Alleged $722M Crypto Scheme’s Operators Seek Jail Release, Blaming COVID-19

Sometimes, respect must be given to attempts, even if those attempts are as transparent as can be in terms of malicious intent. Two individuals who allegedly ran a Ponzi scheme have recently requested a New Jersey Federal Court to release them. The grounds upon this release is in regards to concerns that the facility will become a hotbed for a COVID-19 outbreak.

Motioning For Release Amid Risk Of Outbreak

Jobadiah Weeks and Matthew Goettsche, besides being men of exemplary names, had submitted individual motions. These motions petitioned the Essex County Correctional Facility within Newark, New Jersey, to release them on the 23rd and 20th of March, respectively.

Rodney Villazor, the attorney of Goettsche, gave an explanation to the matter.  According to Villazor, the question of it spreading to the correctional facility isn’t a matter of “if,” but a concern of “when.” As such, he argued that it would be impossible to stop the spread of the virus, should it reach the prisons. Thus, he advocates that Goettsche’s health and safety are at higher risk the longer he is incarcerated. Indeed, an impressive argument, leveraging every chance it could get.

Using Every Tool Available

Week, in turn, had his representation point out that the record of maintaining proper health for detainees in prison is “exceptionally poor.”

To back this claim, he cited the US Department of Homeland Security’s Office, particularly the findings of the Inspector General. Last year, the Inspector General had reported that these facilities pose “significant threats to detainee health and safety,” which is the grounds of Week’s release argument.

The Inspector-General had identified things like raw, spoiled and expired meat being served for inmates, including raw chicken, moldy, expired bread, as well as hamburgers that were both unrecognizable and foul-smelling.

Requesting Release Due To Potential Lockdown

He explained that there is a rampant risk of illness due to a lack of environmental safety and overall food service within the Essex County Correctional Facility. Thus, he said that an outbreak within the facility is not only possible but inevitable.

Furthermore, the lawyers argued that the facility going into lock-down if the virus hit them, would make it impossible for the suspects to comply with their own discovery requests.

Both Weeks and Goettsche, as well as two other defendants, are caught up in accusations of operating a Ponzi scheme totaling in $722 million. They did this for five years, operating during 2014 and 2019 under the guys of a crypto mining pool called BitClub Network.