Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_14-cr-00023/USCOURTS-caed-2_14-cr-00023-11/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Kari Sonovich
Defendant
USA
Plaintiff

Document Text:

United States v. Sonovich, Continue Status Conference to 

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JAMES R. GREINER, ESQ.

CALIFORNIA STATE BAR NUMBER 123357

LAW OFFICES OF JAMES R. GREINER

1024 IRON POINT ROAD

FOLSOM, CALIFORNIA 95630

TELEPHONE: (916) 357-6701

FAX: (916) 920-7951

E mail: jaygreiner@midtown.net

ATTORNEY FOR DEFENDANT 

KARI SONOVICH

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,) CR.NO. 2:14-CR-0023-GEB

)

PLAINTIFF, ) STIPULATION BETWEEN THE PARTIES TO 

) CONTINUE THE STATUS CONFERENCE TO 

v. ) FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2016 WITH 

) EXCLUSION OF TIME FROM THE SPEEDY 

KARI SONOVICH, ) TRIAL ACT AND FINDINGS OF FACT AND

) PROPOSED ORDER 

)

DEFENDANT. ) 

)

_________________________)

The parties to this litigation, the United States of 

America, represented by Assistant United States Attorney, Jean 

M. Hobler, and for the defendant, KARI SONOVICH, James R. 

Greiner, hereby agree and stipulate to the following:

1. This case was previously before U.S. District Judge John 

A. Mendez, but was reassigned to Senior U.S. District Judge 

Garland E. Burrell, Jr. by order dated January 8, 2016.

2. Judge Mendez previously determined this matter was 

complex under Local Code T-2, based on voluminous discovery in 

the instant case and its relation to three other, resolved cases 

Case 2:14-cr-00023-JAM Document 43 Filed 07/26/16 Page 1 of 7
United States v. Sonovich, Continue Status Conference to 

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in which voluminous additional discovery was made available to 

counsel in this case. C.R. 19.1

3. By previous order, this matter was set for status on 

Friday, July 29, 2016.

4. By this Stipulation, the defendant now moves to continue 

the status conference until Friday, September 23, 2016, at 9:00

a.m., and to continue to exclude time pursuant to the Speedy 

Trial Act between Friday, July 29, 2016, and Friday, September 

23, 2016, under Local Codes T-2 (complexity) and T-4 (time for 

adequate attorney preparation).

5. The government has produced the following voluminous 

amount of discovery in this case:

a- A CD with 10,970 pages of discovery has 

been produced to the defense to date and

b- the related case of: USA v. Vassallo, 09-

179; SEC v. Vassallo,09-665; USA v. Sanders, 090-459 and USA 

v. Kenitzer, 09-459, there is approximately 65,000 pages of 

discovery, and

c- In addition, the government had issued to 

Google a search warrant for two e mail addresses, the government 

produced 7 DVD’s of information that were in zip drive (meaning 

a lot of information). The defense completed the transfer of the 

7 DVD’s to an external 4 TB hard drive (so the zip drives could 

 

1 Note that the docket entry indicates an exclusion only under Local 

Code T4, but the underlying order makes findings under both T2 and T4.

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United States v. Sonovich, Continue Status Conference to 

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be open in full) by the early part of November 2014 and has been 

reviewing the information since that time. 

d- The government has recently produced 

(June, 2015) additional discovery consisting of e mails from 

Google of the g-mail account of Joseph Birch. A rough estimate

of the number of e mails is that there are between 5,000 to 

9,000 e mails (there is approximately 1,201 Mb of documents 

produced). 

E – The defense has arranged to begin review 

of seized evidence held by the FBI related to the Vassallo case 

on August 2, 2016, which was the first available date for 

defense counsel given intervening obligations in other cases. 

This evidence is in addition to the above evidence and is 

similarly voluminous.

6. All of this discovery is being reviewed and 

being reviewed with the client which is generating additional 

investigation and potential leads to investigate by the defense 

which requires the additional time to adequately prepare this 

case and to adequately discuss the case with the client.

