Approved: ________________________________ Sarah R. Krissoff Assistant United States Attorney Before: HONORABLE MARK D. FOX United States Magistrate Judge Southern District of New York
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -x : UNITED STATES OF AMERICA : : - v. : : DEBRA RYAN : : : : : Defendant. : : - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -x SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK, ss.:
COMPLAINT Violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2 and 3146 County of Offense: Westchester
Sean McCluskey, being duly sworn, deposes and says that he is a Deputy U.S. Marshal with the United States Marshals Service and charges as follows: COUNT ONE From on or about June 7, 2008 through on or about June 19, 2008, in the Southern District of New York, DEBRA RYAN, the defendant, unlawfully, wilfully, and knowingly aided and abetted the failure to surrender for service of sentence pursuant to a court order, to wit, the defendant aided and abetted SAMUEL ISRAEL, III’s failure to surrender to serve his sentence on June 9, 2008. (Title 18, United States Code, Sections 2 & 3146) The bases for my knowledge and for the foregoing charges are, in part, as follows: 1. I am a Deputy U.S. Marshal with the United States Marshals Service (“USMS”). I have been personally involved in the investigation of this matter. This affidavit is based upon my investigation, my conversations with other law enforcement
agents, my conversations with the defendants, and my examination of reports and records. Because this affidavit is being submitted for the limited purpose of establishing probable cause, it does not include all the facts that I have learned during the course of my investigation. Where the contents of documents and the actions, statements, and conversations of others are reported herein, they are reported in substance and in part, except where otherwise indicated. 2. On September 29, 2005, SAMUEL ISRAEL, III, the Chief Executive Officer of the now-collapsed Bayou Hedge Funds, pleaded guilty to charges of Conspiracy to Commit Investment Adviser Fraud and Mail Fraud, Investment Adviser Fraud, and Mail Fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 371 and 1341 and Title 15, United States Code, Sections 80b-6 and 80b-17. On or about April 14, 2008, SAMUEL ISRAEL, III, was sentenced by United States Judge Colleen McMahon to 20 years in prison. Judge McMahon ordered ISRAEL to surrender to a federal prison on June 9, 2008 to begin serving his sentence. On June 9, 2008, ISRAEL did not surrender to a federal prison as ordered and the USMS and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well as other law enforcement agencies, are conducting an investigation into his whereabouts. ISRAEL is now a fugitive. 3. On numerous occasions between June 9, 2008 and June 19, 2008, during interviews with other law enforcement officers, who were investigating whether ISRAEL had committed suicide or had fled, DEBRA RYAN, the defendant, who informed the officers that she had been residing with ISRAEL for the past several years, denied any knowledge of ISRAEL’s whereabouts. RYAN also told other law enforcement officers that she knew that ISRAEL was supposed to surrender to begin serving his sentence on June 9, 2008. On or about June 10, 2008, according to law enforcement officers with the New York State Police, RYAN informed the New York State Police that she had located a suicide note written by ISRAEL. RYAN then provided this note to the New York State Police. 4. During an interview with RYAN today, RYAN, the defendant, admitted that, on or about June 7, 2008, she met ISRAEL at an auto repair shop in the vicinity of Bedford, New York to help him attach a motor scooter to a hydraulic lift on the back of a recreational vehicle (the “RV”) and that on or about June 8, 2008, RYAN helped ISRAEL pack the RV with ISRAEL’s belongings. RYAN also disclosed that early in the morning on June 9, 2008, ISRAEL woke her up and told her that he needed her help. Shortly thereafter, according to RYAN, she, in her own car, accompanied ISRAEL, who was driving the RV, to a rest area 2
off of Interstate 684, near the intersection of Interstate 684 and Interstate 84. RYAN further stated that after ISRAEL parked the RV in the parking lot of the rest area, RYAN drove ISRAEL back to their home. ISRAEL failed to surrender later that day. WHEREFORE, deponent prays that DEBRA RYAN, the defendant, be imprisoned or bailed, as the case may be. _____________________________ Sean McCluskey Deputy U.S. Marshal U.S. Marshals Service Sworn to before me this ___ day of June 2008 ______________________________ THE HONORABLE MARK D. FOX UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
3