Judge Richard Arcara
Speed and his codefendants participated in a Buffalo-area drug gang. The complex criminal case against them involves racketeering and racketeering allegations against multiple defendants, two murders, robberies, attempted robberies, narcotics trafficking and multiple firearms charges. Speed has been incarcerated since arraignment on Sept. 29, 2009. On March 25, 2013, a magistrate judge rejected his Feb. 8 application for release on bail. District court denied Speed reconsideration. Considering the four factors in United States v. Millan it agreed with the magistrate that Speed’s continued detention does not violate his Fifth Amendment Due Process rights. The court noted that a 10-month period to resolve codefendant Eldridge’s motion to recuse the U.S. Attorney’s Office and a prosecutor—in which Speed joined—had been properly excused, and that Speed should not now be permitted to argue that the government should have severed the recusal motion, and counts against Eldridge—to avoid delay. The gravity of the charges and strength of the evidence on which Speed’s detention is based weigh heavily in the government’s favor. Moreover, the strength of the government’s case against Speed has apparently increased over time.
