Actually I can’t say that is completely false, especially hearing how crazy some of the mega dinners were. Imprecise nature of human palate, 2+ bottles consumed per person and major party like Rudy must been having a field day.
Maureen on NPR this morning: How Atomic Particles Helped Solve A Wine Fraud Mystery : The Salt : NPR
Congrats Maureen!
Maureen–I agree; I don’t expect Rudy to talk. I was just commenting that he really isn’t taking “responsibility” in his letter. When you boil it down, he says that getting caught and convicted has caused him shame and has caused shame for his family. Some of that may be true, but there is NO acknowledgement at all of any harm done to the victims–the people who actually paid $$ and got fraudulent wine instead.
Bruce
There will be more emails like this: > http://www.scribd.com/doc/227904401/Email-From-JK-to-Rudy-Re-Sell-to-People-Who-Dont-Know-Acker-13-7 > ‘JK, hit up rich folk who dont know acker…’ (Apparently Rudy thought Acker had a shitty reputation by 2006…) There are plenty more “people with money who don’t know acker” out there, and in 6-8 years, who knows what the landscape will look like.
I read stuff like this and I wonder how they have managed not to have their auction/liquor/retail licenses pulled.
It’s all in the punctuation.
"I’m sorry. I got caught.
Or
I’m sorry I got caught.
We’ll know pretty soon what the sentence is, middle if next month IIRC? My guess is 7 years, but I was interested to read that the probation office had suggested 10 years. Note to self… avoid being on federal probation in southern New York state.
Overall, it has been a magnificent performance by the prosecution IMO. But the Feds did make one serious mistake, and it may be quite some time before we know if they have to pay a heavy price for their error, or if they get away with no ill effects. The mistake I refer to is the FBI agents arresting Rudy and then searching his home without a search warrant. I just cannot imagine why the agents did not show up at Rudy’s home with both an arrest warrant and a search warrant.
I believe the defense team has already referred to this issue as one component of their appeal.
Excuse me for being confused, but other than those who facilitated/enabled Rudy’s prosperity post-“production”, do we know anything about Rudy’s helpers/co-conspirators “pre-production” and prior to the time it was touted by those paid to evaluate the production and then sold by those who paid the touters?
Was Rudy a more or less solo act? Or did he have a rhythm section?
Lew:
It may not have been a mistake. The FBI may have anticipated that they would likely discover something when they did the security walk through at the home and planned on adding that to what they already knew to then ask for a search warrant.
But if it was a mistake, it’s entirely possible that I contributed to it. I met with Jim Wynne (FBI), Adam Roeser (FBI) and Jason Hernandez (Asst US Attorney) the day before Rudy was arrested. I wasn’t aware at that time that they were going to arrest Rudy the next day; they lead me to believe they were still weeks away from arresting Rudy. One of the topics we discussed that day, which was not the first occassion that I had discussed this with Jim Wynne, was whether I believed that Rudy was really manufacturing the counterfeit wines himself (which I did) and, if so, where the actual counterfeiting operations were taking place. I began by telling them that there was only one thing that I was almost 100% confident of – that Rudy was NOT manufacturing the counterfeits at his townhouse. I explained that Rudy was quite intelligent – way too intelligent to ever be manufacturing counterfeits out of his house. I also suggested that while his empty house in BelAir was a possiblity, that seemed unlikely too as it was way too obvious and could easily be tied to him. We then discussed a couple of theories for where the wines might be produced (which I won’t repeat here).
Every time I think about Rudy being arrested, I have two thoughts – first thinking about how Jim and Adam must have laughed their asses off when they walked into Rudy’s house and saw the big floor stack of cases and bottles, and then bottles everywhere. I must have been the subject of many jokes that day among the FBI personnel. The second is some guilt feelings that I may have inadvertently contributed to the FBI not obtaining a search warrant before executing the arrest warrant.
You didn’t believe Rudy could be that careless. Einstein didn’t believe in quantum mechanics. Nobody is perfect.
Rudy = Einstein? I don’t think so!
Peter, not Rudy, Don!
Sorry, Peter, but I do not have an equal analogy for you… 
Don, thanks for posting that fascinating story. Hopefully Rudy’s appeal on that will not succeed.
Actually, I’m a bit conflicted by that last sentence I typed, as an unapologetic lover of the US Constitution and the system of checks and balances it sets forth. Last night I read again the government’s brief in reply to Rudy’s motion to suppress evidence due to the search without a warrant. I was appalled all over again at the number of exceptions and special rules that often seem (IMO) to trample upon the Fourth Amendment.
As far as Rudy’s home is concerned, surely the FBI needs to search it even if the actual “factory” is elsewhere. I still can’t imagine what could be the downside of showing up with a search warrant, and can’t imagine the judge would refuse to issue one.
Great question. I think Laurent Ponsot said Rudy had some help, and Ponsot knew who it was. As for the manufacturing function, I don’t think info has ever come out that others were involved.
Thanks, Lew. It would be amazing if Rudy pulled it off solo…and duped the “experts” and the world on his own. And,maybe it is!
LeCraw’s case against AWC is back in the news again with Stephen Williams of AWC arguing that the case should be heard in Britain.
http://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2014/06/yquem-fraud-case-should-be-heard-in-britain--say-lawyers
Apparently the court submission states that the lawsuit stemmed from Julian Lecraw’s inability to “fully liquidate his vast collection of French wine (reputed to exceed 30,000 bottles) and his attempt to fully recoup his ill-timed purchases by claiming the wine he purchased almost a decade ago is counterfeit.” It seems AWC is arguing that none of the wines were fakes.
LeCraw’s argument for bringing the case against AWC in Atlanta sounds very thin. My federal civil procedure is pretty rusty, but I predict this will be dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction over AWC. The defendant must have some meaningful contact with the district in which the court sits – an office, substantial sales, assets or the like. It doesn’t sound like AWC has any of those in Georgia.
It’s not clear to me from reading the article whether it’s a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction or a motion for change of venue.
Bruce
Congrats Maureen on the 20/20 piece. Loved the “my bottle’s bigger than yours” cahracterization.
Recent news on the Antique WIne COmpany Suit here in Decanter: Antique Wine Co asks court to dismiss $25m lawsuit - Decanter
It looks as if AWC is using a full court press…
You’re right, it looked like a bit of both. I don’t think you can move to change venue to another country, though, can you? You have to move to dismiss.