IP
-X
MEMORANDUM
RDER
18-CR-204-3
(NGiG)
VMS)
UNITED
STATES
DISTRICT
COURT
EASTERN
ISTRICT
OF
NEW
ORK
UNITED TATES
OF AMERICA
-against-
CLARE
BRONFMAN
Defendant.
X
NICHOLAS
.
GARAUFIS,
nited
States
District
Judge.
Defendant
Clare
Brortfinan
moves
o
suppress
documents
hat
were
eized
fr
om
entedstorage
unit,
arguing
that
the
Government
committed
hree
Fourth
Amendment
iolations
in
acquiring
and
eviewing these
documents and
hat,
at
a
minimum,
he
court
should hold
an
evidentiary
hearing.
(Bronfrnan
2d
Mot.
o
Suppress
( Mot. ) Dkt.
52); ronfinan
Reply
(Dkt.
424)
t
7
listing
the
three alleged
violations).)
For
he
following
reasons,
he
court
will
hold
an
videntiary
hearing before deciding Bronfinan's
motion.
I.
BACKGROUND
Bronfinan
s
the
sole
owner of
Wisdom
Systems,
LLC,
hich
offers
bookkeeping
and
other
services
to
individuals
and
companies.
(Bronfinan
Mem.
n
Supp.
of
d
Mot.
o
Suppress
( Mem. )
Dkt.
353)
t
2-3;
Decl.
of
lare
Bronfinan
( Bronfman
Deck )
Dkt.
354)
^
.)
Among
ts
clients
are
Bronfinan,
multiple
companies
hat
she
owns
such
as
the
Ethical
Science
Foundation ESF )),
and
everal
other
individuals
and
companies
whose
documents were
kept
in
Wisdom
ystems's
care.
(Bronfinan
Decl.
^
.)
For
a
hile.
Wisdom
Systems
tored
ts
older
records
and
lient
fi
les
in Bronfinan's
home,
long with
some
of
ronfman's
ersonal
papers
such
as
letters
and
oumals.
(Id.
f
.)
These
business
and
personal
records
were
tored in
fi
le
Case 1:18-cr-00204-NGG-VMS Document 464 Filed 03/25/19 Page 1 of 15 PageID #: 4835
cabinets
and
olders,
cardboard
and
lastic
boxes,
and
digital
media
uch
as
compact
iscs.
(Id
13.)
In
ate
2015,
Bronfman
hired
Adrienne
tiles,
who
was
then involved
with
Nxivm,
o
move
hese business
and
personal
materials
to
a
torage
unit.
(Id
^
.)
Stiles
was
nstructed
to
rent
the
storage
unit
for
Wisdom
Systems,
ut
she
n
fact
rented the
unit
in
her
own
ame,
purportedly because
the storage
facility
required
her
to
use
her
own
name
ather
than
a
businesses
name. (Id
^
.)
Wisdom
Systems
aid
the
rental
fees
for
the storage
unit
until
April
2018,^
and
Bronfinan expected
its
contents
to
remain
private
(Id
5-6.)
Approximately
six
months
fter
moving
Bronfman's
materials
to the
storage
unit.
Stiles
left
Nxivm.
(Jd
^
.)
In
early
2018,
ESF
eceived
a
subpoena
from
he
New
ork
Department
of
ealth.
(Id
^
.)
An
ttorney
named
Dennis
Burke
epresented
ESF
n connection
with the
subpoena.
(Id)
To
espond
to the
subpoena
on
ESF's
ehalf,
he
ought
to locate
the business records
held
by
Wisdom
Systems. (Decl.
of
ennis
Burke Burke
Deck )
Dkt.
355)
.)
In
early
April
2018,
he
ried
to
gain
access
to
the
storage
unit,
but
the
storage
facility
did
not allow
him
o
because
the
unit
was
ented in
Stiles s
name.
(Id
4;
ov't
Opp'n
o
2d
Mot.
o
Suppress
( Opp'n )
t
1.)
t
is
the
Government's
understanding
that
the
facility s
Chief ompliance
Officer
offered
Burkean
pportunity to
seek
a
ourt
order regarding the
contents
of
he
unit,
but
he
never
did.
(Opp'n
at
1.)
Next, Burke
ried
to
contact
Stiles
and
earned
that
she
was
epresented
by
an
ttorney,
Neil
Glazer,
who
old
him
hat
Stiles
would
not
give
the
storage-unit
documents
o
Bronfinan
because
he
government
had subpoenaed them.
(Burke
Decl.
^
.)
Glazer
told
Burke
hat,
since
he
Govemment
elieves that
Stiles
or her counsel
have
paid the
storage
unit s
fees since
April
2018.
(Opp'n
t
2.)
Case 1:18-cr-00204-NGG-VMS Document 464 Filed 03/25/19 Page 2 of 15 PageID #: 4836
the
start
of
pril
2018,
e
had
been
nsuccessfully
trying
to access
the
storage
unit
in order toturn
over
documents
ursuant
to
a
general
investigative
demand
r
om
he
Government.
(Id.
17;
d
April
23,2018
Email
Dkt.
355-5).)
Then,
n
pril
11,
he
grand
jury
issued
Stiles
a
subpoena
irecting
her
to
produce
[a]ny
and
ll
records
related
to
Keith
Raniere,
Nxivm
or
any
Nxivm-related
entities,
including
any
ecords located
in
he
storage
unit.
(Apr.
1,
2018
Subpoena
Dkt.
55-8).)
Burke
and
Glazer
discussed
the
documents
over
the
next
two
weeks,
s the
torage
facility
was
ot
granting
access
to
either
of hem.
(Mem.
t
5;
Burke
Decl.
6-9.)
On
pril
16,
Glazer
told
Burke
hat,
once
he
ained access to
the
storage
unit,
his
plan
was
o
photograph the
entire
unit fr
om
very
angle,
tak[e]
custody
of
he
documents,
index
all
containers,
and
hen
review
the
documents.
(Apr.
16,2018 Email Dkt.
55-1).)
Glazer
also
wrote
that
he
was
meeting
all
day
t
the
EDNY
ith the
US s
nd
ead
FBI
ase
agents,
and
that
[t]hey
trust
me
enough
o
handle
this,
but
if
cannot
get
t
done
hey
will
obtain
a
arrant.
.
.
(Id.)
Burke
repeatedly
objected
to
Glazer
and
Stiles s
involvement
with the
storage unit
and
planned
compliance with
the
subpoena.
(Burke
Decl. .)
On
pril
23,
lazer
told
Burke
hat
he had
gained
access
to
the
unit.
(Apr.
3,2018Email
Dkt.
355-4).) Later
that
day.
Burke
bjected
to
Glazer's accessing the
unit, insisting
thatGlazer
and
Stiles
had
no
uthority
to access
or
review
he
materials
and
ould not
lawfiilly
comply
with
the
subpoena.
(Burke
Decl.
^
0;
Apr.
3-24,
2018
Email
Dkt.
55-7).)
The
extday,
he
mailed
the
Government
sking
that
t
withdraw
the
subpoena
and
explaining
that
the
storage-unit
documents
were
1)
wned
by
ESF
and Bronfman,
2)
ontained personal
and
privileged
information,
and
3)
ere
not
lawfully within
Stiles
or Glazer's
possession.
(Apr. 4,
Case 1:18-cr-00204-NGG-VMS Document 464 Filed 03/25/19 Page 3 of 15 PageID #: 4837