In the United States Court of Appeals For the Second Circuit

August Term, 2022 No. 20-1011-cr

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Appellee,

v.

JONA RECHNITZ, Defendant-Appellant.

On Appeal from a Judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

ARGUED: JUNE 2, 2023 DECIDED: JULY 26, 2023

Before: NARDINI, PÉREZ, AND KAHN, Circuit Judges.

Defendant-Appellant Jona Rechnitz pleaded guilty in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York to conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349. Among other things, Rechnitz’s underlying criminal conduct included facilitating a bribe that resulted in the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association (“COBA”), a New York correctional officers’ union, investing $20 million with Platinum Partners (“Platinum”), a hedge fund that ultimately declared bankruptcy amid government investigations into fraud. Following his guilty plea, Rechnitz’s case was reassigned to another district judge (Alvin K. Hellerstein, J.) for sentencing. After his sentencing hearing but prior to his final restitution determination, Rechnitz moved to have his case reassigned to another district judge. His motion was premised on the recently discovered personal relationship between the district judge in his case and Andrew Kaplan, a defendant and cooperating witness in the ongoing prosecutions against those involved in the Platinum fraud. The district court denied that motion and ordered Rechnitz to pay restitution to COBA for all of its remaining losses. On appeal, Rechnitz argues that his case should have been reassigned pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 455(a) or (b) for resentencing or, in the alternative, that the district court erred in imposing restitution for all of COBA’s losses. We hold that the district judge erred in not recusing himself under § 455(a). The judge not only had a close, near- paternal relationship with Kaplan, but he also advised Kaplan on how to proceed in his pending criminal case arising from the Platinum fraud. The judge’s relationship with Kaplan was sufficiently close, and Kaplan’s case was sufficiently related to Rechnitz’s case, that a reasonable person would have questioned the district court’s impartiality. Finally, we note that the district court initiated an ex parte, off-the-record phone call with the United States Attorney’s Office regarding Rechnitz’s restitution payments while this appeal was pending. Such communications are disfavored, and the communication here was particularly ill-advised under the circumstances. Accordingly, we REMAND the case for reassignment to a different district judge and for plenary resentencing.

2 DAVID ABRAMOWICZ, Assistant United States Attorney (Lara Pomerantz, Assistant United States Attorney, on the brief), for Damian Williams, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, New York, NY, for Appellee.

NOAM BIALE (Michael Tremonte and Maya Brodziak, on the brief), Sher Tremonte LLP, New York, NY, for Defendant-Appellant.

PER CURIAM:

Defendant-Appellant Jona Rechnitz pleaded guilty pursuant to a cooperation agreement in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York to conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349. Among other things, Rechnitz’s underlying crimin