PSR: Presentence Investigation Report – NY case

9 years, 8 months and 3 days since the day of arrest

Metropolitan Detention Center Brooklyn, New York

That is how the machinery of the American "justice" works: when someone either loses the trial, or after he/she has signed a plea agreement, one proceeds to the sentencing stage. However, before the Judge issues a sentencing date, a probation officer conducts an interview with the defendant. Based on that interview (as well as on the probation officer's own fantasies) and mostly on information he/she received from the government, the probation officer creates the Presentence Investigation Report (PSR) with an offense level computation. This serves as recommendation to the Judge for the approaching sentencing, as well as to the Federal Bureau of Prisons to assist in administering the offender's sentence.

We prisoners are not allowed to have a copy of this report, but our lawyers are. If a lawyer thinks that there is something wrong with it, then he/she may ask for clarification and corrections. There is a legal restriction on the use and disclosure of the Presentence Investigation Report, and that is why we prisoners don't have a right to keep it in our possession.

"Disclosure of a presentence investigation report to the Federal Bureau of Prisons and re-disclosure by the Bureau of Prisons is authorized by the United States District Court solely to assist administering the offender's prison sentence (i.e. classification, designation, programming, sentence calculation, pre-release planning, escape apprehension, prison disturbance response, sentence commutation or pardon) and other limited purposes, including deportation proceedings and federal investigations directly related to terrorists' activities. It is the policy of the federal judiciary and the Department of Justice that further re-disclosure of the presentence investigation report is prohibited without the consent of the sentencing judge."

Photo: The Economist

As Larry Fassler writes in "Busted by the Feds": "In a major stealth attack on the right of all federal inmates to seek post-conviction relief, the Federal Bureau of Prisons under Attorney General Ashcroft promulgated a new regulation, which took effect on November 2, 2002, that prohibits inmates from having copies of their own P.S.I. Reports (PSR) in their possession." This fact has an immediate and drastic effect on the rights of all inmates to appeal their cases.

The amount of time which one is going to be sentenced by the Judge is more or less in correlation with the PSR Offence Level Computation. For example, level 32, depending on one's criminal history, gives a defendant from 10 to 22 years: recently Mike D. got 15 years for nine armed bank robberies. Level 12 = a sentence of 10 months to 3 years. Level 38 = a sentence from 20 years to life; while level 43 is equivalent to a life sentence. So far, my PSR recommends level 52, and we are currently fighting against such computation.

All the offenses mentioned below in my presentencing investigation report, along with a quarter of a billion US dollars, exist solely in the prosecutorial/ agency papers and in their fertile imagination. Despite a rigorous and soon-to-be decade-long worldwide investigation, the U.S. government still finds neither reliable evidence against me nor any money – except for a few Australian cents in a Brisbane bank account. No yachts, mansions, secret accounts, villas, stashed gold bars or whatever. Not even traces of any substantial transactions. But when has lack of evidences ever thwarted an American juggernaut? As John Burdett wrote in his book "Bangkok 8": "Everyone knows how dishonest the American Government is. Would people who invade sovereign countries on false pretences stop at anything?"

Here is the PSR's Offense Level Computation:

Count one, New York case: Conspiracy to Commit Access Device Fraud

- Base offense level: The guideline for this 18 U.S.C. § 1029 offense is 2B1.1(a)(2), which provides a base offense level of 6.	+ 6
- Specific Offense Characteristics: The intended loss ($250,000,000) (two hundred fifty million US dollars) exceeded $200,000,000. Per Guideline 2B1.1(b)(1)(O), 28 levels are added.	+ 28
- The offense involved 250 or more victims. Per Guideline 2B1.1(b)(2)(C), 6 levels are added.	+ 6
- The defendant relocated the fraudulent scheme to another jurisdiction to evade law enforcement. Additionally, a substantial part of the scheme was committed from outside the United States, and the offense involved sophisticated means. Per Guideline 2B1.1(b)(9), 2 levels are added.	+ 2
- The offense involved the possession and use of device-making equipment, as well as the trafficking of unauthorized access devices. Per Guideline 2B1.1(b)(10), 2 levels are added.	+ 2
- Victim-related adjustment: None. (probably due to absence of any victims)	+ 0
- Adjustment for Role in the Offense: The defendant was an organizer and leader of a criminal activity that involved five or more participants, and was otherwise extensive. Per Guideline 3B1.1(a), 4 levels are added.	+ 4
- Adjustment for Obstruction of Justice: None.	+ 0
Adjusted Offense Level (subtotal):	50

Count two, New York case: Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering

- Base Offense Level: The guideline for this 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h) offense is 2S1.1(a)(1), which provides for the application of the offense level for the underlying offense from which the laundered funds were derived. As the offense level for the underlying offense as charged in Count One is 46, the base offense level is 46.	+ 46
- Specific Offense Characteristic: As the defendant was convicted under 18 U.S.C. § 1956, the offense level is increased by 2 levels, per Guideline 2S1.1(b)(2)(B).	+ 2
- Victim-Related Adjustment: None. (probably due to absence of any victims)	+ 0
- Adjustment for Role in the Offense: The defendant was an organizer and leader of a criminal activity that involved five or more participants, and was otherwise extensive. Per Guideline 3B1.1(a), 4 levels are added.	+ 4
Adjusted Offense Level (subtotal):	52

Coincidentally, British magazine The Economist wrote in September, 2012 that Qatar's royal family paid $250m for a version of Paul Cezanne's "The Card Players". Suspiciously, this amount is the same as what the U.S. Government alleges against me. Furthermore, there are "cards" on the scene as well. Could this be the money which this government is attempting to vest upon me?

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Outboard view: It's cloudy over the Statue of Liberty

Book: David Mitchell "Cloud Atlas"

Music: Ginkgo Garden "Journey Of the Clouds"