Camden, New Jersey : Accused Liberian national Stanton Witherspoon made arraigned in in Federal Court in New Jersey on Thursday, February 9, 2023 and pleaded not guilty to charges of Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud and Wire Fraud.
Witherspoon and more than two dozen others are accused by the U.S. Department of Justice in the Southern District of Florida of participation in a wire fraud scheme that created an illegal licensing and employment shortcut for aspiring nurses.
According to court documents seen by African Star, Witherspoon appeared with his legal counsel Attorney Annabelle Nahra and was advised of the charges by Federal Prosecutors. He waived the reading of the indictment against him but entered a plea of “not guilty” and was later released on a $150,000 (One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars) bond which was approved by the court.
Standard Conditions and additional Special conditions of the bond were imposed by the federal court and which require that Defendant Witherspoon surrender his passport and all travel documents to the court for the duration of the case, that he reports top Pre-trial as directed and that he seeks no employment in the nursing industry, training or education.
According to the terms of his bond release, Witherspoon is to maintain or actively seek full employment, avoid ant contact with other defendants related to his case except through his legal counsel. He is restricted from possessing a firearm or other dangerous weapons and surrender them to the Probation officer and not sell or mortgage any property he owns except when his bond is discharged or modified by the Court.
Defendant Witherspoon may travel to and from the Southern District of Florida and New Jersey but must inform Pre Trial-Services of his travels. He must also continue residing at his current residence in Burlington, New Jersey and not change his address without informing the Court.
The federal court agreed to have his ankle monitor removed as part of his bond release on Thursday. If the conditions are violated, the defendant risk the issuance of an immediate arrest warrant.
The Federal Judge in the case ordered that, “…the Court confirms the United States obligation to disclose to the defendant all exculpatory evidence- that is, evidence that favors the defendant or casts doubt on the United States case, as required by Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963) and its progeny, and ORDERS the United States to do so. The government has a duty to disclose any evidence that goes to negating the defendant’s guilt, the credibility of a witness, or that would reduce a potential sentence. The defendant is entitled to this information without a request. Failure to disclose exculpatory evidence in a timely manner may result in consequences, including, but not limited to, exclusion of evidence, adverse jury instructions, dismissal of charges, contempt proceedings, disciplinary action, or sanctions by the Court…”
No trial date has been set yet and an empaneled jury will hear the case at trial. Under U.S. laws Witherspoon and others are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law. If found guilty, he will be facing 20 years in federal penitentiary.
The Case is NO: 23-60005-CR-SMITH.
Since news broke of the indictment of Witherspoon who owns several media outlets in the West African country of Liberia, there has been huge interest amongst Liberians and other nationals who are following the developments in the case.
His social media talk show on Spoon TV continues with other panelists who continue to avoid discussing the case. Defendant
Witherspoon has declined to publicly discuss the case, he says, on the advice of his legal counsel.
Source: African Star
I’m following this case carefully, thanks for the update.
Keeping you and your family in our prayers.
[…] he was unavailable. He pleaded not responsible to wire fraud rates in February. He reportedly owns media retailers in the West African nation of Liberia and hosts Spoon Television set Dwell, a social media speak […]