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Case 1:19-cr-00490-RMB Document11i_ Filed 07/12/19 Page 6 of 14
Honorable Richard M. Berman
United States District Judge
July 12, 2019
Page 6
contained in the Indictment. All this in less than a week, and all in addition to an Indictment that
already alleges the existence of dozens of victims in New York and dozens of victims in Florida.
B. The Proposed Bond is Inadequate to Overcome the Presumption of Detention
The defendant’s “slate of highly restrictive” measures which purportedly “amply suffice to
secure his release” are neither highly restrictive nor amply sufficient. Rather, they are effectively
standard conditions of home confinement, monitoring, and bond unsecured by the defendant’s
assets—broken out into 14 pieces. The Government will address the most concerning and salient
elements of the defendant’s proposal below.
1. Lack of Meaningful Bond Security
The defendant proposes that the Court accept his Manhattan mansion as the primary
security for a personal recognizance bond of an indeterminate amount, to be co-signed by the
defendant’s brother and a friend. Release Motion at 4. This is plainly insufficient.
As an initial matter, and as noted above, the defendant’s Manhattan mansion has been
identified in the Indictment as subject to forfeiture because it is alleged to have been used to
commit or facilitate the commission of the sex trafficking offenses charged there. See 18 U.S.C.
§ 1594(c)(1). Because the defendant would thus be likely to lose that property following a
conviction, it provides no value whatsoever as collateral. See 18 U.S.C. § 3142(g)(4) (“In
considering the conditions of release described . . . the judicial officer... shall decline to accept
the designation, or the use as collateral, of property that, because of its source, will not reasonably
assure the appearance of the person as required.”). And while the defendant offers to also pledge
his private jet as additional collateral, there is absolutely no reason to assume that the defendant
would not readily trade his private plane for his freedom. Indeed, the defendant, who has a net
worth of more than $500 million, by his own admission recently sold a second plane and thus
presumably has cash on hand to replace the posted aircraft without difficulty if need be.
Nor does the proposed security of properties owned by two identified co-signers
meaningfully change the calculus. As further described below, the defendant provides no
information about the value or equity of the property of his brother, Mark (the “Palm Beach
Property”), or the significance of that property in the context of his brother’s own net worth.°®
Similarly, the defendant provides no details regarding the “investment interests” of his friend Mr.
Mitchell, nor any reason to believe the loss of those “interests” would be meaningful to Mr.
Mitchell, let alone the defendant. More generally, given the defendant’s proffered net worth, the
defendant could easily make his co-signers whole — and even reward them — were he to flee.
The proposed security, in sum, should give the Court little comfort the defendant would
appear in Court if released on bail.
Tn fact, the defendant’s own submission makes clear that the Palm Beach Property is not his
brother’s exclusive residence and that his brother lives elsewhere for half of the year.
DOJ-OGR- 00000334
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Document Details
| Filename | DOJ-OGR-00000334.jpg |
| File Size | 1054.7 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 94.0% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 3,353 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-03 16:00:17.431571 |