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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

EASTERN DIVISION

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff,

vs.

ABIDEMI AJAYI,

Defendant.

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Docket No. 12 CR 190

Chicago, Illinois

August 5, 2013

9:05 a.m.

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS - Motion

BEFORE THE HONORABLE REBECCA R. PALLMEYER

APPEARANCES:

For the Plaintiff: HON. ZACHARY T. FARDON

UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

BY: MS. YASMIN N BEST

219 South Dearborn, 5th Floor

Chicago, Illinois 60604

For the Defendant: LAW OFFICES OF DAMON M. CHERONIS

BY: MR. DAMON M. CHERONIS

53 West Jackson Boulevard, Suite 1750

Chicago, Illinois 60604

Court Reporter: FRANCES WARD, CSR, RPR, RMR, FCRR

Official Court Reporter

219 S. Dearborn Street, Suite 2144A

Chicago, Illinois 60604

(312) 435-5561

frances_ward@ilnd.uscourts.gov

Case: 1:12-cr-00190 Document #: 111 Filed: 01/22/15 Page 1 of 6 PageID #:436
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THE CLERK: 12 CR 190, United States versus Abidemi

Ajayi.

MS. BEST: Good morning, your Honor.

Yasmin Best on behalf of the United States.

THE COURT: Good morning, Ms. Best.

MR. CHERONIS: Good morning, your Honor.

Damon Cheronis on behalf of Mr. Ajayi.

THE COURT: Mr. Cheronis, good morning.

Okay. I believe we're here on your motion,

Mr. Cheronis, to modify the conditions of release.

MR. CHERONIS: Yes, your Honor.

Part of the motion, I think there is no objection

to, regarding Mr. Ajayi's being able to go to Houston, Texas,

to visit his -- his mother's grave site.

The other requests are -- I guess I would couch as

sort of a Hail Mary. He wanted to go to Tahiti with his

wife, and then there are some other international travel

requests for work. I do not have yet the documentation to

kind of support the work requests, but those would be trips

that would require him to basically get his passport back and

travel abroad.

I understand both the government and pretrial

services does have an objection to that.

MS. BEST: That's correct, your Honor. As you

might remember, this case was actually charged last winter

Case: 1:12-cr-00190 Document #: 111 Filed: 01/22/15 Page 2 of 6 PageID #:437
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and then indicted -- charged by complaint last winter and

then indicted in July of 2012. Mr. Ajayi was not arrested

until he returned into the country in January of this year.

The reason he wasn't arrested is that he had been out of the

country for the previous approximate three years.

In light of that, the fact that he is a naturalized

citizen with significant ties overseas, and the fact that --

I think the motion says this vacation has already been paid

for prior to his indictment. Mr. Ajayi didn't have any

employment for some time before his indictment. I understand

his wife does have a job, but realistically we are dealing

with almost $200,000 in stolen funds, which very well could

have been used to fund this -- to pay for this trip.

In light of the concerns about him traveling

abroad, his relationships with others abroad, the fact that

he was gone for several years before his arrest, and the

nature of this trip, and the fact that it's essentially just

a family vacation, the government does object.

Additionally, regarding his travel for his work, at

this point, it's unclear -- I have spoken to Mr. Cheronis --

whether he does in fact need to travel, whether he is the

only person who could do this work in Europe.

But, again, because Mr. Ajayi was essentially a

fugitive for some time, the government would object to any

international travel at this point.

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MR. CHERONIS: Just briefly. His wife is employed

as a nurse. I think that she certainly has the funds to pay

for this trip.

Regarding his work, I mean, I guess even right now,

without some sort of documentation from his job as to him

being required to do this, I think it would probably be a

little bit premature to really ask for this permission, but I

wanted to get it in because, as you can see, the Houston trip

is scheduled for August 9th.

I guess what I would like to ask this Court is

that -- would it be something the Court would consider,

regarding the travel for work, if I were to supply the Court

with documentation from his boss detailing the need for

Mr. Ajayi to go, what he would be doing there, or is it

something the Court would just say, I'm not going to consider

it?

THE COURT: Well, there's actually three issues

here. We have got the travel to Houston to visit the

mother's grave site, and I understand there is no objection

to that.

MS. BEST: That's correct.

THE COURT: That part of the motion will be

granted.

Then we have got the issue of a vacation in Tahiti,

and then international travel unspecified, dates unspecified,

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reasons unspecified. That will be denied without prejudice.

The odds of my granting that motion, Mr. Cheronis,

they are pretty long. I'm always curious about why some, you

know, legitimate business has only one person who could

imaginably cover some significant matter abroad, and I would

expect that there would be some explanation as to why

somebody else can't do this.

That leaves us with the issue of Tahiti, and I know

these are prepaid tickets that I understand were paid for

prior to his indictment. Is that right? Wait.

MR. CHERONIS: Your Honor, you know what? I'm --

let me double-check on that.

I think what may have happened, and I -- I know the

trip was planned to Tahiti before Mr. Ajayi came back. He

was expected to come back. And I'm not sure if these tickets

were for a trip that was supposed to occur a little bit

earlier and then those tickets were refunded, essentially, to

get the trip at a different date.

I know a trip was purchased for Tahiti, though,

prior to his being indicted. I think, if I'm remembering

correctly, that the trip was scheduled for sometime soon

after he was -- he came back, and somehow they were allowed

to extend that trip.

In other words, they were paid for, for a time of

several months ago, and somehow the trip was allowed to be

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extended or the trip was continued.

So those were tickets that were paid for,

certainly, before he appeared before this Court because his

return to the United States was imminent and expected.

THE COURT: I'm uncomfortable, given that he was

out of the country for so long, with his traveling to Tahiti.

If I can be of some assistance in getting a refund

from the airline, please contact me.

MR. CHERONIS: Thank you, your Honor.

THE COURT: All right. Thank you.

We have got a status -- oh, we have a final

pretrial conference in November. If something comes up in

the meantime, obviously, you should let me know.

MR. CHERONIS: Okay. Thank you.

MS. BEST: Thank you, your Honor.

THE COURT: Thank you.

* * * * *

I certify that the foregoing is a correct transcript from the

record of proceedings in the above-entitled matter.

/s/ Frances Ward______________________September 17, 2014.

Official Court Reporter

F/t

Case: 1:12-cr-00190 Document #: 111 Filed: 01/22/15 Page 6 of 6 PageID #:441