Following the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York’s request for Devon Archer to report to prison over the weekend and the DOJ’s intimidation tactics, Archer’s legal counsel has fired back.
On Saturday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reached out to trial Judge Ronnie Abrams to set a date for Archer’s reporting, in light of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upholding his one-year sentence.
Archer was convicted of two felony charges related to his involvement in a scheme to defraud the Wakpamni Lake Community Corporation of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.
Earlier on Sunday, Breaking Digest reported that the letter asked the court to schedule a specific date and time for Archer to present himself at a facility designated by the Bureau of Prisons.
In a one-page letter, Assistant U.S. Attorney Negar Tekeei disclosed that the prosecutors had already requested Matthew Schwartz, Archer’s attorney, to suggest a reporting date in light of the Second Circuit ruling.
However, Schwartz brushed aside the request as “premature,” stating that Archer was considering further appeals and had reservations about a potential “error” in the sentencing procedure. Nonetheless, he committed to providing a response to the U.S. attorney’s inquiry by Wednesday.
Despite the opposition, the DOJ is pushing for Archer’s surrender date, as outlined in their letter, where they assert, “The Government disagrees with counsel’s position that a report date should not be set, and respectfully requests permission to respond to any arguments made by the defendant.”
Nonetheless, the court is unlikely to reach a verdict before the scheduled meeting with the House Oversight Committee, and Matthew Schwartz has verified that Archer will indeed go ahead with his planned appearance on Monday.
Schwartz emphasized that Archer’s stance is that the timing of the DOJ’s request and his meeting with the Committee are completely unrelated. In a firm statement, Schwartz put an end to any speculations surrounding the DOJ’s inquiry.
“We are aware of speculation that the Department of Justice’s weekend request to have Mr. Archer report to prison is an attempt by the Biden administration to intimidate him in advance of his meeting with the House Oversight Committee on Monday,” Schwartz said.
“To be clear, Mr. Archer does not agree with that speculation. In any case, Mr. Archer will do what he has planned to do all along, which is to show up on Monday and to honestly answer the questions that are put to him by the Congressional investigators.”
