
TREATMENT SUMMARY
-
t ~ ; l :::
~ ; _ ~ ~
' "46::1
DOB:
10/24/1973
Date of Report: May 8, L .015
r:,-;,
. - d . - l · 1 1
i · 1 . . . .
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.
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t. •
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)• J l.a
8/20/2019 Saldarriaga Order: Letters and transcripts
20/38
was
15
years old, l e ~ v i n g
his
m o t h ~ · to raise him ;:inrl
hi
hrnt11Pr HP. renorted
a
relationship with
him as a n
adult.
He
dropped out of Long Island
City High
School
in
12th
grade
and
pursued vocational classes.
He
has worked
as an auto
mechanic, h eld security jobs, and
as
a private investigato r .
He
married in
2006,
and has 2 sons, age 6 and 4. His wife is employed as an insurance
r
· · ;· :
r .
Mr. Saldarriaga b currently not employed due to icga1 issues
sLem g w
c1 federal investigation, which began
in
March 2014.
He
was allegedly
under
inve
s tiga tion by the FBI for charges of cyber crimes,
specifically
hacking
emails without co nsent
.
This investigation
h
as been th
e
focus
of
Mr.
. J z J d a r r i a q ~ : s
li f
c
for
the
pric;t
vc>ar.
He
:1rccpted a
plea
to
Cl
f e l o r
y
chai
' l l
May 2015, which resulted in him losing his license to
work as
a private
investigator.
This
e /Cnt
and
decision has
nL
l:L.i
in
u :
0
.. _
. .'
.; ··:
... ;
episode. Ile
repo1
ts feelings of worthlessness
as a
person,
a
husband
anrl a
father .
2
of
4
Case 1:15-cr-00136-RJS Document 26 Filed 07/06/15 Page 20 of 38
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21/38
Ile
states
that he
will not
be
able to provide
a satisfactory income
for his
family. He
reports
feelings of
hope
l
ess, and
helplessness.
He tears
ror
111s 111e
due
to
media articles that
were
published with his
name and charges
.
He
believes
that clien ts may be under the perception that he was an informant
and
seek
retribution.
Mr.
Saldarriaga's
current mental status is as follows : He is a
41.7-year-old
male of Puerto Rican
descent.
He
is
well o r o o m t : ~
cuu
is
. His
mood shifts from anxious
to depressed, with periods
of
irritab ility and
hostility
a lternating with tearfulness and crying. His t h o u ~
with no evidC'nce of a formal thought disorder. He reports -
,
and is prese
1l1y
able
Lu
contract
for
safety.
No homicidal
ideation
is present
at this time.
His
attention rinci ronrentrcitirrn
limiterl
.
and
he ra
id
chanaes to
i
cs
at
times
faiJino
to return to
the
initial
conversation .
He is diagnosed as follows:
Mr. Saldarriaga's mental s tatus has continued to
decline
consistently after
accepting the felony
plea bargain.
He ruminates and perseverates as
to
w h e t h ~ r he
made the
right
decision,
n
June. He has
begu,1 u
- ·
I h ve
suggested
referral
to
a psychiatrist for
an evJ
lua tion anrl m r l i r ~ t i n n ni.::in;:iopnwnt. He
current
is
Jrcscribed
. .
e reports
comp
1an
relief. He
continues to
exhibit
Case 1:15-cr-00136-RJS Document 26 Filed 07/06/15 Page 21 of 38
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22/38
Treatment focuses on
symptom
relief,
and
is
dialectically
based focusing
on
cognitive
distortions
mindfulness
emotional
regulation
and
distress
tolerance. Progress is slow due to his cognitive impairment and persever;:ition.
It
is
my opinion
that
in ca
rcerdtion would profoundlv
impact
his
depres
si
on
a
nd cause
rapid
decompcnsation.
1
recommend
probation
as
an alternative to
inc
arceration
.
