The Court Report
By Richard Blassberg

Riding High In February, Shot Down In November
United States Federal District Court, White Plains
Judge Stephen C. Robinson Presiding

Last Tuesday morning, June 26th, Defendant Terrence D. Chalk, 44, appeared in Federal District Court before Judge Stephen C. Robinson for what can best be described as a Status and Bail Reduction Hearing. Mr. Chalk, who was named “Businessperson Of The Year,” in February, 2006, and inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Westchester Business Council, was indicted, arrested, and thrown into jail by the United States Attorney, for the Southern District of New York, Michael J. Garcia, in November.

Chalk was charged, together with a nephew, Damon T. Chalk, free on bail, and also present in court, with Conspiracy to Influence Financial Institutions By Making False Statements On Applications For Loans, Lines Of Credit, and Credit Cards. He was also charged with Credit Card Fraud. Mr. Chalk, although a federal prisoner, has been locked up in the Westchester County Jail for some eight months, unable to make a bail bond set at $250,000, requiring two co-signers, and a cash bail of $10,000. Judge Robinson opened the hearing inquiring of Assistant United States Attorney Eugene Ingoglia, “Let me ask you what’s happening?” Ingoglia, who has been prosecuting the case from its inception, responded, “The Government has produced voluminous discovery. There is more than a million files on the hard-drive, forty-five thousand e-mails, thirty-five thousand other documents, and, four spread sheets. We’ve produced it and given it to Defense Counsel in its entirety.”

Turning to Defense Attorney Mayo Bartlett, Robinson asked, “Do you have a sense of how long it will take to get your arms around the
discovery material?”

Attorney Mayo responded, “In the form in which the material was given to us, it is as though it were in a locked safe.”

Called upon by the Judge, Mr. Eggar, the attorney for Damon Chalk responded, “We would echo Mr. Bartlett’s comments.”

Robinson then said, “I’m obviously willing to give the Defendants all of the time you will need.”

Questioned by Robinson as to the location of the hard-drive, Prosecutor Ingoglia responded, “The hard-drive is still with the computer. We
have made an image.”

The Judge then declared, “You have given the Defendants something that will require an expert who can access material on the hard-dive. It’s
not helpful to give the Defendants something they have no ability to access. It’s a hard kind of discovery.”

Then, responding to a request from Mr. Bartlett for specific assistance from the Government, Judge Robinson said, “The Government can help you, but they are not likely to do it for you.” Then proceeding, first to restate Bartlett’s locked vault analogy, he then asked the Defense Attorneys for a time frame, in order to establish a date for the next hearing. Having been offered “Two months,” Robinson set September 6th.

With the date established, Robinson then asked if there were any other matters requiring his attention. Mr. Bartlett, taking his cue, launched upon his objections to FBI Special Agent John Flanagan’s alleged inappropriate harassment of individuals who had offered to come forward as co-signers for his client Terrence Chalk, including Chalk’s own mother, and a Mr. Tom Clark, declaring, “He crossed the line from asking probative questions to attempting to dissuade Mr. Clark from being a co-signer.” Bartlett went on, “He asked Clark, “Have you spoken to Mr. Chalk’s wife?”

Bartlett went further to describe a phone call that was made by Agent Flanagan to discourage Mr. Chalk’s own mother from co-signing, and putting up cash for her son’s release. Prosecutor Ingoglia, quickly responded, “The phone call to Mr. Chalk’s mother was a rightful role of government.”

Bartlett and Robinson then engaged in a dialogue about the possibility of reducing the bail and/or co-signer obligation in order to facilitate
Terrence Chalk’s emergence from the County Jail, “in order to assist in his own defense.” As the requirements stood, his client needed to have two co-signers to cover a $250,000 bond, and was also required to post $10,000 in cash.

After trading ideas back and forth for a few minutes Robinson, attempting to be reasonable, and apparently recognizing how long Chalk
had already languished in jail, said, “Here’s what I’ll suggest, Mr. Bartlett. I’ll allow you to modify the $250,000 bond to $100,000, with two co-signers.”

Then he added, “By the time of our next hearing the Defendant will have spent almost one year in jail, so I will waive the next two months
from the “Speedy Trial” requirement.”

Analysis:

The Guardian has learned that Defendant Terrence Chalk, who, until his arrest by the FBI, had founded and was apparently successfully
operating Compulinx, a Westchester-based computer management firm, since 1990, is, in fact, the twin brother of Todd Chalk, an FBI agent who does not get along with him. The significance of that fact may become more apparent over time given what appears to be a concerted effort by both FBI agent John Flanagan, and the United States Attorney’s Office to keep Mr. Chalk incarcerated, and unavailable to counsel.