SENTENCING STATEMENT

On Monday, January 6, with roughly 40 supporters of Pep and Krystal packing the room, Judge Nicholas Ranjan heard arguments from the prosecution and the defense, and a Victim Impact Statement read by a University of Pittsburgh police officer. Ranjan then agreed to the non-cooperating stipulated plea and sentenced the two. 

SENTENCING DETAILS
Pep was sentenced to serve 60 months in BOP. As he’s served 18 months already, he anticipates being eligible to transition to a halfway house around March 2026 (between 15 and 22 months). After that, he will be on supervised release for 3 years. Krystal was sentenced to 3 years of supervised release and 80 hours of community service.
Pep and Krystal were jointly sentenced to pay $50,225.03, mostly to University Of Pittsburgh Officer TH, with a smaller sum to the University of Pittsburgh. They also were given special assessments of $200 and $100, respectively, and sentenced to repayment of some costs of prosecution and their own punishment. Critically, however, there was no further fine.

Pep and Krystal issued a joint statement:
“We hold in our gravity a deep reverence for love beyond the limited words we have. We know the devoted embrace of solidarity – people leaning in to one another against involuntary servitude and for a world of mutual aid.

If we are convicted, it is of love for each other, and for our community, to which all brave hearts beat devotion to the impossible task of liberation. We are grateful for those who care take, for without you, freedom would be even more distant.”

NEXT STEPS
Pep has been transferred out of Butler County Prison and is now at Northeast Ohio Correctional Center where he will be temporarily held while he awaits BOP classification. He may be moved around a bit before ending up at his designated facility within the BOP. We’ll update the Write To Peppy page on our website as soon as he gets there.

In the meantime, you can also email us messages of solidarity to Peppy or Krystal. We’ll hold on to them and be sure they reach him in the prison where he’ll be doing his time.

You can find more information about the federal BOP initial intake and orientation process here. We will be sure to update everyone with the necessary information on how best to support Peppy once he actually gets to the BOP.

DONATIONS
Peppy and Krystal need your support! In their sentencing, they’re jointly tasked with paying more than $50k dollars in restitution. This is in addition to commissary and the costs of prison support for the remainder of Peppy’s sentence. Please donate today and spread the word!

We remain so grateful to all of you. These punitive structures that we’ve been navigating together exist to separate and isolate, and our solidarity stands as a rebuke and inspiration. 

Leonard Peltier started experiencing intermittent blindness over a year ago. He was told his eyesight would be treated within four to six months. Leonard’s eyesight has worsened severely, and they are still saying it will be four to six months before he is treated. Leonard Peltier is going blind. 

On 12-31-2024, Leonard was taken to the hospital because a blood vessel in his eye ruptured.  The lockdowns have lessened in severity. Many of you have been pressuring the Senate Judiciary Committee, and they may be hearing us. Thank you for your efforts. 

When Leonard had lockjaw, supporters found a senator willing to intercede and fly him to the Mayo Clinic for treatment. We must find someone in Congress willing to intercede to save Leonard’s eyesight. The prison treats emergency symptoms when they arise, but the underlying conditions must be treated. 

A sample letter and Judiciary contacts are here. 

Contact:
Louise Berger, New York City Anarchist Black Cross
[email protected]

31 Dec 2024

Brooklyn, New York – On the noisiest night of the year, organizers with New York City’s Anarchist Black Cross (NYC ABC) are asking folks to join them outside of the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. They are inviting revelers to come, not in an appeal to authority, to speak truth to power, or any other contrivance, but rather to stand with others, and show direct solidarity to those on the other side of the wall.

While much has been made of the fact that two very high profile folks are currently held at MDC–Luigi Mangione and Sean “Diddy” Combs, NYC ABC says they have held New Year’s Eve demonstrations there for years. “As a collective, we work to provide support to U.S. held political prisoners and prisoners of war, folks who come from communities like ours and deserve our support,” said Louise Berger. “There are currently dozens of political prisoners in the United States, coming from movements like those struggling for the liberation of historically oppressed people. Folks like Leonard Peltier or Imam Jamil Al-Amin who have been imprisoned for decades. There are also those more recently imprisoned, like Jesse Cannon, Caleb Freestone, Casey Goonan, and Annarella Rivera, coming from movements for Palestinian self-determination; the ongoing fight against violent white supremacists; and for women’s reproductive freedom.”