( (;
1
Shari Levin, LCSW, QCSW
Clinical Psychotherapist
E
xecuuve
Director
29-24
Hoyt
Avenue South
Astoria NY 11102
71
8
721-
06
33
t , /.: :
t } J
i a ~ - :
couns
cl
ng.cc n t Pr@g111
;1iJ.c·c
1
4 of 4
Case 1:15-cr-00136-RJS Document 26 Filed 07/06/15 Page 22 of 38
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Social \/\lark Counseling
Services
PLLC
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Exc c t v
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Addendum
to
Eric
Saldarriaga s
Treatment
Summary
Pg 2
First paragraph:
prescriptions were
given with a lmonth supply.
Third Paragraph:
Hi:> brother
has
a
history
nf
iP; irt
rli,Pri
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.
~
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XF6VSALC
SEALED
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN
DISTRICT
OF NEW YORK
- -- -
----
- ---- -- -- - - - -- -- --- -- -x
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
v.
5 ERIC SALDARRIAGA,
6
Defendant .
7
- -----------------------------x
15
CR 136 {RJS
CONFERENCE
8
New
York,
N. Y.
June 26,
2015
9
2:23
p.m.
10
Before
:
11
HON.
RICHARD J . SULLIVAN,
•·
·. ··
12
13
14
APPEARANCES
15
PREET
BHARARA
16 United Sta te s Attorney fo r the
Southern
Dis t r i c t o f
New York
17
DANIEL
S.
NOBLE
Ass i s tan t United Sta tes Attorney
18
PETER
E.
BRILL
19
Attorney fo r
Defendant
20
21
22
23
24
25
Dis t r i c t Judge
SOUTHERN
DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C .
{212
805-0300
1
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{
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XF6VSALC
SEALED
In
the
robing room)
THE
COURT: All r igh t . I wanted
to
very b r i e f l y t a l k
about sea l ing
in t h i s
case ,
and I wanted to do t ha t before we
go
i n to open court .
The
government
requested - -
and I gran ted
- -
t h a t two
paragraphs be
sea led from the
sentenc ing l e t t e r .
MR
NOBLE:
One paragraph.
THE COURT: One paragraph,
I guess
spanning two pages .
MR
NOBLE: Yes.
THE
COURT:
The
defense sl.:1bmissions have
nothing,
r igh t? You f i l e d a redac ted vers ion of a l l. o f t h i s
MR BRILL: Yes, y ~ u r Honor .
THE
COURT: t h a t
makes
no re ference
to
any
a t tempts
a t coopera t ion , r igh t?
The p ~ o b l e m
as I see
it,
i s
t h e r e s
a
ew York imes
a r t i c l e in
which
the government i s so r t o f
perce ived
as
l oud ly
making
a
sentencing
recommendation fo r a cus tod ia l
sentence
because the importance o f sending the
message
about
how
ser ious
t h i s conduct
i s . There a re people who have wri t t en
l e t t e r s
to
the
Court saying t h a t · t h i s kind of hacking
has
to s top
and
it s
r e a l l y
impor tant t ha t the
people
responsible
fo r
the hacking
be
iden t i f i ed and
brought
to jus t i ce .
But what s no t before anybody in
the
publ ic , inc luding
the vict ims, i s t h a t t h e re were at tempts
to
do j u s t t h a t .
T h ere s an a l l ega t ion t h a t t he
government
wasn t p a r t i cu l a r l y
SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C.
212
·
805
-
0300
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XF6VSALC
SEALED
1 i n t e re s t ed . And so I m going
to
be asked
to
consider
those
2 th ings , but not
make
them publ ic . And then the publ ic i s going
3 to be ~ s s e s s i n g my sentence without knowledge about those
4 cons idera t ions , and t ha t
concerns
me.
5 I have to say, I m
not
sure I see tha t t h e re s r e a l l y
6 been any
danger tha t has
been ar t i cu la ted , other
than
the
7 vaguest
asser t ions
tha t come i n h e ren t l y
and
gener ica l ly with
8 coopera t ion . So I guess
I m happy
to
hear e i t h e r
of you.
