New charges for Sotis (Add helium)and Emilie Voissem (Nexus Underwater)

[Jack Hammer]

I'm sure it was all above board, but Emilie came out saying she had no affiliation with Add Helium and that the company had no affiliation with add helium. Sure legally it may have been that way, but when you have an identical website, purchased the distribution list, purchased the assets, AND were a former employee, then that is being quite deceptive.

I agree with your sentiment and it seems to look that way in this case. Sometimes it is legit though. Case in point, remember the whole Salvo to LM debacle? They wanted nothing to do with Barry and just run a great business with integrity.

 

[The Chairman]

Sometimes it is legit though.

'Legit' is in the eye of potential customers. If they don't feel the warm fuzzies, then it really doesn't matter how above board they are. Diving is all about trust and confidence. If you don't have that, you don't have a business as they have since found out.

 

[Protondecay123]

He may also not have known the plan was to export them from Europe to Libya (He might have done, but he might not have done too). Lets let him have his day in court before judgements are passed.

This portion of the Federal Indictment indicates that Sotis did indeed know of the shipment to Libya.

 

[abnfrog]

if it quacks like a duck ..............im sure they are going to say "they were just rich divers who wanted the gear for wreck exploration " the jury might see it that way , they might not ......time will tell

 

[Protondecay123]

Actually the end use of the items has no bearing on the illegality of the shipment nor exonerate Add Helium from acquiring the proper permits from the US Commerce Dept for the shipment.

Whilst this may be from the course papers filed by the prosecution - it is their claim and they need to back it up/prove it in a court of law. We can all claim anything, but until we back it up it is nothing more than that.... a claim. I thought you guys were all for "innocent until PROVEN guilty" or is it now death by assertion and media?

If you make an affidavit like that in the United States you could be prosecuted for perjury and perhaps libel. But if you declare by affidavit that you don't have a brain because if you did, you would take it out and have sex with it. An act of which no one has evidence. That may be another story. Stotis's own comments to the US Commerce Dept agent demostrate knowledge that the shipment was en route to Libya. Here's a case that may educate you some degree. The consequences of false statements and deliberate omissions in warrant affidavits

 

[Cert1967]

The wheels of justice turn slowly.

1:19-cr-20693-UU-1 USA v. Sotis et al
Date filed: 10/24/2019
Date of last filing: 07/31/2020

<<>>
39 Filed & Entered: 06/26/2020
40 Filed & Entered: 07/06/2020,Terminated: 07/10/2020
42 Filed & Entered: 07/10/2020, Order to Continue - Ends of Justice
end

 

[reddiver970]

I had forgot about this until I ran across an old ad for Add Helium, does anyone know what the status of this case is?

 

[Cert1967]

New charges for Sotis (Add helium)and Emilie Voissem (Nexus Underwater)

All of the action is 'behind the curtain'. The post above reflects the publicly available records as of today. What's happening?

Will the case go to trial? Unlikely, the averages are against it.

The odds of a federally charged criminal defendant winning at trial? While not lottery-type long odds, generally a bad bet for the defendant. The feds simply don't take cases to trial that they don't think they will win.

Only 2% of federal criminal defendants go to trial, and most who do are found guilty

Experts have offered a range of explanations for the long decline in criminal trials. Among the most common is what critics refer to as the “trial penalty”: Individuals who choose to exercise their constitutional right to trial can face much higher sentences if they invoke the right to trial and lose, according to a 2018 report by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.​

 

[Cert1967]

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff,
PETER SOTIS, EMILE VSISSEM, Defendant.

ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the case is continued for trial

• the two-week period beginning JANUARY 19, 2021
• CalendarCall be held on JANUARY 13, 2021 at 1:00 p.m

 

[broncobowsher]

Thanks for keeping us updated.