{"id":165066,"date":"2021-02-23T16:20:03","date_gmt":"2021-02-23T21:20:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=165066"},"modified":"2021-02-23T16:43:55","modified_gmt":"2021-02-23T21:43:55","slug":"prosecutors-offer-plea-deal-to-nyc-lawyers-who-firebombed-police-vehicle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/prosecutors-offer-plea-deal-to-nyc-lawyers-who-firebombed-police-vehicle\/","title":{"rendered":"Prosecutors Offer Plea Deal to NYC Lawyers Who Firebombed Police Vehicle"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fprosecutors-offer-plea-deal-to-nyc-lawyers-who-firebombed-police-vehicle%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=165066&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-1216237394-e1593698082443.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Federal prosecutors have offered a plea deal to two New York City lawyers accused of fire-bombing a police car and distributing Molotov cocktails to rioters during protests that followed the death of George Floyd last summer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The defendants, Colinford Mattis and Urooj Rahman, were offered plea bargains on Feb. 11, according to a letter prosecutors submitted to a federal trial court on Saturday. Prosecutors and defense lawyers were set to participate in a status hearing on Tuesday morning, which was rescheduled in light of the new developments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"posts-content__category-widget md:hidden -ml-4 -mr-4 my-8 px-4 py-6 bg-gray-100\">\n<h4 class=\"mt-0 text-red-600 font-medium font-sans uppercase\">Recent Stories in Latest News<\/h4>\n<ul class=\"list-none p-0\">\n<li class><a class=\"text-black block mb-3 pb-3 border-b border-white\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/latest-news\/prosecutors-offer-deal-to-nyc-lawyers-who-firebombed-police-vehicle\/\"><strong>Prosecutors Offer Plea Deal to NYC Lawyers Who Firebombed Police Vehicle<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li class><a class=\"text-black block mb-3 pb-3 border-b border-white\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/latest-news\/pulitzer-prize-winning-journalist-calls-america-a-criminal-enterprise\/\"><strong>Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist Calls America a \u2018Criminal Enterprise&#8217;<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li class><a class=\"text-black block mb-3 pb-3 border-b border-white\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/latest-news\/china-rejects-genocide-charge-in-xinjiang-says-door-open-to-u-n\/\"><strong>China Rejects Genocide Charge in Xinjiang, Says Door Open to U.N.<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;The parties are engaged in plea negotiations which they believe are likely to result in a disposition of this case without trial,&#8221; the letter reads.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The details of the offer are not public and may change as attorneys negotiate. The letter is signed by Mark Lesko, the number two federal prosecutor for the district covering Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and Long Island.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Mattis is a Princeton-educated corporate lawyer and Rahman attained pretrial release with the help of a former Obama administration official. She&#8217;s also retained a top defense lawyer to represent her in court. Friendly reports from NPR and BuzzFeed News cast the pair as &#8220;idealistic attorneys hoping to change the world,&#8221; who were &#8220;living the American dream their immigrant parents had aspired for them.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whether the prospective deal includes guilty pleas to felony charges will have significant professional consequences for Mattis and Rahman. Lawyers in New York state are automatically disbarred if they are convicted of a felony. Mattis was an associate at Pryor Cashman, a midsize corporate law firm. Rahman was a public interest lawyer practicing with Bronx Legal Services.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>It is an open question whether a Biden-appointed U.S. attorney will continue prosecuting the case against Mattis and Rahman. Some legal observers have questioned whether the case is appropriate for federal court, since it involves purely local conduct. The acting U.S. attorney supervising their case, Seth DuCharme, advised senior officials in the Trump Justice Department before former attorney general William Barr picked him to serve as acting U.S. attorney last summer. A spokesperson didn&#8217;t respond to a question about when DuCharme will step down, though it doesn&#8217;t appear he will be among those U.S. attorneys who will resign at the end of this month at President Joe Biden&#8217;s request.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Surveillance video captured Rahman lighting a Molotov cocktail and tossing it into an empty police vehicle in May 2020. She then retreated to a minivan, which Mattis drove, and fled the scene. A witness told authorities that Rahman tried to distribute Molotov cocktails to others &#8220;in furtherance of more destruction and violence,&#8221; according to federal prosecutors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;The defendants&#8217; criminal conduct was extraordinarily serious,&#8221; prosecutors wrote in<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/495707204\/USA-v-Mattis-et-al-letter-requesting-detention-as-to-defendants-Mattis-and-Rahman\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">a letter<\/span><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">pressing a trial court to keep them in jail as the case proceeds.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Both defendants face seven felony charges, including civil disorder, arson conspiracy, and federal explosives charges. Such convictions could carry lengthy jail sentences.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The<\/span> <em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Washington Free Beacon<\/span><\/em> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">was<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/latest-news\/former-obama-intelligence-official-helps-secure-bail-for-molotov-cocktail-throwing-nyc-lawyer\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">first to report<\/span><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">that a former Obama administration intelligence official, Salmah Rizvi, guaranteed a $250,000 bail for Rahman. Rizvi will be liable for a quarter-million dollars if Rahman fails to comply with the conditions of her pretrial release. At the time, Rizvi was a litigation associate in the Washington offices of Ropes &#038; Gray. She is currently a law clerk for Judge Theodore McKee of the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, according to LinkedIn.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Citing the &#8220;willingness of family and friends to sign on as suretors,&#8221; a federal trial court released Rahman to home confinement and GPS monitoring while the case proceeds. Prosecutors fought that order and sought to have her detained, but the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the trial court&#8217;s decision.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rahman has retained a highly respected defense lawyer, Paul Shechtman, to represent her in court. Shechtman is a protege of the legendary Manhattan prosecutor Robert Morgenthau, was an aide to former New York governor George Pataki (R.), and held leadership posts with the office of the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The case is<\/span> <em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">USA<\/span><\/em> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">v.<\/span> <em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mattis et al<\/span><\/em> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"my-8 hide-print\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1526555381173-4\" class=\"mobile-250 desktop-90\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Federal prosecutors have offered a plea deal to two New York City lawyers accused of fire-bombing a police car and distributing Molotov cocktails to rioters during protests that followed the &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2274060,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-1216237394-e1593698082443.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Prosecutors Offer Plea Deal to NYC Lawyers Who Firebombed Police Vehicle","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-165066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-1216237394-e1593698082443.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Prosecutors Offer Plea Deal to NYC Lawyers Who Firebombed Police Vehicle","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165066\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2274060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}