9
MR BRILL: I th ink,
j u s t
to add
to the Co u r t s
10
computation, i s the fac t tha t the re a l s o i s
a t l e a s t a
couple
11 of
words in the e a r l i e r imes a r t i c l e
based
upon what
we
12
bel i eve
was
an FBI
leak,
and the a r t i c l e tha t
p p e r e ~
l a s t
13
nigh t a l so re ferenc ing some cooperat ion.
14
THE COURT: I t says h e s been coopera t ive ,
which
15 d o es n t
mean
. necessar i ly t ha t someone i s coopera t ing; it means
16
tha t they are not running away, they are not
denying
anything,
17
they are producing documents, whatever .
18
MR
BRILL:
Right . I
th ink why
Mr.
Goldste in sa id
it
19
tha t way,
to avoid t h e
fu l l unders tanding of t ha t
te rm .
.
20 Mr. Saldarr iaga i s very concer ned_ j u s t i f i e d o r no.
21
THE
COURT:
Well,
it
has
to
be j u s t i f i ed .
22
MR BRILL: For his
own sa fe ty .
23 THE COURT:
I d o n t doubt the s incer i ty o f h i s
24
concern,
but
I
have to
get
to
the j u s t i f i c a t i o n o f it
25
Who i s going
to
be
reac t ing
o r re t a l i a t ing aga ins t
SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS P . C.
(212)
805-0300
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XF6VSALC
SEALED
Mr
Saldarr iaga as
a resul t
of the at tempts a t cooperation?
MR.
BRILL: I
think we
know
the reputat ion of the
•
o tha t
would be the primary concern.
There was
an
individual who Mr Saldarriaga had
recorded on numerous
occasions,
n individual
named
from
overseas, who
he had
made
multiple suggestions to the
FBI
about the i r ~ i l i t y to
bring him
to the country -- and,
in
fact , he
came
to
the
country and ar res t him
which,
they
chose not to follow
through
on. That s in reference to tha t
bribery scandal .
THE
COURT: Look, my point
i s
th is : I think
these
are
a l l
very
va l id considerat ions
as
to what s an appropriate
sentence
within
the range.
And I think
the
public
has
a r ight
to
know
what the
considerations
were
of the
Court.
And to
hide
a l l of tha t and then have the government basica l ly t e l l ing
me
how important
t i s
tha t
people
who commit these crimes
get
a
j a i l term
I
think
a t least
opens
the
door
to
there
being
rea l
confusion here; tha t they
are
going to
mischaracterize
my
sentencing
because
they don t
know a l l the things tha t I
considered.
SOUTHERN
DISTRICT
REPORTERS
P C
(212)
805
-0 300
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XF6VSALC
SEALED
And
so unless ,
I
t h ink , someone
.can r ea l l y a r t i c u l a t e
fo r me
why
t h e re
i s
a
need to keep
under
wraps
the
e f fo r t s t ha t
Mr. Saldarr iaga
made,
then
I
d o n t th ink
the presumption
o f
open records has been overcome, and
I
d o n t
t h ink t h e re i s
any
bas i s
fo r me to
sea l
re fe rences to those mater ia l s
going
forward.
T h a t s
why I
wanted
to
do
t h i s before we
go
out t h e re ,
to
give you an oppor tun i ty
to
respond.
But
my
i nc l ina t ion i s
to unseal the th ings
t ha t
have been redacted and/or to docket
unredacted vers ions o f w ha t s been redac ted with some minor
except ions,
inc lud ing
the
names
of ch i ld ren , Soc ia l Secur i ty ,
addresses , bank accounts ;
to
the
ex ten t t h e r e s anyth ing
l i k e
t h a t i n the record, those
should be redac ted
and by law,
t hey
a re
supposed
to
be redacted.
But re ferences to
a t t empts
a t
coopera t ion I th ink should not
~
redac ted
o r
· sea led .
MR
BRILL: Along with s p ec i f i c s ?
