BROOKLYN, NY (June 17, 2026) — Defendants in the federal prosecution stemming from an alleged NBA-linked poker and organized crime operation, including New Rochelle’s Louis “Sloppy Louie” Apicella, are expected to begin filing pretrial motions next month under a schedule proposed by federal prosecutors.
In a June 16 letter to U.S. District Judge Ramon E. Reyes Jr., prosecutors asked the court to set deadlines that would require defendants to file Rule 12 motions by July 10, government responses by Aug. 7 and defense reply briefs by Aug. 14.
The government said it proposed the schedule to all defendants and that all but one either agreed or did not object.
The proposed schedule marks the next major phase of the sprawling federal case, which prosecutors say involves dozens of defendants and extensive evidence gathered through electronic devices, cloud accounts, location data, recordings and other records.
Rule 12 motions are pretrial filings used to challenge legal issues before trial. Such motions can seek suppression of evidence, challenge searches and warrants, request separate trials or raise other legal objections that could affect the scope of a prosecution.
The motion schedule follows a June 9 status report in which prosecutors disclosed the continued expansion of discovery in the case. According to that filing, the government has produced cell-site location data, additional electronic evidence from devices and iCloud accounts, approximately 259 hours of audio and video recordings contained in 1,580 files, and additional records obtained from third parties.
Prosecutors also reported producing full forensic extractions from certain defendants’ electronic devices and iCloud accounts totaling approximately 2.097 terabytes of data, along with corresponding search warrant affidavits.
The government previously informed the court that six defendants — Saul Becher, Kenny Han, Osman Hoti, Damon Jones, Robert Stroud and Seth Trustman — have pleaded guilty since March. Prosecutors also reported ongoing plea discussions involving numerous remaining defendants.
In the same filing, prosecutors proposed placing Apicella in the first trial group should the case proceed to trial. The government also asked the court to consider moving the first trial from its previously discussed Nov. 2, 2026 date to early 2027, citing ongoing plea negotiations that could significantly reduce the number of defendants proceeding to trial.
If the proposed schedule is adopted, July 10 could provide the first detailed look at the legal arguments defendants intend to raise against the government’s case and the evidence gathered during the investigation.
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This article was prepared with the assistance of AI tools under the direction and editing of Robert Cox.
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