Judge William Kuntz
Defendant Choudhry was charged with one count of making a false statement in a Petition for an Alien Relative and one count of communicating a threat in interstate commerce. At a bail hearing, a magistrate judge found that Choudhry posed a danger to the community and a risk of flight and ordered him detained on an order of Detention Pending Trial. Choudhry’s lawyer subsequently sought a hearing in connection with a renewed bail application. The court denied the bail application, finding that the evidence against Choudhry weighs strongly in favor of pretrial detention. The court noted that the U.S. has introduced multiple transcribed conversations in which Choudhry is recorded communicating threats to kill multiple people in Pakistan and added that Choudhry has not contested this evidence. The court determined that this uncontroverted evidence of explicit and chilling threats to kill numerous people in Pakistan is sufficient, on its own, to warrant pre-trial detention for being charged with a violent crime. The court further noted that although Choudhry has considerable ties to the U.S., he also has strong familial, personal, professional and financial ties to Pakistan.
