–Four Panelists/Hosts Resign in Matter of Hours
In less than 24hrs following a formal indictment by a federal judge in the Southern District of Florida in the U.S. against Liberian businessman Stanton Witherspoon and co-conspirators Alfred Sellu and Rene Bernadel in Florida, four panelists/hosts of the famous “Spoon Talk” have tendered in their resignations from the Spoon Talk Show.
The panelists dropped the ball on Spoon CEO Stanton Witherspoon in the wake of charges of wire fraud and others.
The Federal Judge has set a criminal jury trial date as of April 10, 2023, or even earlier, as the case is expected to be called in CASE NO: 23-60005–CR-SMITH.
African Star reports that a Calendar Call in the matter is scheduled for April 4, 2023. Per court rules, government prosecutors and the defense counsels have been requested, prior to the Calendar Call to provide pre-trial motions and responses to the Standing Discovery Order, proposed jury instructions, and a proposed list of witnesses and or exhibits they wish to present at trial.
Witherspoon and co-conspirators were indicted by a Grand Jury on January 12, 2023, in southern Florida on one (1) charge of Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud and nine (9) counts of Wire Fraud in what is now been widely known as the “Nursing Fraud Scandal where fake nursing transcripts and diplomas were allegedly sold to some 7,600 persons.
The Grand Jury alleges in Counts 2-9 of the charge of Wire Fraud that, “…From at least as early as in or around November 2018, and continuing through in or around October of 2021, in Broward County, in the Southern District of Florida, and elsewhere, the defendants did knowingly and willfully and with the intent to defraud, devise and intend to devise a scheme and artifice to defraud and for obtaining and property by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises, knowing the pretenses, representations were false and fraudulent when made, and for the purpose of executing the scheme and artifice, did knowingly transmit and cause to be transmitted by means of wire communication in interstate and foreign commerce, certain writings, signs, signals, pictures and sounds in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343…”
On Thursday, February 16, 2023, the Government through the office of the Assistant U.S. Attorney in Southern Florida filed A Response to Standing Discovery Order which is required by the Court and encumbers the Government to turn over any evidence it may have discovered in its case against Witherspoon and his co-defendants.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, it is not aware of any of any written statements by the defendants and none of them testified before the Grand Jury.
The U.S. Government in its Response, however said, it will provide the defense counsel with “recordings of any oral statements made by the defendant to law enforcement officials in response to interrogation, books, papers, documents, photographs, tangible objects, buildings or places which the Government intends to use as evidence at trial to prove its case in chief…”
Defense counsel was invited to view the evidence at an FBI facility in Florida.
The U.S. Government also indicated in its Response filing that it would to the defense counsel corporate records, financial records, photos of the defendants, report of a recorded interview with co-defendant Alfred Sellu, undercover recordings and Florida Department of Education and Board of Nursing records. The defense counsel of the accused was requested to obtain additional records from the Government such as search warrants, and phone and computer records.
“…E. The Government will disclose any prior convictions of any alleged co-conspirator, accomplice, or information who will testify for the Government at trial.
The defendant was identified in a line, show up, photo spread or similar identification proceedings, a copy of which will be provided to counsel.
The Government has advised its agents and officers involved in this case to preserve all rough notes…”the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in its Court filing.
The U.S. Attorney is also demanding the turnover of Reciprocal Discovery from the defense counsels of Witherspoon and others in keeping with Federal Rules of Criminal Procedures. There has been no Response filed yet from the Defense counsel.
As all this is happening to CEO Stanton Witherspoon, four of his trusted allies, who ran the Spoon Talk Show with him for a little over two years, resigned in somewhat fashion that some social media commentators have termed as betrayal to their friend.
The double pairs even released a press statement and posted it on Facebook. They argue that their resignation is ‘due to internal disagreement on the way forward and direction of Spoon Talk,’ which has necessitated their difficult decision to terminate association with the platform.
“A little over 3 years ago, we joined forces to build what ultimately became one of the biggest platforms in the Liberian media landscape. We build bridges of trust not out of the thought of perfection, but because we believed in contributing to the greater good of our nation. We forged bonds of friendship and believed we were one family. It is well documented and publicized that the core foundation of Spoon Talk was affected when an indictment was announced against CEO Stanton Witherspoon. We’ve chosen not to speak to the merits of his case because we have absolute confidence in the United States Justice system. We wish Mr. Witherspoon and his family well and pray for the best, cognizant of the magnitude of the crimes he’s been accused of.”
“With that being said, due to internal disagreement on the way forward and direction of Spoon Talk, we’ve made the difficult decision to terminate our association with the platform. This decision was not an easy one, but we can assure our many fans and supporters that this will not be the last time you will hear from us. We will inform you in due time of our next plans as we all strive to see a better and prosperous LIBERIA.
God bless you all.
-Chairman Ben Sanvee
-Chief St Tomalin Nyenwolo George, I.
-Dr. Henry Peabody
-Keff Hassan”.
The press statement signed by St. Tomalin Nyenwolo George read.
However, Dr. Francien Richardson in recent days remained the only key panelist on the Spoon Talk, hosting the show, as Stanton goes through his legal battle.
IPNEWS understands that Witherspoon and co-defendants are out on bail but with certain court-imposed restrictions. Two of the defendants – Witherspoon and Sellu are restricted to their home states of New Jersey and Maryland but are expected to travel to South Florida for their trial.
The U.S. Government has brought on the prosecution team a Forfeiture counsel for the purpose of addressing asset forfeiture matters in this case if the defendants are found guilty. Already, the U.S. Government has filed a “Bill of Particulars as to Forfeiture” with the Court where it identified six (6) properties of the defendants located in New Jersey, Georgia, and Florida.
Stanton Witherspoon is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the SPOON Group of Media companies in his native Liberia in West Africa and is a host of a daily political talk show on social media from which he has been noticeably absent since his legal woes surfaced. A reduced list of panelists has been hosting the daily talk show which he, Witherspoon, has vowed will continue into the election season in Liberia.
In the Liberian community in and out of the country, there is huge interest in the legal case which is regularly discussed on social media.
All the defendants have had their initial appearances in Court and have entered a “Not Guilty” plea. But if found guilty, the accused are expected to face a 20-year jail sentence and fines.
Under U.S. laws all the defendants are presumed innocent of the charges until the decision of the Court. (Courtesy of African Star & KMTV)
