NEW YORK CITY – U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams has given Hunter Biden's former partner Devon Archer a judicial ticket to fly around the world for business and pleasure while his criminal sentencing appeal is pending.
Jurors in her court convicted Archer and others of fraud in 2018, yet the others went to prison and Archer hasn’t served a day.
He awaits a decision from appellate judges who heard argument on his sentence on May 9.
He can’t leave the country without the court's permission; his requests have never been rejected.
Abrams approved 17 foreign trips in two years between the indictment and trial, and 26 foreign trips in five years since the trial. (See travel log below)
Archer flew 13 times to Great Britain and 10 times to China.
Most recently, he flew to London on May 7 over an objection from U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.
Abrams sealed his flight and lodging information.
Archer’s indictment ended his investment partnership with Hunter Biden but opened an opportunity to perform similar work for others. It's unclear who Archer is currently traveling the world to conduct business for.
Grand jurors indicted Archer and five other defendants in 2016, on charges that they sold $43 million of bonds for a Sioux Indian tribe and spent much of the proceeds on themselves.
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a parallel civil fraud suit, but the criminal case stayed most discovery.
Abrams held trial in June 2018 and jurors found all defendants guilty.
All six defendants moved for a second trial and Abrams denied it for five.
Resolution of the criminal case lifted the stay in civil court, and the guilty defendants began producing documents for the SEC.
Because civil suits produce broader discovery than criminal cases, the SEC could dig into the business Rosemont Seneca and Hunter Biden more deeply than prosecutors did.
Rosemont Seneca is the name Hunter Biden and Archer previously operated under.
Archer asserted privilege for so many documents that a log of them filled 288 pages.
The SEC claimed the log didn’t comply with discovery rules and on Nov. 6, 2018, Magistrate Judge Ona Wang ordered Archer to produce a compliant log.
She ordered Archer and the SEC to confer as to the completeness of his production.
Abrams granted Archer a second trial 11 days later, and by prolonging his criminal case she stopped discovery in the civil case.
The government appealed her decision, and two years later Second Circuit judges reversed Abrams and ordered her to sentence Archer.
He sought Supreme Court review and justices denied it in November 2021.
All the while, Archer circled the globe with no clue in the record as to his employer or purpose.
A number of character letters Abrams received as she prepared for Archer’s sentencing discussed Archer and the work he conducts. Those letters were filed by employees of companies owned and/or operated by Jeff Cooper of Edwardsville.
However, Cooper clarified in a statement to the Record that Archer is not traveling on behalf of any of his companies, saying he does not know where Archer is currently working.
Cooper’s connections to Archer can be traced back to Beau Biden.
In 2005, Cooper and former law partner John Simmons began filing asbestos lawsuits in Delaware. For local counsel, they chose the firm where Beau Biden worked.
Cooper and Simmons later ended their partnership, and Cooper became an entrepreneur.
At one point, one of his companies listed Hunter Biden as a manager.
According to Fox News, Cooper and Hunter Biden flew to China on Air Force Two with then Vice President Joe Biden in 2013.
In pursuit of leniency
Archer’s counsel Matthew Schwartz of New York offered multiple letters and other tributes in support of a recommendation for a sentence without custody, many of which came from staff working for Cooper.
“Mr. Archer deserves credit for having built a lifetime of good will with people from all over the world,” he wrote.
Schwartz claimed Archer watched his reputation and career crumble. He claimed the family income was negative $492,000 in 2019.
“The harsh consequences that have already befallen Mr. Archer have served as real punishment and affected the necessary deterrence,” he wrote.
Prosecutor Rebecca Mermelstein argued that Abrams should sentence Archer for 30 months just like defendant Bevan Cooney because they played virtually identical roles.
Mermelstein claimed permitting Archer to avoid incarceration in order to meet the needs of his children would create gross disparities with defendants who were afforded no such benefit.
She claimed he lived in a Brooklyn townhouse worth many millions and owned a second residence in the Hamptons.
In March 2022, Abrams sentenced Archer for a year and a day.
She came closer to Archer’s recommendation than to the government’s recommendation; but, the government didn’t seek appellate review - Archer did.
He also sought review of the verdict, despite the previous Second Circuit decision reinstating it.
The SEC advised presiding District Judge Gregory Woods that it would await the resolution of the appeal before moving for relief.
SEC counsel Nancy Brown wrote that in the meantime she respectfully requested that the court lift the stay on Wang’s order from 2018. She wrote that the SEC hadn’t determined what monetary relief it should seek, and Archer’s information might inform that determination.
Archer responded that discovery would only burden him and waste resources.
In April 2022, Wang lifted the stay for the limited purpose of complying with her order.