NYC ABC has been organizing New Year’s Eve “noise demonstrations” for over a decade, just as other groups have done outside of jails and prisons around the world. A noise demo is equal parts celebratory demonstration to let imprisoned folks know they are not alone and raucous protest to keep guards and administrators on notice that they are being watched. The latter has become crucial in recent years and the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn has come under scrutiny following the 2020 murder of incarcerated Jamel Floyd by aggressive guards who pepper-sprayed Floyd until he went into cardiac arrest. That murder came only one year after the same jail went for days without heat or electricity in the middle of a polar vortex, leaving 1,600 incarcerated folks without water for several days. Conditions have not improved in the following years.

Jem Kapinos is a member of MDC solidarity, a group based in Sunset Park, Brooklyn that organizes around the horrible conditions at the federal jail.

“The conditions at MDC Brooklyn are completely inhumane. Members of our group who have loved ones inside routinely hear reports of spoiled and maggot-infested food; lack of clean, hot water; and medical neglect and deprivation,” Kapinos told us. “The COs use any excuse to lock the prison down, forcing people to spend up to 23 hours a day in their cells without access to regular showers, phone calls, or physical activity. The BOP [Bureau of Prisons] has created a pressure cooker environment that takes a mental toll on everyone inside. It’s torture, and no one should have to endure it.”

When asked why NYC ABC are organizing a demonstration on the night that most folks are solely focused on socializing, Berger said, “Hand in glove, billionaires and the government systematically oppress folks to keep us divided and at each other’s throats. When we decide to fight back, they repress and subject us to draconian punishments, if not immediate death.” Berger added, “there is no better way to celebrate New Year’s Eve than by including those who are expected to feel at their lowest on this night.”
     ###

On December 18, 2024, a Tampa jury declared Gabriella Oropesa guilty of conspiracy against rights, with sentencing scheduled for March 19, 2025.

Two FBI agents testified that they identified Oropesa in Winter Haven, where one of the defaced crisis pregnancy centers (anti-abortion centers which masquerade as legitimate abortion clinics) was located. A chief concern regarding this sworn statement is the lack of evidence supporting it; no evidence regarding this matter was referred to over the course of the trial. Furthermore, an inconsistency glossed over by the jury was a testimony by a CAST (Cellular Analysis Survey Team) FBI agent who stated that tracking evidence does not support the conclusion that Oropesa’s phone was present in Winter Haven. This conflicts with statements alleging that the defendant was present at the site of the anti-abortion center.

Given the sentences imposed by the Dishonorable Judge Virginia Covington for the other defendants in this case, it is apparent that these trials are being used to make examples of the activists and to strike fear in other Floridians protesting the state’s draconian abortion regulations.

We at the Anarchist Black Cross South Florida chapter have been involved in supporting the political prisoners in this case since its inception and will continue to aiding Oropesa moving forward. Here is how You can help assist our anti-repression work:

(1) Share this post with your friends, family, and social justice communities.

(2) Research crisis pregnancy centers and their role in manipulating and harming pregnant individuals in their time of need. You may contact us for educational resources in this matter.

(3) Donate to Oropesa’s Venmo @gabygummy in order to assist with legal fees.

(4) Contact us if you are interested in attending Oropesa’s sentencing hearing on March 19, 2025.

#abortionrights#abortionisahumanright

Demand Imam Jamil Receive Medical Transfer & Treatment. Imam Jamil Al-Amin, 81 years old, formerly known as H. Rap Brown, had a recent growth on his face that is potentially life-threatening. This is on top of his multiple myeloma (cancer), strokes, other significant medical issues, and age.

A civil and human rights leader, wrongfully imprisoned for the past 24 years, needs YOUR IMMEDIATE HELP to stop his “Death By Medical Neglect”!!!

CALL the DESIGNATION & SENTENCE COMPUTATION CENTER
Call: 972-352-4400, Press 1 for operator (ignore the menu)
Give Name & Inmate Number: Jamil Al-Amin, #99974-555

Demand they grant Imam Jamil an EMERGENCY MEDICAL TRANSFER from United States
Penitentiary (USP) Tucson to Federal Medical Center (FMC) Butner for his Immediate Medical Treatment. !! NOW

You may also call the following to have added impact:

Tucson Complex Warden Mark Gutierrez, 520-663-5010, [email protected]
BOP Southeast Regional Director Shannon Phelps, [email protected]|
Director of BOP Colette Peters, [email protected] (202) 307-3198

via https://idavox.com/index.php/2024/12/15/alex-stokes-stands-his-ground-in-appeal-bid/

ALBANY, NY – While New York City vigilante Daniel Penny was in court trying to convince a jury that his killing of Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man, was not criminal as it was done in defense of others (a case in which Penny ultimately prevailed), two and a half hours north, the New York State Supreme Court heard arguments Nov. 18 to set aside or outright dismiss the case of Alex Stokes Contompasis, who is currently incarcerated after being convicted for stabbing two Proud Boys at the New York State Capitol on Jan 6, 2021. The difference between the cases is those in the Proud Boys group were physically attacking others and Contompasis didn’t kill anyone. Still, Contompasis was sentenced to twenty years even though he was acting in defense of others.