THE
COURT
: For
example,
mentioning t he
name t ha t
you
mentioned, I
d o n t
know
t ha t t h a t s
necessary . But I th ink the
genera l nature of the at tempts to be coopera t ive wi th the
government a re ones
t ha t
- - t d o es n t meri t a SK, but t
ce r t a in ly i s r e l ev an t under 3553(a) .
MR
BRILL: I m
sor ry
.
THE COURT: T h a t s f ine .
(Pause)
MR
BRILL:
Judge,
Mr.
S
a l d a r r i ag a has,
even
l a s t
SOUTHERN DISTRICT
REPORTERS , P.C.
(21 2 ) 805 -0 300
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.
6
XF6VSALC SEALED
1
night ,
received
phone
ca l l s
with genera l ized t h rea t s .
2 THE COURT: From whom?
3
MR. BRILL: We don
1
t know.
4 THE
COURT: What were the
threa ts?
MR.
BRILL: You
1
d
l ike to hear
it di rec t ly
from
6 Mr. Saldarr iaga?
7
THE COURT: No, you
1
re his at torney, you can say i t .
8
MR. BRILL: I t essen t i a l ly was, Can you t a lk
I was
9 on the phone with him a t· the t ime, so
he
cl icked
over
to the
10
other phone
ca l l .
11 He explained
to me
afterwards,
the person
sa id , Can
12
you
t a lk
now?
13 He
says, Who are
you?
14 The
person
says,
I t
doesn
1
t
matter . Can you
ta lk?
15
He says, No, I don t have time to t a lk .
16 And the person
says
something to the e f fec t of , pardon
17
my language, I m going to fuck you tomorrow.
18
THE COURT: Well, I don t know what t ha t means. I
1
m
19
not
sure
t ha t s because of
cooperation
or because of
the
crime?
20 There was a ew York imes s tory
today
which
i s
21 nei ther
good
nor bad.
The imes
has a r ight
to
publ i sh
22 whatever s to r i e s
they
want; but it cer ta in ly has
a t t rac ted
23
a t ten t ion .
And it
could
be tha t people who
don
1
t l ike
the idea
24 of hacking are the one s who are
ca l l ing .
I
have no reason
to
25 th ink tha t it s coming from the people o r the en t i t i e s against
SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS
P.C.
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XF6VSALC
SEALED
1 whom Mr. Saldarr iaga
attempted
to
cooperate.
2
Do
you have any
reason
to th ink t ha t it s from one
3
source
as
opposed
to another?
4
MR. BRILL : I have
no
basis
one
way
or the other ,
5 Judge.
6 May I j u s t have one more moment with Mr.
Saldarr iaga?
7
THE
COURT:
Okay.
8
(Pause)
9
THE
DEFENDANT: Your Honor?
10
THE
COURT: You can speak
i f
you want .
11
THE DEFENDANT: May I address your Honor?
12 THE
COURT: Yes.
13
THE
DEFENDANT:
I s th i s a l l
under seal
r ight
now?
14
THE
COURT:
Well, t he r e s no
guarantees
it i s going
to
15
remain
under
seal , so we are not
in
open
cour t .
16 MR. BRILL: Someone would have to or9er the
minutes
of
17 th i s hearing and the judge would have to
grant
i t .
18 (Pause)
19
THE
COURT: Don t expect me to consider
these
things.
20
You c a n t s o r t of say t ha t I m
going
to consider in a vacuum
21
everything t ha t you re asking
me
to consider
and
to at tach a
22 great weight to .
23 I don t l e t vict ims send me secre t
notes
tha t
you
24 don
1
.t ge t to look a t ; and I
1
m not going to sentence
you
on the
25
bas is
of
sec re t information t ha t
nobody
e l se
gets to know
SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS
P.C.
(212) 805-0300
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XF6VSALC SEALED
about, unless the.r e s a
very
good reason to
keep
things secre t .
So the re s a presumption of open records. Nobody has
moved
to
sealed th i s
courtroom.
MR. NOBLE: No.