In May, Schwartz advised her that Archer’s documents resided on a platform maintained by a third party vendor, and that Archer accumulated a substantial debt.
Schwartz stated the vendor removed access until Archer paid the outstanding balance, and Archer didn’t know when it would be paid.
He stated he would endeavor to comply, “should the commission choose to pay the vendor’s outstanding bills or otherwise is able to convince the vendor to provide access.”
Brown responded that she didn’t describe the size of the debt.
“Nor does he indicate why Archer has refused until now to update his privilege log or supplement his production with his 2,500 or more hard copy documents he concedes were delivered to him by one of his previous attorneys, Stephen Weiss, which would apparently reside outside the database controlled by the vendor,” Brown wrote.
“If all a party has to do to escape his production obligations is turn his documents over to a vendor and then stop paying for those services, orders compelling production would seem far too easy to evade,” she continued.
In June 2022, Schwartz sent Wang a letter asking to reimpose the stay on discovery.
Wang stayed the case this year on Jan. 30 and directed Schwartz to notify her of the status of this case within 14 days of Second Circuit resolution.
On the same date, Abrams granted Archer a trip to London from Jan. 31 to Feb. 6.
Second Circuit judges took a step toward a decision through oral argument on May 9.
On May 10, they asked for briefs about a claim Archer made for the first time that Abrams miscalculated sentencing guidelines.
On May 12, prosecutor Samuel Rothschild wrote that the base offense level under the guidelines was seven and Abrams added 22 levels based on the loss amount.
He wrote that she added two levels based on the number of victims and subtracted two levels based on Archer’s minor role.
Rothschild wrote that a level of 29 should have resulted for a range of 87 to 108 months.
He added that Abrams stated the level was 31 and the range was 108 to 135 months.
“Archer did not raise this issue in his briefing to this Court, meaning the issue is waived and this Court need not address it,” he wrote.
“Archer cannot show plain error unless the error affected his substantial rights,” he added.
Rothschild wrote that Abrams thought the sentence was appropriate irrespective of the guidelines.
“In fact, given that a sentence of a year and a day is the minimum sentence under which Archer can earn credit for good conduct, Judge Abrams clearly selected a sentence to impose a minimal term of imprisonment, unaffected by the slight difference in the correct and stated Guidelines ranges,” he wrote.
Schwartz wrote that Abrams committed a straightforward error and the Second Circuit shouldn’t overlook it or deem it forfeited.
“This plain error affected Mr. Archer’s substantial rights,” he wrote.
“Because the record is silent as to what the district court might have done had it considered the correct guidelines range, no further showing is necessary,” he added.
Archer's travel log and case progression
June 13, 2016 - Italy
July 26, 2016 - Latvia
Sept. 9, 2016 – China
Oct. 17, 2016 – England, Lithuania, permission to include Russia
Nov. 28, 2016 – England, Spain
Jan. 4, 2017 – Vietnam, China, permission to include United Kingdom
Feb. 16, 2017 – Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines
March 6, 2017 – Russia, London
March 23, 2017 – Philippines
May 9, 2017 – London
June 6, 2017 – London
June 13, 2017 – Philippines and China
July 26, 2017 – Italy
Sept. 20, 2017 – China, Vietnam, Philippines, Kazakhstan
Jan. 23, 2018 – China, Hong, Kong, United Arab Emirates
Feb. 16, 2018 - Mexico
March 28, 2018 – China
June 28, 2018 – Verdict guilty
Aug. 7, 2018 – Ukraine
Sept. 14, 2018 – London
Nov. 15, 2018 – Conviction vacated
Dec. 26, 2018 – Jamaica vacation
Jan. 7, 2019 – England, France
Feb. 17, 2019 – Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong
March 20, 2019 – Turks and Caicos islands vacation
April 16, 2019 – Mexico vacation
June 3, 2019 – Mexico
June 17, 2019 – England
July 10 and 12, 2019 – England, Latvia
Aug. 8, 2019 – Mexico
Aug. 30, 2019 – China
Sept. 17, 2019 – Mexico, Philippines, Serbia, England
Oct. 17, 2019 – England
Nov. 6, 2019 – Vietnam business, Jamaica vacation
Dec. 13, 2019 – Spain
Dec. 27, 2019 – United Arab Emirates vacation
Jan. 6, 2020 – China
Jan. 28, 2020 – French Antilles vacation, United Arab Emirates business
May 6, 2020 - Mexico
June 29, 2020 – Mexico
Oct. 7, 2020 – Reverse of conviction, remand for sentencing
Nov. 18, 2020 – Jamaica vacation
Nov. 12, 2021 – Jamaica vacation
March 7, 2022 – Sentence, a year and a day
Nov. 18, 2022 - England
Jan. 30, 2023 – London
May 3, 2023 - London