Kurniawan Sentencing Drags on for Another Week

Jul 16, 2014

(Wine-Searcher) - The sentencing of wine conman Rudy Kurniawan has been delayed yet again.

Convicted wine fraudster Rudy Kurniawan will have to wait at least another week to learn his fate, after his sentencing was postponed for a third time on Tuesday, with the judge appearing unhappy with the level of detail provided by prosecutors.

Judge Richard Berman has set sentencing for July 24 in a Manhattan court. It was initially set for April, but was then delayed until May, July 17 and now July 24.

It took a New York jury less than two hours in December to convict the Indonesian-born 37-year-old, once considered one of the top five fine wine collectors in the world.

Prosecutors want him jailed for 11 to 14 years and fined $175,000.

The defense has requested a sentence of time served – the 28 months he has been held in custody since his arrest on March 8, 2012 – and a fine limited to $12,500.

Prosecutors requested the most recent delay after Berman asked for supplementary information last week on Kurniawan's victims. While prosecutors estimated the losses of Kurniawan’s victims to be $20.7 million, only a few have been identified and the judge wants more details on the rest to justify the claims being made by the prosecution.

He has given the prosecution until 5pm EST today to file any further information on restitution. The defense has until 5pm EST on Friday to make any response.

Prosecutors branded Kurniawan "a prolific wine counterfeiter" and an arch liar motivated by greed, a man who made millions of dollars selling bogus vintages blended in his kitchen laboratory.


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