Page:Khobragade, Devyani Govts 1.9.2014 Letter to Judge Scheindlin.djvu/1



The Honorable Shira A. Scheindlin United States District Judge Southern District of New York Thurgood Marshall Courthouse 40 Foley Square New York, New York 10007

Re: United States v. Devyani Khobragade 14 Cr. 008 (SAS)

Dear Judge Scheindlin:

The Government respectfully writes to advise the Court that earlier today, the grand jury voted on and returned the enclosed Indictment charging Devyani Khobragade, the defendant, in two counts with visa fraud and making false statements in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1546, 1001, and 2.

There will not need to be an arraignment on the Indictment scheduled at this time. We understand that the defendant was very recently accorded diplomatic immunity status and that she departed the United States today. Therefore, the charges will remain pending until such time as she can be brought to Court to face the charges, either through a waiver of immunity or the defendant's return to the United States in a non-immune status. The time between now and the time that she is able to be brought before the Court is excluded automatically under the Speedy Trial Act, pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, Section 3161(h)(3)(A), which provides for the exclusion of any period of delay resulting from the unavailability of the defendant. In this case, the defendant is unavailable because her "whereabouts are known but [her] presence for trial cannot be obtained by due diligence or [she] resists appearing at or being returned for trial." 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(3)(B).