Biglaw

Suspended Biglaw Associate Likely To Get Reduced Sentence In Molotov Cocktail Attack

And you can forget about that terrorism enhancement.

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molotov cocktailWhen we last checked in on suspended Pryor Cashman associate Colinford Mattis and housing attorney Urooj Rahman, both charged in May 2020 for their involvement with a Molotov cocktail attack on a police vehicle in Brooklyn, New York, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, they’d pleaded guilty to one count of possessing or making a destructive device as part of a deal. Those pleas were quickly complicated by the fact that prosecutors sought to add a terrorism enhancement to their sentences.

Many months have since passed, and it looks like we’re finally getting closer to a resolution in this case. As it turns out, with a new U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York comes a new sentencing scheme. Lo and behold, a new agreement has been reached, and Mattis and Rahman are now looking at sentences of 18 to 24 months, as opposed to a decade (or more) of prison time.

The New York Law Journal has the details:

In a letter filed Tuesday, prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan to convert a May 18 hearing originally scheduled for debate over the terrorism enhancement to a change-of-plea hearing, where [Mattis and Rahman] are set to plead guilty to a conspiracy charge carrying a maximum sentence of five years.

“The government, in turn, has agreed that, at sentencing it will … recommend, pursuant to Rule 11(c)(1)(B) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, that the Court impose a non-Guidelines sentence within a range of 18 to 24 months’ imprisonment,” prosecutors wrote. “The defendants remain free to argue for a sentence below the sentencing range recommended by the government.” …

Prosecutors wrote in the Tuesday letter that their recommendation of 18 to 24 months is “well below” the range calculated in Mattis and Rahman’s pre-sentencing reports.

“Given where this case started, with an indictment that included a 40-year mandatory minimum count, where we have landed is a dramatic difference,” said Rahman’s attorney Paul Shechtman, a partner at Bracewell. “We’re deeply pleased that the U.S. Attorney’s Office took a close second look at the case.”

The defense team is poised to ask Judge Cogan for a sentence of time served, as Mattis and Rahman have now been in home detention for about two years. Both attorneys are still likely to be disbarred.

Government to Seek Lower Sentence for Lawyers Charged in Molotov Cocktail Case Under New Agreement [New York Law Journal]

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Earlier: Suspended Biglaw Associate Accused In Molotov Cocktail Attack Pleads Guilty
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Suspended Biglaw Associate Accused In Molotov Cocktail Attack Sent Back To Jail
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Furloughed Biglaw Associate Charged In New York Molotov Cocktail Attack

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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