The New Yorker:

At 100 Centre Street, another man charged with falsifying business records had a good day in court.

By Zach Helfand

Falsifying business records in the first degree is a class-E felony in the State of New York, carrying a possible prison sentence of four years. It’s not often a marquee charge. A few years ago, for instance, a teacher in the Bronx gave her principal a fake vaccination card, in a bid to get a day off to recover from the side effects. Charge: falsifying in the second degree. (She pleaded guilty, and it was knocked down to a violation after she completed community service.) The public, however, has got pretty jazzed about the crime recently. At the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse, at 100 Centre Street, people have been standing in line down the block, sometimes a day in advance, for a chance to see a case in person. Some observers have said that the fate of the country hinges on falsifying business records. What’s all the fuss?

The courthouse had two active falsifying cases the other day, before Judges Gregory Carro and Juan Merchan. Carro presided over courtroom 1300, part 32, on the thirteenth floor, off a corridor that looked as if the Penn Station basement had decided it was too bright. A window was open in the back, through which resounded loud hammering from construction next door.

The court was called to order, and defendants began coming forward for pretrial hearings. One looked dazed. One was missing a leg. Someone’s cell phone rang in the gallery. “You gotta silence that phone!” an officer shouted. Every few minutes, a defense attorney, looking confused, walked the aisle yelling a client’s name.

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