7. In addition, the additional investigation 

requires sufficient reasonable time to adequately investigate 

since some of the investigation is out of the State of 

California, for example, Nevada, Washington State, and in 

addition, there is investigation outside the United States which 

requires further additional reasonable amount of time to 

adequately investigate. 

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United States v. Sonovich, Continue Status Conference to 

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8. An unindicted co-conspirator pleaded guilty in 

June 2016 on related charges in a case brought in the United 

Kingdom. The resolution of that case may impact how the defense 

proceeds in this case, a matter counsel requires time to discuss 

with his client. 

9. The parties agree and stipulate to the 

following facts and request the Court to find the following:

a. The government has produced discovery to date 

which consists of 10,970 pages and 

b. the related cases of: USA v. Sanders, 090-459, 

USA v. Kenitzer, 09-459, USA v. Vassallo, 09-179 and SEC v. 

Vassallo,09-665; there is approximately 65,000 pages of 

discovery and

c. The 7 DVD’s in zip drive which have been 

transferred to a 4 TB external hard drive, this is 

conservatively estimated to contain over approximately 250,000 

documents.

d. The government has recently produced (June, 

2015) additional discovery consisting of e mails from Google of 

the g-mail account of Joseph Birch. A rough estimate of the 

number of e mails, since review of the g-mail account has not 

fully occurred, is that there may be upwards between 5,000 to 

9,000 e mails (there is approximately 1,201 Mb of documents 

produced). 

e. The evidence available at the FBI from the 

Vassallo and Sanders matters is similarly voluminous.

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f. Counsel for defendant Kari Sonovich needs 

time, to continue to review all of the discovery described 

above, to review the discovery with the client and investigator, 

to continue to carry out and modify as investigation continues 

the investigation plan, to conduct investigation into this case, 

do research, which includes legal research, in this case, and to 

otherwise do review and investigation, using due diligence, that 

this complex case requires. Counsel for defendant Kari Sonovich 

further represents that other cases demand significant attention 

between now and the end of September 2016, which will slow the 

review of evidence at the FBI even with the exercise of 

appropriate due diligence.

f. Counsel for defendant Kari Sonovich represents 

that the failure to grant the above requested continuance would 

deny counsel for the defendant Kari Sonovich the reasonable time 

necessary for effective preparation, taking into account the 

exercise of due diligence.

g. The government, based on all of the above, 

does not object to the continuance.

h. Based on the above stated findings, the ends 

of justice are served by continuing the case as requested 

outweigh the interest of the public and the defendant in a trial 

within the original date prescribed by the Speedy Trial Act. 

i. For the purpose of computing the time under 

the Speedy Trial Act, Title 18 U.S.C. section 3161, et seq., 

within which trial must commence, the time period from Friday,

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United States v. Sonovich, Continue Status Conference to 

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July 29, 2016, to and including Friday, September 23, 2016, 

inclusive, is deemed excludable pursuant to Title 18 U.S.C. 

section 3161(h)(7)(A, (B)(ii) and (iv) corresponding to Local 

Codes T-2 and T-4, because it results from a continuance granted 

by the Court at defendants’ request, based on the facts provided 

and the totality of the complex case as set forth, and on the 

basis of the Court’s finding that the ends of justice served by 

taking such action outweigh the best interest of the public and 

all of the defendants in a speedy trial. 

10. Nothing in this stipulation and order shall 

preclude a finding that other provisions of the Speedy Trial Act 

dictate that additional time periods are excludable from the 

period within which a trial must commence. 

11. The government fully reviewed and approved of 

the contents and language in this stipulation and granted 

authority to file the stipulation with the Court. 

IT IS SO STIPULATED.

Respectfully submitted:

Phillip A. Talbert

ACTING UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

DATED: 7/18/2016 /s/ Jean M. Hobler

_____________________________________

Jean M. Hobler

ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF

DATED: 7/18/2016 /s/ James R. Greiner

_______________________

James R. Greiner

Attorney for Defendant 

KARI SONOVICH

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[PROPOSED] ORDER

 IT IS SO FOUND AND ORDERED.

Dated: July 25, 2016

Case 2:14-cr-00023-JAM Document 43 Filed 07/26/16 Page 7 of 7