THE COURT: I m doing th i s in my
robing
room for now
jus t out of precaution to make sure I don t do something
that
would ra ise issues
tha t
could
be potent ia l ly
dangerous. But I
haven t heard anything so fa r to suggest ~ h t
there s
any
reason
why I need to
seal
these proceedings, the
t ranscr ipts ,
o r the submissions a t th i s
point .
MR. NOBLE: Judge,
i f I may
address the l e t t e r tha t
we
sent
·
to
the
Court in
support
of our
applicat ion
to
sea l the one
paragraph . That
was based on representat ions
from
Mr.
Saldarr iaga
and .
his counsel .
Speci f ica l ly with regard to
an
individual
tha t
Mr. Saldarr iaga.
recorded phone
ca l l s with, who was
associated
with
, t was our understanding tha t
he did feel a threa t to his personal
safe ty
i f tha t were to
become public
. I
don t
know
tha t s
how he
s t i l l fee ls
today, but that was
the
basis for our
sealing
tha t , because
we
did
.have the reference in there
to
recorded phone ca l l s in
our
sentencing
submission.
THE
COURT: All r igh t .
MR.
NOBLE: Just
explain
the basis
THE
COURT:
That s
f ine.
SOUTHERN
DISTRICT
REPORTERS P.C.
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XF6VSALC SEALED
MR
NOBLE:
- -
and -
our unders tanding
as to
THE COURT:
I m not fau l t ing
anybody.
I m
j u s t
saying
t ha t
the presumption
i s open
records
and
there needs to be an
a r t i cu l a t i o n
as
to
why
the presumption has been
overcome. And
I
haven t heard anything
yet .
The f ac t
t ha t
somebody has
a
sub jec t ive
fea r i s not enough; there
has
to
be
an
a r t i cu l ab l e ,
reasonable fea r .
THE DEFENDANT: Your
Honor,
i
I may.
THE COURT: Yes.
THE PEFENDANT: When I agreed to coopera te
wi th
the
government, I
gave names
of people and t h e i r pos i t ions . And I
was
assured by the government t h a t
the
FBI conducts t h r ea t
assessments
of
people who
I v e been
coopera t ing aga ins t ;
and
t h a t they
have
been
l imi ted to a
ce r t a in amount of
people ,
the
people
of
i n t e r e s t .
THE COURT: Okay.
THE
DEFENDANT:
And, you know, one of those persons ,
you
know,
I expla ined
to
t ~ m
had
t i e s in fore ign governments
and
had
done a l o t o f
you know, a
l o t of
wronsdoing
i n t e rna t iona l ly ,
had a l o t of money and t i e s
with
people in
foreign
coun t r i es
who a re b i l l i o n a i r e s .
I provided - -
the Court
has informat ion t ha t could
have
l ed
to
the
a r r e s t of these people . I
used
language t h a t
was
language t h a t I would never have used under the i n s t r u c t i o n
o f
t he
FBI, which r a i s ed suspicions to these people.
And
these
SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS P.C.
(212) 805-0300
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10
XF VSALC
SEALED
1 people were coming to
meet
with me, a t the l a s t moment
the
FBI
2 se ized
in te res t
in me
or
removed the recording device from me
3 to meet t h i s
person. So
now th i s person
saw the a r t i c l e ; they
4 know;
they
have a bone to pick with me.
5 THE COURT: The i ssue i s what are they going to do
6 about it. Do you
have
any reason
to
th ink anybody i s
going
to
7 do anything
other
than jus t look a t
you
awkwardly the
next
time
8
you see
them?
THE DEFENDANT:
Absolutely
not,
your Honor. I th ink
10
these people,
they
fee l probably
the worries tha t
I ve
been
11 feel ing
for
the
p s ~
15 months, you know, what s
going
to
12 happen.
13
THE COURT: Do you
th ink
they are
going
to
do
14 something to harm
you?
15
THE
DEFENDANT:
I
do th ink tha t .
16
THE COURT: What s
your
basis for thinking tha t?
