saldarriaga order: letters and transcripts

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

Case 1:15-cr-00136-RJS Document 26 Filed 07/06/15 Page 1 of 38


2/38

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.



3/38

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.



4/38

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



5/38

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.



6/38

Sincerely

Enio Bencosme

1

Grade Detective New York Police Department



7/38

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



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



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



10/38

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



11/38

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.



12/38

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



13/38

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



14/38

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


15/38

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



16/38

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.,,



17/38

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



18/38

e

Eric

a

ldarriaga

Page of



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 . . . .

h .... .,..,, ; , ..

h · r i ~ 1 - . ~ . · •

. . c- , ... ;-1 r ,... lll 5rjl:

1

17 c""',., .. - .. ,

£ ·

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.

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•· · . ·

.

...

t. •

•.

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)• J l.a


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



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



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



23/38

Social \/\lark Counseling

Services

PLLC

New beginnings are always possible

'V

t

1 )

s

an (. \ 1 C,W Q W

CEO

&

Exc c t v

u c•

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


24/38

.

~

1

2

3

4

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



25/38

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

{

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

2

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.

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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

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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

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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.

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.

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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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7

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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

saldarriaga order: letters and transcripts

Documents