Contompasis was not present at the hearing, but his attorney noted several issues with his trial, most notably that Contompasis was acting in self defense, was not afforded a speedy trial, and that a juror who was wavering in her impartiality was placed on the jury regardless, something that prompted a number of the justices to express particular concern.

Free Alex Stokes!

Contompasis’ attorney Kathy Manley told the justices that when local Proud Boys chapter leaders Douglas Michael Ruso and James P. Warner were stabbed in a fight after Warner’s brother, Proud Boy Dominic Wierzbicki, began tazing those opposed to the “Stop the Steal” rally supporters of Donald Trump organized, Contompasis did so to defend others. “It’s clear that Appellant subjectively believed that he needed to do what he did and I would say that the evidence shows objectively under all the circumstances that it was reasonable,” Manley said. “Here we have Dominic Wierzbicki, this key witness, (who) tazed a counter protestor who was standing just with his hands in his pockets. At that point everyone said chaos broke out and there was several confrontations.” She goes on to note that Ruso grabbed Contompasis by the arm and another person by the neck, prompting the stabbing Ruso suffered. “At that point, Mr. Warner runs after Appellant and starts punching him, knocks him to the ground, breaks his wrist and continues to hit him while he’s on the ground.”

Manley notes that was when Warner was stabbed, it was done in self defense, however Assistant District Attorney Daniel Young attempted to put a more ominous spin on Contompasis’ actions, saying that he was there “targeting his political opponents” to attack and that his lack of remorse justified the 20-year sentence he received. “He believed even at the time of sentencing that he still believed that he was justified in what he did, not just because he was protecting people but because he was protecting them from his political opponents,” Young said.

Young however still had to acknowledge that Wierzbicki initiated the melee but downplayed his relevance in the case, despite him providing a witness statement. “The defense puts a lot of stock in the Wierzbicki statement because Wierzbicki essentially kicked off this whole melee but as it pertains to the defendant’s justification defense and the charges against the defendant, he’s not relevant in the slightest” Young said, noting that the only interaction that Contompasis had during the incident was when he initially slashed at Wierzbicki, causing him to back off. “This isn’t a witness that’s central to our case, that’s not even needed for our case.”

Wierzbicki turned himself into police in March 2021 and was charged with third-degree assault and possession of a weapon in the fourth-degree. He ended up just being fined.

Manley countered pointing out that Contompasis not only acted to protect others as even Young noted but also diffused a situation that he saw was going too far.

Manley also noted how “Juror #14” was equivocating when asked during selection whether or not she can be impartial to him. She was initially excused but was ultimately placed on the jury. “One of the prospective jurors gave many equivocal responses,” Manley explained. “When asked if there was anything that could affect her ability to be fair she said, maybe not. And then she said, ‘I’m more concerned.’ She said, ‘I think I can be fair, but it kind of makes me angry. There’s more support for criminals than victims.’ And finally at the end, she said, ‘Okay, I can set it aside, but I’m not happy with it.’” Although she was first set aside, eventually she was put on the jury.

Young denied that Juror #14 was equivocal. “I think a juror saying that they can set aside all biases, but they don’t like it, that’s the same as saying they can set aside all biases. That doesn’t turn it into an equivocal statement.” One of the justices disagreed at this point saying, “But she equivocates by saying things like I believe so, I think so.”

“She does,” Young said, “she says that she can set the bias aside.” This began a discussion with the one justice noting that the juror’s behavior was “problematic.” Later Young said that he understood if the court was hesitant to condone the juror’s behavior.

Since Contompasis’ conviction, Albany County District Attorney David Soares, whose office prosecuted Contompasis, was defeated in a Democratic primary by criminal defense attorney Lee Kindlon who went on to win the general election and will assume the office at the beginning of 2025. It is not known how Kindlon will go forward with the case.

Imam Jamil had a recent growth on his face that is potentially life-threatening.