17 THE
DEFENDANT: These
are former mil i t a ry people,
18
these
are people who
have p o ~ t o n s
due
to
t he i r protec t ion .
19 They
have
web.s i t e s where, you know, they t r a i n
in
camps, you
20 .
know,
for inves t igat ions ,
you know, l ike
parami l i ta ry- type
21 t ra in ing
camps .
22
.It s
scary enough to
me, your Honor, you know, as a
23
fa ther . You
see
t h i s every
day.
24
25
THE COURT:
I
see
t h i s
every day.
THE DEFENDANT:
I
d o n t l ive t h i s
l i f e
every day,
your
SOUTHERN
DISTRICT REPORTERS,
P.C.
(212) 805
-
0300
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· XF6VSALC SEALED
Honor.
I m
in fear
fo r my
l i f e .
THE
COURT:
I have people who
a re a t grea t
r i s k .
There i s
an
a r t i cu lab le bas i s to bel ieve that . they w i l l be
harmed. I see no such
bas i s
here . Al l I
see i s t ha t
you
a re
concerned - -
unders tandably, I m not
c r i t i c i z i n g you - - because
t h i s
i s unchar ted waters
fo r
you. But it
requ i res more t han
t ha t .
I m asking now the government, a re · you aware o f any
reason
to
b e l i ev e
t ha t
any of · the
t a rge t s i den t i f i ed by
·
Mr. Saldarr iaga who
were inves t iga ted
as a· r e s u l t
of h i s
at tempts a t coopera t ion would r e t a l i a t e agains t him in any way?
•
MR
NOBLE: We
have
no
spec i f i c
informat ion.
THE COURT:
General
informat ion?
MR NOBLE: No genera l
informat ion, other
than t h e
f ac t
t ha t ,
, the harassment t h a t
some
of
the vic t ims
have
suffered .f
rorn
t h e i r
assoc ia t ion o r
former
as so c i a t i o n wi th , the fa9 t t h a t Mr. Sa ld a r r i ag a
t r i e d
to
coopera te agains t
somebody
assoc ia ted with
g en e ra l ly could l ead
to s imi la r
forms o f harassment perhaps .
But
we
have no
spec
i f i c informat ion.
THE
COURT:
The people
who wrote
l e t t e r s , t h e
v ic t im
impact
s t a t ement s ,
those
a re
not sea led a t t h i s poin t .
MR NOBLE: No, those a re not sea led .
THE
COURT: t seems
to
me t h a t those
people
a re a t
SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P . C.
(212) 805 - 0300
Case 1:15-cr-00136-RJS Document 26 Filed 07/06/15 Page 34 of 38
8/20/2019 Saldarriaga Order: Letters and transcripts
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XF6VSALC
SEALED
the r isk of greater harassment than Mr.
Saldarriaga
a t t h i s
point;
yet
there s
been
no
attempts to
seal
those submissions.
MR. BRILL : I think,
Judge,
those
people
make it a
habi t of publicly announcing the i r posit ion; so
simply
to
seal
th i s
one
submission wouldn t change tha t very· much.
THE COURT: ·All r igh t . I have no reason to think that
anybody
i s
going to
r e t a l i a t e
against Mr. Saldarr iaga
or
his
famil
y,
put
thei r
safe ty in jeopardy.
THE DEFENDANT:
Your Honor, i f I may.
holds a very high posi t ion in
He held a great amount
of
confidence
in me; he
confided
a l o t
of
things
about
in
me. And I proved tha t to the
FBI, to the government,
through
my cooperation, tha t , you know
he t rus t s
me
impl ic i t ly . And you know when you t ru s t
somebody implici t ly , and they turn around and they stab
you
in
the
back, there s
no t e l l ing what he could
do.
And he has the
means
and
motive
and the
opportunity f inancial ly to do
anything, and to
cause great
dis t ress to my family, to my
children, to
anybody
in my ci rcle .
THE COURT: What s he going to do? What s your fear?
You re jus t imagining.
I t s
not
enough
to
imagine.
People cooperate against insid