This is on top of his multiple myeloma (cancer), strokes, other significant medical issues, and feeble old age. At 81 years old, Imam Jamil Al-Amin, formerly known as H. Rap Brown, a civil rights leader who has been wrongfully imprisoned for the past 24 years, needs YOUR IMMEDIATE HELP to stop his “death by medical neglect”!!!

Call USP Tucson and demand that they grant Imam Jamil an emergency medical transfer from United States Penitentiary (USP) Tuscon to Federal Medical Center (FMC) Butner for his immediate medical treatment.

Email:  [email protected]

Call: 520-663-5000, Press 0 (ignore the menu)
Provide Name & Inmate Number: Jamil Al-Amin, #99974-555

#FreeHRapBrown #FreeImamJamil

My name is Annarella Rivera, my friends call me Rivers. I am a mother of two wonderful boys and a cat. My codefendants and I are pro-choice activists from the so called South & Middle Florida territory. Two of my friends Amber Smith-Stewart & Caleb Freestone were indicted by a grand jury on 01/23/2023 and Gabby & I on 02/01/2024 under the FACE Act, accused of vandalizing (graffiti) 3 crisis pregnancy centers (FAKE CLINICS!!) while simultaneously being charged by the state and the Archdiocese of Miami on RICO and Conspiracy charges, called a SLAPP suit, taking away our 5th amendment rights.

I am an Anarchist, I am also proud to say I am ANTIFASCIST. The Biden-Harris D.O.J. has sentenced 2 of my friends and I to the B.O.P. for graffiti!!!! Our fourth comrade Gabriella Oropesa is awaiting trial, and they WILL WIN. We stand in unwavering solidarity with Gabby and fully support them. We must build community, organize and abolish this genocidal, white-supremacist, carceral, police state war machine. We Keep Us Safe!

Write:
Annarella Rivera #51391-510
FCI Tallahassee
P.O. BOX 5000
Tallahassee, FL 32314

Thanks again to all of you in Casey’s extended support network! On every phone call we have with Casey they send their love to all! We have a few updates for you.

Big legal news
On Tuesday, Dec. 3, Casey’s lawyers and the prosecuting US Attorney filed a joint status report stating that they had reached a plea deal agreement. Casey will plead guilty on the one charge of “damaging property used in or affecting interstate commerce by fire” (18 U.S.C. § 844(f)) and the other two charges will be dropped. 

Some important points concerning this agreement and plea deals in general: 

• This is preliminary. Discussions are still in progress between defense and prosecution regarding the details. Correspondingly, after the joint filing, last week’s court date to hear status reports was rescheduled to Jan. 14 when we imagine we will be provided more information. 
• This is a “non-cooperation” plea deal. No information or testimony is being offered against anyone else. 
• Once the plea deal is finalized, it will still need to be accepted by the judge. 
• No information is available yet on possible sentencing. By statute the minimum sentence is 5 years and the maximum is 20.

We of course will forward shareable details from the legal defense team as they become available. 

Health is a struggle inside
Casey maintaining their blood sugars and well-being inside continues to be a struggle and that has recently entailed stretches in the jail infirmary unit. Jail food and conditions are horrible across the board for everyone, but to be a diabetic trying to maintain one’s body and mind inside is especially hard. The special diabetic supplemental food packages from vendors are now flowing regularly and helping a lot! Thanks to all who contributed to the fund.

To donate to the food support fund and keep the packages flowing: Venmo @juliepetersonG

Writing Casey letters matters so much!
The mailroom at Santa Rita Jail seems to work in spurts though, no mail for a week then a big ol’ batch comes through to Casey. So in addition to the ups and downs of jail life, the mail service being wildly uneven contributes to the time lag of you getting a response from C. But Casey values every piece! News from the outside is still very important to them – imagine being locked up with only the mainstream tv news being your lifeline. WTF.

Remember if you send zines and newsletters, no staples!

Casey Goonan #UMF227
Santa Rita Jail
5325 Broder Blvd.
Dublin, CA 94568 

Keep those support events poppin! 
Fundraisers, letter writing events and shout outs across the country keep rolling! Much love to all those making them happen. Hit up our insta or email box if you want collaboration or promotion. (Or even guidance on how to organize a support event if you haven’t done it before.) 

We got a lot of funds to raise to cover the costs of legal defense
A concerted fundraising push is in the works and we will be contacting people directly with asks on spreading the pitch and soliciting donors. To contribute right now, hit us on Chuffed. https://chuffed.org/project/SupportCasey 

Love and Struggle,
CSC 

Instagram; @freecaseynow
Website: https://freecaseynow.noblogs.org/
Email: [email protected]